Danish Cinema Recommended Danish Films
The DIS Library recommends the following Danish films available in our collection:
ADAMS ÆBLER ("Adam’s Apples")by Anders Thomas Jensen (2005)
DIS Film Club selection (2011)
Ivan is a priest at a rural church functioning as a half-way house for recently paroled convicts. He's a odd man, delusionally seeing the world through rose-colored glasses as a way of coping with the horrific (and often times outrageous!) misfortunes which seem to befall his personal life. Adam is a large, tough neo-Nazi recently released from prison. At first baffled by Ivan's thick-headed optimism, he becomes angry and vows to break Ivan's faith. Meanwhile, in exhasperation at Ivan's insistence, Adam sets a person growth goal: to bake an apple cake. All goes awry as the apple tree outside the rectory is struck by crows, worms, and lightning. The Book of Job ironically gives Adam perverse insight into his increasinly ludacris situation. Subtitled. Comedy/Crime/Drama.
ANTICHRIST by Lars von Trier (2009)
DIS Film Club selection (2011)
A couple lose their young son when he dies from a fall while they have sex in another room. The mother's grief consigns her to hospital, but her therapist husband brings her home intent on treating her depression himself. To confront her fears they go to stay at their remote cabin in the woods, "Eden", where something unknown happened the previous summer. Told in four chapters with a prologue and epilogue, the film details acts of lustful cruelty as the man and woman unfold the darker side of nature outside and within. Not for the faint of heart. Subtitled.Drama/Thriller/Horror.
ARVEN ("The Inheritance") by Per Fly (2003)
Second in a Trilogy (1. Bænken, 2. Arven, 3. Drabet)
A young Danish man, Christoffer, lives a life of joy and happiness with his wife Maria in Stockholm. When his father suddenly dies, his mother insists that Christoffer takes over management of the family industry which is in danger of bankrupcy. He is torn between his chosen life and his sense of duty to his family and its past. When he chooses to step in as manager, his family life and self-respect languish. Subtitled. Drama.
THE BEST OF VICTOR BORGE starring Victor Borge (1990)
A collection of Danish comedian and singer/songwriter Victor Borge's most famous acts are shown in this live performance. Comedy/Music.
BÆNKEN ("The Bench") by Per Fly (2000)
First in a Trilogy (1. Bænken, 2. Arven, 3. Drabet)
Kaj is a former chef and current alcoholic. His estranged daughter, whom he hasn't seen in 19 years, has moved back into his neighborhood with her young son Jonah as they attempt to flee her violent husband. Kaj is intially hostile but begins to soften as helping them becomes the new mission in his life. But after all he has done, is it too late? Subtitled. Drama.
BREAKING THE WAVES by Lars von Trier (1996)
This is a powerful drama set in a repressed, deeply religious community in the north of Scotland. A naive young woman named Bess McNeil (Emily Watson) meets and falls in love with Danish oil-rig worker Jan (Stellan Skarsgaard). Bess and Jan are deeply in love but, when Jan returns to his rig, Bess prays to God that he returns for good. Jan does return, his neck broken in an accident aboard the rig. Because of his condition, Jan and Bess are now unable to enjoy a sexual relationship and Jan urges Bess to take another lover and tell him the details. As Bess becomes more and more deviant in her sexual behaviour, the more she comes to believe that her actions are guided by God and thus are ultimately helping Jan to recover. Drama/Romance.
COPENHAGEN by Howard Davies (2002)
A television adaption of Michael Frayn's celebrated and award-winning stage play about a famous 1941 meeting between physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in Copenhagen. At this time, the young Heisenberg was leading a faltering German reseach program into nuclear energy. The middle-aged (and apparently isolated) Bohr was in contact with allied agents and still held a position of great influence in the nuclear physics research community. After the meeting the two men put different interpretations of why Heisenberg requested their meeting and what he hoped to gain from it; this is a theme mirroring the ambiguity of the "Copenhagen" interpretation widely used in quantum physics. Did Heisenberg go to the avuncular Bohr to seeking his blessing for his role in nuclear research? Why did Heisenberg concentrate on the development of a nuclear reactor, and not perform the calculations that would show that a bomb could be made to work via a fast-neturon reaction in Uranium 235? These and other questions feature in the plot, although (unsurprisingly) there few certain answers.
