Narkose (1929)

A woman lies in a maternity clinic, happily expecting a child. A doctor places an ether mask over her face because an operation is necessary. As she loses consciousness under the anesthetic, memories rise from her subconscious. The woman looks back over her life so far. Flashback: As a young girl, Angélique Laumain had a crush on the handsome writer René Vernon, who lives in the same apartment building as she does. One day, her infatuation turns into deeply felt love, though René knows nothing about it. To take the decisive step, she has to approach him, so Angélique goes to his door and knocks, but no one answers. She curls up there and falls asleep. When René returns later, he takes the drowsy young woman into his room, and they spend the night together. For the lovestruck Angélique, this should have been the beginning of a great romance, but for René it was merely a pleasant diversion, an affair he soon forgets. At any rate, when they meet again some time later, René no longer recognizes Angélique—he naturally has a new woman on his arm. Meanwhile, Angélique is pregnant with his child and has been fired from her job as a flower seller because of it. She decides not to tell René about the joy of becoming a mother. Years pass, and Angélique becomes the mistress of Jean, a distinguished gentleman in the prime of life. One day, Angélique sees René on the street again. She becomes consumed by the idea of following him, hoping to recreate the situation from back then, when she stood outside his door and fell asleep. He even invites her into his apartment again … but René cannot remember her. Deeply disappointed and frustrated, she leaves. When her older lover learns about this trip into the past, he breaks up with Angélique. More blows of fate follow: when her wealthy benefactor leaves her, Angélique is penniless, and then her son dies as well. Eventually, she finds work as a nurse. One day, she has to care for a man who has been paralyzed by a stroke. It is René, now a shadow of his former self. One evening, the writer dictates a novella to her, titled “The Unknown Woman.” It is a memory of happiness missed, of a love lost. Angélique realizes that René is using it to work through that fateful first encounter with her. Tears come to her eyes, for the love he missed out on was hers too; her life story was his as well.