Her infinite variety... Downfall (1923) with John Sweeney, introduced by Pamela Hutchinson, BFI Asta Nielsen Season

It was, with some spoilers, a day of three tragedies for Asta Nielsen at the BFI and whilst I knew what to expect from Hamlet and Lulu in Earth Spirit , I hadn’t expected to be quite so blown away by this film. The first reel is missing from Downfall aka Der Absturz but it’s the last two that really pack the punch and allow for an exceptional, heart-rending denouement with Asta’s character literally beyond her former lover’s comprehension.

 

It bought to mind the scene in Victor Sjöström’s Sons of Ingmar when Ingmar goes to meet the mother – and murderer – of their only child, born out of wedlock and, even after her years in jail, an almost impossible thing to forgive. To illustrate the powerful pain, Victor Sjöström has his great cinematographer, Julius Jaenzen shoot the couple against the Sun, dazzling Ingmar who can barely look at his former lover. In Downfall, Asta’s character has simply aged far more than her younger lover and, cruelly, for so many women over a certain age… she has become invisible, devoid of her make up and finery, the last vestiges of her youth… he literally does not notice her.

 

The way that Nielsen handles her aging is also remarkable, especially given this was made for and produced by her own film company and she was (gasp) 41 at the time the same age as Kim Kardashian (I know!) or, if you’re talking people with talent, Melanie Williams or Bryce Dallas Howard. She appears to be without make up – or much make up – or at least enough to make her look as old and unglamorous as possible and it’s fascinating to watch the amazing instrument that is her face keep on pushing out the meaning and dominating the narrative in or out of close up.

 

It's almost new wave… and old school heart-breaking.

 

Asta's Kaja at the top

On IMDB someone had said that Nielsen is less "well known" because she didn’t make any great films but whilst this is wrong with the likes of Hamlet, Earth Spirit, Joyless Street and Afgrunden around, it also ignores films like this one in which her performance level raises everything. And, having seen over a dozen of her films in this remarkable season, I’d say her other defining quality is of consistency and range; she never plays the same part twice with even broad comedies differentiated by her decision to find new avenues to explore within characters of her own construction… a remarkable ethic especially given the quality of some of the scripts.

 

Directed and written by Ludwig Wolff, Downfall sees Asta playing Kaja Falk, a popular singer of light opera approaching her middle years, who has become involved with the “vampiric” waster, Frank Lorris (Albert Bozenhard) who – based upon a synopsis for the missing opening section, literally sucks her dry of money and good will. She’s saved by the noble Count Lamotte (Ivan Bulatov) who offers her his villa to hide away from Lorris’ unwanted attentions.

 

Near the villa lives a handsome young fisherman, Peter Karsten (Gregori Chmara) and his pretty fiancée, Henrike Thomsen (the striking Charlotte Schultz) and the two are perfectly happy as they go about their simple life. When they glimpse Kaja’s fancy coach on its way to the villa, they laugh at the pretension until a hat box drops off and, urged past his reluctance by Henrike’s imploring, Peter catches up with the coach and, handing the box over, is instantly captivated by the demure singer.

 

Gregori Chmara exuding Daniel Craig vibes?

One thing leads to another and Kaja meets Peter on the sea shore and he takes her for a ride in his boat as Henrike looks on, knowing her heart is in trouble. Soon Peter is creeping up to the villa and seeing far more of Kaja than is healthy for either.

 

Evil Frank also tracks her down and starts to use the situation to his advantage… tragedy strikes when Lamotte confronts Peter on a steep coastal path and, after a short scuffle falls to his death. Peter takes the rap but both he and Katja vow to be true and to meet once he is released in ten years’ time. That decade takes its toll though and when he is released into the sunshine will he recognise his love?

 

There’s no denying that Katya’s fall from grace allows Asta Nielsen to really go through the gears and it’s truly fascinating to see her with hardly any make up during her character’s illness and decline. Though this period she’s drained of everything she has by Lorris, and it’s the combination of his influence and her growing frailty that makes for one of the most gripping sequences in her revelatory oeuvre.

On the slide

Struggling to regain her voice she attempts a comeback only to be faced with not just pity but contempt from her audience – given this was a project commissioned by herself, it’s clear she knew full well the contract between audience and star. As she said in her stunning 1968 documentary, “fame is but a word written in sand…” she knew what was coming, what had already started.

 

Yet watching her out of make-up. looking in horror at her unfamiliar face, being deadened by Lorris’ unyielding humiliations and finally, vanishing from the love of her life’s vision… is oddly rewarding. Certainly one of the most innovative and honest portrayals of tragedy in any of her films and proof, if any were needed, of her ability to transcend melodrama and to give something extra special entirely from within character.

 

John Sweeney accompanied, as he has many a dying swan, and was thoroughly embedded in this arc of decline with powerful classic chords and heart-rending lines, following our eye-line as the great star burns, flickers and crashes down, emptied of all light before her body stops moving.

You have to see this for yourselves...

One of the big surprises of this splendid season and there were two others still to come on this bumper Astaday.

 

There’s more Asta coming at the BFI, and Downfall screens again on 15th March with Cyrus Gabrysch accompanying, book now and I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Full details are on the BFI website.

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety... quotation from Antony and Cleopatra with a tip of the hat to Mrs P Hutchinson of Worthing-on-Sea who provided a most excellent introduction!