DE GRØNNE SLAGTERE ("The Green Butchers") by Anders Thomas Jensen (2003)
Svend and Bjarne work for a butcher in a small Danish town. Tired of their arrogant boss, they decide to start their own butcher shop. Things are not going well until an unfortunate accident coincides with a large order of meat... one hasty decision leads to another, and soon the business is thriving! Subtitled. Comedy/Drama.
DANCER IN THE DARK by Lars von Trier (2000)
Selma (Björk) is a Czech immigrant and a single mother working in a factory in rural America. Her salvation is her passion for music: specifically, the all-singing, all-dancing numbers found in classic Hollywood musicals. Selma, however, harbors a sad secret. She is losing her eyesight and her son Gene stands to suffer the same fate if she can't put away enough money to secure him an operation. When a desperate neighbor falsely accuses Selma of stealing his savings, the drama of her life escalates to a tragic finale. Drama/Musical.
DEN ENSTE EN ("Only You") by Susanne Bier (1999)
This romantic comedy follows two couples in Copenhagen as they try to settle down. Søs, who works in a beauty clinic, tries to live happily with her Italian husband. Soon after telling him that she's pregnant, she discovers that he's having an affair with one of her clients at the beauty clinic. She kicks him out of the apartment just as their new kitchen arrives. Niller, the kitchen installer, is a down-to-earth kind of guy who lives a childless but otherwise happy life with Lizzie. Life quickly becomes complicated as Niller finds himself falling in love with Søs. Subtitled. Comedy/Romance.
DET FORSØMTE FORÅR ("Stolen Spring") by Peter Schrøder(1993)
At their 25th high-school anniversary, a group of bourgeois citizens remember their time at school as a happy one, though in reality it was quite the contrary. As the film progresses it is revealed that their high school was a madhouse where teachers tormented the students, eventually driving one of them to become a murderer. Subtitled. Psychological Drama.
DRABET (Manslaughter) by Per Fly (2005)
Third in a trilogy (1. Bænken, 2. Arven, 3. Drabet)
Director Per Fly concludes his acclaimed social class trilogy with an examination of how politics and violence swirl around the edges of seemingly mundane middle class lives. Manslaughter follows Carsten, a middle-aged college professor stuck in the rut of a comfortable bourgeois life. Over the course of this film he abandons his family and his career in order to champion his mistress, a student radical accused of killing a policeman, with dire consequences.Subtitled. Drama.
DRØMMEN ("We Shall Overcome") by Niels Ander Oplev (2006)
The year is 1969. Frits, a thirteen year old boy, spends his summer holidays watching the family's first television and is caught up the swirling winds of change. Martin Luther King's speeches and dreams of a better life have armoured Frits with courage and the desire for rebellion, especially against his tyrannical headmaster who still believes in corporal punishment. The story is based on actual events. Subtitled. Drama.
EFTER BRYLLUPPET ("After the Wedding") by Susanne Bier (2006)
Jacob Petersen has dedicated his life to helping street children in India. When the orphanage he heads is threatened by closure he receives an unusual offer. A Danish businessman, Jørgen, offers him a donation of $4 million dollars. There are, however, certain conditions... Not only must Jacob return to Denmark, he must also take part in the wedding of Jørgen's daughter. The wedding proves to be a critical juncture between past and future and catapults Jacob into the most intense dilemma of his life. Subtitled. Drama.
EN KORT EN LANG ("Shake It") by Hella Joof (2001)
Jacob is a young man used to getting everything he wants. For several years, he has been living in a happy homosexual partnership with Jørgen; one night Jacob decides to pop the "big question" and asks Jørgen to marry him. Jørgen happily accepts, though shortly after the unexpected happens: Jacob falls in love with a girl. And not just any girl: Caroline is married to Jørgen's younger brother, Tom. Jacob's life suddenly gets very complicated as he tries to figure out whether he wants to spend his life with Jørgen or Caroline or - is it possible? - both! When Caroline gets pregnant, matters become even more complicated. Subtitled. Comedy/Romance/Drama.
