“I realized that one had to detach oneself completely from one’s surroundings in order to be able to perform an important scene in a dramatic film. The opportunity to develop character and mood gradually, something denied the film actor, can only be replaced by a kind of ‘auto-suggestion.’ ”

(Asta Nielsen, prima diva del cinema muto; Copenaghen, 11 settembre 1881 – Frederiksberg, 24 maggio 1972)