Frau Edith und Frau Yvonne are two Danish frauleins who are very close friends but their friendship falters when Frau Yvonne decides to share Frau Edith's husband
The source of the blurred copy of "Kaerlighed Og Venskab" (Love And Friendship) (1912) directed by Herr Eduard Schnedler-Sørensen, that this Herr Graf watched in the Schloss theatre recently, was from the Library of Congress; it's a-ahem- "restored" copy that includes only four intertitles in three different languages ( English, Spanish und German ) that have nothing to do with the story depicted in the picture. The most terrible thing about this was the fact that this German count had to watch such torture to the eyes with horrible glasses instead of the elegant monocle normally used during the silent matinees. Happily, the multilingual and incongruous intertitles, weren't necessary at all in order to comprehend the story thanks to Herr Schnedler-Sørensen's effective film narrative, striking evidence of the skills of the Danish director and the modernity one hundred years ago, of the "Nordisk" film productions.
And certainly "Kaerlighed Og Venskab" is a modern film in concept and technique; the female main characters of the picture are two bourgeois and healthy women who enjoy the pleasures of their idle and athletic lives, practicing gymnastics, riding, swimming ( in this, Frau Yvonne is not an expert
) fencing and even chess; up to date and sporting women who will briefly even share the same man though without the consent of Frau Edith, the wife. In order to depict this story about the limits of love and friendship, Herr Schnedler-Sørensen spends time contrasting the very different bourgeois lives of the two friends; Frau Yvonne is a successful singer and a liberal woman in comparison with the conservative and conventional Frau Edith. The director brings rhythm to the story even though the camera remains static, an imperceptible fact this thanks to Herr Schnedler-Sørensen narrative resources.
The film stars Frau Clara Wieth, who after her divorce from the Danish actor Herr Carlo Wieth in 1917, was known as Clara Pontoppidan; she was a very popular actress of the time, working with the most important early Danish film directors such as Herr A. W. Sandberg, Herr August Blom, Herr Holger-Madsen, Herr Carl Theodor Dreyer, Herr Benjamin Christensen and Herr Eduard Schnedler-Sørensen, natürlich!!.
And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must continue his friendship with the woman of a prominent Teutonic aristocrat.
