Marie Dinesen

The year is 1658 and the King of Sweden has seized large parts of Denmark. A tenant farmer and his family on Falster are forced to look on while enemy soldiers loot and wreck their home. Only the wounded and febrile soldier Lasse Månsson does not take part in the atrocities, and when the regiment moves on, he stays in the care of the farmer. Soon, Lasse falls in love with Anna, the farmer’s daughter, and they plan a life together.

A young violinist, Emanuel, dreams of becoming the best in the world. He gets the full support of his mother, who has sacrificed everything for his brilliant career. When she is on her deathbed, he’s faced with a terrible choice: According to an old legend, his violin will have the most beautiful sound if it catches the dying mother’s last breath. But instilling a soul into the violin comes with a high price: His mother’s soul won’t find peace for as long as he uses the instrument.

A gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.

Spanning three generations, the film depicts life in Copenhagen from the perspective of the working class. The film portrays the development of the city, the new opportunities arising and the improved living conditions created as the welfare state expands. ‘From darkness towards light’ is Denmark’s first-ever Social Democratic propaganda film, and it was part of the election campaign leading up to the local elections in 1929.

The beautiful Lejla, daughter of the horse dealer Wulff Heyner, gets a lot of attention from her surroundings, as a rider but also for her frivolity.

The Widow Stein’s children, Vita and Arthur, are as different as night and day. Vita spends all her time taking care of her mother at home, while Arthur squanders his money at the city’s most notorious nightclubs. Vita is engaged to the diligent and striving Jacob, who has to step in when Arthur’s debauched life leads him into great debt. A particularly drunken pub crawl ends tragically when Arthur falls into the harbour and drowns.

When Eve Vange regains her sight after a successful operation, she falls in love with her saviour – the young ophthalmologist Juel. Her fiancé Ernst, who is both her cousin and a teacher at the school for the blind, sets her free so she can marry the man she loves. However, it doesn’t take long before the marital bliss crumbles and darkness descends on Eve’s life again.

Attorney Krogh and his wife, Gerda, are distraught about their only son, Kai, a wastrel and never-do-well with no aim or direction in life.

Smuggler Madsalune versus the law enforcement on the West Coast of Jutland.