Tag: Lars Von Trier

Study finds that ‘Flickering Lights (2000)’ is the Most Popular Danish Film in Denmark

Top Left: Mads Mikkelsen in Flickering Lights (Scanbox; Rolf Konow). – Top Right: Poul Bundgaard, Ove Sprogøe, and Morten Grunwald in the Olsen Gang-films (Nordisk Film). – Bottom Left: Mads Mikkelsen in Another Round (Nordisk Film). – Bottom Right: Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Fares Fares in the Department Q-films (Nordisk Film; Henrik Ohsten).

The Danish news agency Ritzau reports that Anders Thomas Jensen’s 2000s dark-comedy Flickering Lights (Danish title: Blinkende Lygter) was found to be Danes’ favorite Danish film ever made. The study was conducted by the data analytics firm YouGov for the Danish streaming service Nordisk Film+. A total of 1,529 Danes in the 18 to 79 age range participated in CAWI-interviews for the study, which has ultimately resulted in a top ten list that includes two film series (each counted as a single film). Interestingly, a total of nine films (including one of the film series) that were released have all come out in the last forty years, and, incredibly, a film released during the COVID-era placed second!

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REVIEW: Speak No Evil (2022)

Christian Tafdrup’s SPEAK NO EVIL is much more than just an unsettling culture clash – PHOTO: Nordisk Film.

Directed by Christian Tafdrup – Screenplay by Christian Tafdrup & Mads Tafdrup.

At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, critics and festivalgoers alike were introduced to one of Denmark’s latest filmmaking provocateurs, Christian Tafdrup. The actor-turned-director got his career as a filmmaker started with his first two feature-length efforts Forældre (int. title: Parents) and En Frygtelig Kvinde (int. title: A Terrible Woman), the latter of which starred Amanda Collin (who you may have seen in HBO Max’s Raised by Wolves) and was a relative hit that provoked some audience-members. Speak No Evil — Tafdrup’s latest feature film — was received fairly well at the festival, and is, reportedly, one of the best films that actor Robert Pattinson has seen in many years. I won’t go that far, but I will say that I think this very unsettling Danish thriller is Tafdrup’s best film yet.

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REVIEW: The House That Jack Built (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster (Director) — TrustNordisk / Zentropa / IFC Films

The following is a review of The House That Jack Built — Directed by Lars Von Trier.

I have in a previous review described Lars Von Trier, the controversial Danish auteur, as a ‘true auteur mad man,’ and I’ve thought of him as the devil on Danish director Jørgen Leth’s shoulder guiding his every move in the fascinating documentary The Five Obstructions. He has been accused of sexual harassment, some people think he is a misogynist, and he has made a fool of himself by joking about his own identity, Naziism, and Israel. I’m not sure he cares whether or not you like him, and I’m sure he’d say that he’s perfectly happy knowing that his films divide audiences.
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RETRO REVIEW: The Five Obstructions (2003 – Documentary)

Release Poster – Zentropa

The following is a review of The Five Obstructions.

The Five Obstructions is a Danish documentary about a very particular friendship between directors. Danish auteur Lars Von Trier is a big fan of Jørgen Leth — a Danish director — and his 1967 Danish short film The Perfect Human — a very literal examination of a couple. So, Lars Von Trier has this idea — what if we took this gem of a short film and absolutely ruined it? Made a mess of it.  Continue reading “RETRO REVIEW: The Five Obstructions (2003 – Documentary)” →

REVIEW: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – A24 & Curzon Artificial Eye

The following is a review of The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.

Danish auteur Lars Von Trier — the director behind such films as Breaking the Waves, Melancholia, and Anti-Christ — once said that a film should be ‘like a rock in your shoe.’ The newest work from Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos titled The Killing of a Sacred Deer is that kind of film. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)” →