"Asta Nielsen's film debut in 1910 occurred at a time of radical changes in the cinematic public sphere. As the cinema was leaving behind its connection with travelling fairs and the variety theatre, where it had originated, it entered into competition with the theatre and prepared itself to become the mass medium of the 20th century." -- Heide Schlüpmann

DOES THIS FILM SUGGEST A PARTICULAR ATTITUDE TOWARD ITS NEW MEDIUM?

WHEN AND HOW, FOR EXAMPLE, DOES IT CALL ATTENTION TO ITSELF AS A FILM?

DO YOU SENSE A PARTICULAR ATTITUDE TOWARD THE THEATER?

 

In many of her films, Asta Nielsen had scenes in which she highlighted her role as an artiste -- in particular her role as a female artiste -- in order to awaken in the audience "a longing for the pleasures of the real, in opposition to those of illusion." (Schlüpmann 119)

 
 

WHAT IS THIS FILM'S ATTITUDE TOWARD ILLUSION AND ROLEPLAYING?

HOW MIGHT HAMLET'S/NIELSEN'S POSITION AS FEMALE ARTISTE BE SIGNIFICANT HERE?