FESTEN ("The Celebration") by Thomas Vinterberg (1998)(Dogme Movie)
DIS Film Club selection (2011)
This film is an excellent first example of both Dogme films and dark Danish comedy. No one can ignore a person like Danish patriarch Helge Klingenfeldt. On his sixtieth birthday, his family and friends gather together at an isolated country estate for what promises to be a typical Danish 'round birthday' celebration. Prodigal son Christian is deeply haunted since the death of his twin sister two months ago and shows up bent on divulging a dark and terrible secret. As the night progresses the family's skeletons are revealed in their father's particular style – with flair and malice. Subtitled.Dogme Film/Comedy/Drama.
FLAMMEN OG CITRON ("Flame & Citron") by Ole Christian Madsen(2008)
DIS Film Club selection (2011)
During the Nazi occupation of Denmark, red-headed Bent Faurschou-Hviid ("Flame") and Jørgen Haagen Schmith ("Citron") are assassins in the Danish Holger Danskeresistance movement. As they uncover that someone in their circle is a traitor, Bent's relationship with the mysterious Kitty Selmer, a possible German double agent, leaves them unsure of whom to trust. Has their controller been using them to settle private scores? Can Bent and Jørgen kill an über target, evade capture and survive the war? And is this heroism, naiveté or mere hatred? Subtitled. Drama/History/Thriller.
FRUGTELIG LYKKELIG ("Terribly Happy") by Henrik Ruben Genz(2008)
A thriller about a Copenhagen cop, Robert Hansen, who is forced to move to a small town after having a nervous breakdown. When someone is murdered, Robert halts the villagers' vigilante justice against an innocent man; chaos ensues. Will bringing the real murderer to justice be his ticket back to Copenhagen? Subtitled. Drama/Mystery.
HÆVNEN ("In a Better World") by Susanne Bier (2010)
DIS Film Club selection (2011)
Oscar winner for best foreign film (2011). As the lives of two Danish families collide, an extraordinary yet dangerous friendship develops between their children. Subtitled. Drama.
IDIOTERNE ("The Idiots") by Lars von Trier (1998)
A group of perfectly intelligent young people decide to react to society's cult of an aimless, non-creative and non-responsible form of intelligence by living together in a community of "idiots". Their main activity becomes going out into the world of "normal" people and pretending to be mentally retarded. They take advantage of the situations they create to encourage anarchy everywhere they go, trying to make people annoyed, disturbed, miserable, ridiculous, angered, and shocked. The film starts as they recruit a new "lost" soul and introduced her to their megalomaniac leader. Subtitled. Dogme Film/Comedy/Drama.
ITALIENSK FOR BEGYNDERE ("Italian for Beginners") by Lone Scherfig (2000)
A newly widowed young minister is temporarily assigned to a church where their former pastor drove parishioners away. While living at the local hotel he meets Jørgen, a single man approaching middle age. Jørgen's friend Finn, a temperamental restaurant manager, is about to be fired from his job. Finn's assistant, Giulia, is a lovely young Italian who prays for a husband. Olympia, a clumsy bakery clerk, has an ornery father; Karen, a hairdresser, has a mother who is very ill. The paths of these six characters cross at church, in the restaurant, at the hotel and at an Italian class at the local adult school. Subtitled. Dogme Film/Comedy/Drama/Romance.
KONGKABALE ("King’s Game") by Nikolaj Arcel (2004)
Three weeks before a general election, the leader of Denmark's largest party is involved in a serious car accident. The political scene is thrown into disarray. Ulrik Torp, a young, ambitious journalist, gets caught up in a ruthless struggle for power headed by the party's two successors to leadership. This hair-raising political thriller was the debut film of director Nikolaj Arcel and was based on the novel by former Danish poltiical spin doctor Niels Krause-Kjær. Subtitled. Thriller.
KUNSTEN AT GRÆDE I KOR ("The Art of Crying") by Peter Schønau Fog(2006)
This film focuses on the story of a precocious eleven-year-old named Allan who tries desperately to keep his dysfunctional, rural family together during the social upheavals of the early seventies. Allan reveres his father, Henry, the local milkman, and can't understand why others don't feel the same way. His family life is so twisted he thinks it's perfectly normal to stay awake all night dealing with his father's hysterics and suicidal threats, his mother's sleeping pill addiction, etc. Incapable of understanding what's going on and heavily influenced by his father, Allan commits appalling acts, unaware of their import. Subtitled. Drama.
