A Stranger Knocks

Original title: En fremmed banker på

1959
1h 23m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A stranger knocks on the the door of a widow who's husband was tortured and killed by the Danish Nazis during World War Two. They fall in love, but then, suddenly, she realizes that her love... Read allA stranger knocks on the the door of a widow who's husband was tortured and killed by the Danish Nazis during World War Two. They fall in love, but then, suddenly, she realizes that her lover is the man who murdered her husband.A stranger knocks on the the door of a widow who's husband was tortured and killed by the Danish Nazis during World War Two. They fall in love, but then, suddenly, she realizes that her lover is the man who murdered her husband.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

113

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins

Trivia
This Danish film was not allowed into the United States until a 14-second scene, deemed to be "pornographic," was removed. The cut film was shown at the San Francisco Film Festival, but when it came to New York for a theater run, the New York Censorship Board demanded two additional scene cuts because they depicted an act of sexual intercourse, albeit without any explicit nudity. Trans-Lux, the theater operator, argued that there was no actual obscenity, and that the narrative of the film was wholly dependent on the scenes to be cut, as a major plot reveal occurs during the intimacy. Trans-Lux appealed and was denied, then appealed to the New York State courts. The case eventually landed in the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled, in 1965, that films need not be licensed, effectively ending the New York censorship board's reign, marking a watershed moment in artistic freedom in the U.S.

Connections
Edited into Eventyret om dansk film 14: Filmbølger - 1959-1962 (1996)

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Review

Featured review

7/10

A Stranger Knocks 1959

A good little Danish film set in 1947. Not an exploitation film as some of the promotional material suggests. A man wanders the countryside. He hides when an automobile passes. As night falls he stumbles upon a remote cottage. He knocks on the door and is greeted by a beautiful, reserved woman. She allows him to stay the night. Slowly we learn a few things. The man is wicked. He talks to himself, letting the viewer know what the woman does not. She is holding on to some past tragedy that has hurt her badly.

From the beginning, the viewer senses this will end badly. He is being hunted for some atrocities committed during the war. She is mourning for her husband, who died during the war. Against this backdrop, a romance between the two slowly blooms. The sex is intimate, tender and presented in a mature manner. The scenery is splendid, shot in the Danish countryside.

There is another subplot involving the husband's death that I don't want to reveal to the reader. It is key to the story and will be revealed near the end. As the romance plays out we see two contrasting views on human nature. The woman believes there is good and evil. We choose which side we take. The man believes everyone is evil and as he says in the film, animal kills animal.

WW2 brought out this discussing during and after the war. When we saw first hand the atrocities committed by mankind. Some conveniently tucked away their conscience and exclaimed they were only doing their duty. The woman's husband joined the fight, and died, battling evil in his mind. In many ways this is the story of mankind. Some people believe you always do what is right. That you create a win-win situation in life. Others believe in status and material wealth and there are only winners and losers.

The romance builds and becomes quite touching. But the viewer knows it is doomed as the man has built it on lies. There is another little twist that I alluded to earlier that makes the film complete.