After a ten-year hiatus from filmmaking, Christensen returned to his Danish-cinema roots. Children of Divorce was a critical and popular success, establishing Christensen as Denmark's most socially engaged and serious director a quarter of a century after his initial breakthrough. The film's framing story opens in New York City, where (in a long flashback) a young Danish woman confesses her sexual victimization as a fifteen-year-old. Adapted by Christensen from Alba Schwartz's 1935 novel, Children of Divorce portrays contemporary Copenhagen teenagers and the moral irresponsibility and self-absorption of their single parents. Banned for children in Denmark because of its adult themes, the film was considered by several critics the best Danish sound film made up until that time. Meyer and Holmer are particularly fine as the artist-father and daughter whose close relationship hints at repressed, incestuous desire. Watch for Christensen's unbilled cameo as a menacing, bearded ship's captain who barks in English, "Get the hell out of here!"-Arne Lunde