Skyggen af Emma (1988)

The film is a fable for children and adults. In 1930s Copenhagen, 12-year-old Emma lives in an unloving upper-class home. She runs away and meets Malthe, a simple Swedish sewer worker, in the Nørrebro milieu around the tavern Nøsen, a place utterly devoid of material wealth. Emma, in her fine upper-class clothes, is a stark contrast to this setting. She explains her presence there with a story that she has been kidnapped in the same way as the son of the contemporary Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped. This lie gives her a welcome break from her unbearable daily life as a child in an upper-class household. When she returns home the next day, she discovers that nobody has missed her at all. They had not noticed that she had been away during the night. Miserable, she runs away again and seeks out Malthe once more. He is a Swedish migrant worker, scorned and destitute—a rather broken man. Human understanding is in short supply in Malthe’s surroundings, just as it is in Emma’s home, although here it does occasionally appear. They are both isolated people, and a distinctive friendship develops between them. Emma finds protection with Malthe, even though, more than anyone, he is the one who needs her protection. His friendship with Emma awakens a growing sense of self-respect in him. She may not find understanding, but she does emerge from the invisibility of being overlooked. Cunningly, Emma manages to get money from her parents, and together with Albert and Gustav, two boys from the neighborhood, she and Malthe experience a fantastical wealth for one evening during a visit to a prestigious hotel.