THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART HONORS INTERNATIONAL CAREER OF INFLUENTIAL DANISH DIRECTOR WITH ELEVEN-FILM TRIBUTE
Series Features All of Benjamin Christensen’s Extant Silent Work,
U.S. Premieres of Three Later Sound Films,
And His Performance in Dreyer’s Mikaël
Retrospective Is Part of The Danish Wave '99,
Two-Month Festival Celebrating the Best of Denmark's Arts
With Citywide Programs of Film, Music, Theater, and Photography
BR> Benjamin Christensen: An International Dane
September 9–26, 1999
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2
The Museum of Modern Art pays tribute to one of Denmark's greatest filmmakers with Benjamin Christensen: An International Dane, an extensive retrospective of the innovative director's work. The program runs from September 9 to 26 in the Museum's Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2 and features works Christensen made in Germany, the United States, and his native Denmark, including three of his later sound films that will have their U.S. premieres in this exhibition.
In the silent era, when language was no barrier for reaching international audiences, Scandinavian actors, cinematographers, and directors were among the best and most sought after in the world of filmmaking. Denmark's Benjamin Christensen (1879–1959) began directing films as early as 1912 and is considered one of the most inventive and accomplished film artists of his time.
"Christensen was a true individualist and artistic spirit whose contributions to the development of film language are still being discussed," notes Jytte Jensen, Associate Curator, Department of Film and Video, who organized the exhibition. "What is unmistakable in his films, however, is his command of the medium and the delight with which he tries out established techniques or genres and pushes their boundaries, as well as the artistry with which he chooses the cinematic means of expressing his ideas."
A true auteur, Christensen wrote, directed, designed sets, and played major roles in most of his films. He is also credited with a number of technical inventions he created during often lengthy production and post-production periods—for example, the moving microphone, which Christensen claimed to have devised during his stint in Hollywood when he placed a microphone on top of a bamboo pole to allow his actors to move freely.
The program features all of Christensen's extant silent films, from his debut, the spy melodrama Det Hemmelighedsfulde X (Sealed Orders/The Mysterious X, 1913), to the historical fantasy HĠxan (Witch, 1922), perhaps his best-known work, which will be shown in two versions—a tinted and restored silent print and the 1967 American rerelease, known as Witchcraft through the Ages, with voiceover narration by William Burroughs.
The series includes three of Christensen's American productions: The Devil's Circus (1926), starring Norma Shearer; the anticommunist melodrama Mockery (1927), which was a showcase for Lon Chaney; and the horror-comedy Seven Footprints to Satan (1929), Christensen's last film made in the United States. Also featured is Christensen's noted performance as the painter Zoret, "the Master," in Carl Theodor Dreyer's Mikaël (Chained/Heart's Desire/The Invert, 1924).
After returning to his native Denmark, Christensen made four films in a social realist tradition between 1939 and 1942. These films have recently been subtitled in English, and three of them are being shown for the first time in the United States in this exhibition: Skilsmissen's Børn (Children of Divorce, 1939), a story of rebellious youth, carefree sexual mores, and parental responsibility; Barnet (The Child, 1940), a problem-drama concerned with the controversial subject of abortion; and Gaa med mig Hjem (Come Home with Me, 1941), about a woman lawyer so involved in helping others that she neglects her own family.
Benjamin Christensen: An International Dane is part of a two-month, citywide celebration of Danish culture, The Danish Wave '99, sponsored by the Royal Consulate General of Denmark in New York; MoMA is most grateful for the inspiration and initiative of the consular staff and thanks them for a most enjoyable collaboration.
Benjamin Christensen: An International Dane was organized by Jytte Jensen with the generous collaboration of the Danish Film Institute/Film Archive; Warner Bros.; Fondazione Cineteca Italiana; and Edith Kramer, Director, Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley.
Additional information and a schedule of films are available on the Museum's Web site at www.moma.org/filmvideo/db. A schedule of events for The Danish Wave '99 is available at www.danishwave.org.