MATADOR Danish TV Series (1978 - 1981)
Matador is a Danish TV series produced between 1978 and 1981. It is named after the local name of the game Monopoly and is one of the most well-known and popular examples of Danish television produced by the state run channel, DR.
Matador has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes due in part to its accurate portrayal of Denmark between 1929 and the end of the Nazi occupation as well as its successful mix of drama and distinctly Danish humour. The series is set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbæk. It follows the life of various characters from both the high and low of the town's society, but is primarily focused around the rivalry between the families of banker Hans Christian Varnæs, one of the town's most prominent citizens, and newcoming businessman Mads (Andersen) Skjern, who arrives in town in 1929. Subtitled.
MIFUNES SIDSTE SANG ("Mifune's Last Song") by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen (1999)
Kresten has moved from his parents’ farm on a small Danish island to Copenhagen in order to pursue a career. When his father dies Kresten is forced to move back home, where nothing much has happened since he left. He places an ad in the local newspaper to get help running the farm and taking care of his retarded brother. A prostitute named Liva who is hounded by annoying phone calls answers the ad. Alas, running away from your past isn't easy. Subtitled. Dogme Film/Romance/Drama.
MØD MIG PÅ CASSIOPEIA ("Meet me on Cassiopeia") by Torben Anton Svendsen(1951)
A stage writer desperate for inspiration acquires a muse straight out of Greek mythology. She bedazzles everyone she meets, but will the play be done in time, and will earthly life win the muse over? Subtitled. Romance/Comedy/Musicals.
NORDKRAFT ("Angels in Fast Motion") by Ole Christian Madsen (2005)
This intense and realistic film follows Maria, Allan and Steso - three young Danes in their twenties - as they each struggle for survival in urban life and battle on a daily basis with drugs. Subtitled. Crime/Drama/Romance.
OH HAPPY DAY by Hella Joof (2004)
A Baptist preacher from Harlem gets stranded in a provincial Danish town after a bus accident involving his touring gospel choir. Alone amidst suspicious Danes, he teaches the local church choir to sing gospel music and touches in particular the life of one bored housewife. Subtitled. Comedy/Drama/Romance.
PUSHER by Nicolas Winding Refn (1996)
Frank is a drug pusher on a roll until he makes a huge deal with dope that he hasn't payed for, and he gets busted by the police. He manages to dump the dope in a nearby lake, but he owes his supplier a lot of money (not a nice guy to owe money too). The movie follows Frank in his quest to raise money in the underworld of Copenhagen. Subtitled. Crime/Thriller.
RIGET I & II ("The Kingdom") by Lars von Trier (1994)
The Kingdom is the most technologically advanced hospital in Denmark, a gleaming bastion of medical science. A rash of uncanny occurrences, however, begins to weaken the staff's faith in science: a phantom ambulance pulls in every night and disappears; voices echo in the elevator shaft; a pregnant doctor's fetus seems to be developing much faster than is natural. At the goading of a spiritualist patient, some employees work to let supernatural forces rest. Subtitled. Comedy/Drama/Fantasy.
TERKEL I KNIBE ("Terkel in Trouble") by Kristian Vesbjerg Andersen (2004)
DIS Film Club selection (2011)
Terkel is a 6th grader responsible for the suicide of a lovestruck classmate. Suddenly, it's not just his annoying sister and his alcoholic uncle Terkel has to deal with; he starts to receive death threats. Only the new teacher, a young handsome and idealistic man whom Terkel's class loves from day one, is able to help him. The film culminates in a dramatic school trip where all is revealed. Subtitled. Animated Comedy.
TO VERDERNER ("Two Witnesses") by Niels Arden Oplev (2008)
Sara is a teenager who lives with her family of Jehovah's Witness. The family's devout image is questioned when the parents divorce as a consequence of the father's infidelity. One night, at a party, Sara meets Teis, an older boy who takes an interest in her. Teis is not a Witness and their relationship is rejected by her father, but Sara falls in love and begins to doubt her faith. Facing ostracism from her faith and family, Sara is forced to make the toughest choice of her young life. Subtitled. Drama.
