Kandidaten

Danish crime thriller + Nikolaj Lie Kaas provides a must-see to all them fond of consistent dramatic creations, where atmosphere is gloomy and solutions are coming without constant shootings and "witty" remarks. But as the level and quantity are high, particularly within the last decade, one starts to select and classify more, not just enjoying the course of events and distinct performances.

Here, even the small roles and filled by splendid actors (Tuva Novotny, David Dencik, Kim Bodnia) and there are lots of suspense twists and turns, but too many times, however, at the expense of credibility and logic. Nevertheless, nothing becomes really ridiculous or wtf!, and Lie Kaas' character is distinct and versatile again. So, if you like Scandinavian thrillers, you are certainly recommended to watch Kandidaten as well.

The successful defence lawyer Johan is obsessed with getting back on the men that he thinks killed his father, which also was a lawyer, which lost a case he should have won, just before he was driven off the road. He tries to get his father's old job, which we really don't understand why. He's not getting this job, because the seniors in the company are against it. Why is later revealed.

The plot takes off nicely, and you're well into the film when you think it's exciting and well written, when the first irritating stupidity puts you a bit baffled. Johan acts not reasonable several times, like when talking to his girlfriend, choosing to follow a friend, out in the woods, when meeting a convict and when getting answers. A pity, because the plot is good! And without these it could be excellent.

It seems our protagonist Johan has big problems in communicating. This is only understandable when talking to his girlfriend, because we've seen that they really don't communicate. Is it possible to be a top lawyer without being able to communicate better!? Not in my book... And then he's not acting rationally. This makes it difficult to really like him. He's not not likable. And all in all the film has in a way a strange and unnatural dialog.

If this is the manuscript, or the direction, I don't know. But Arcel has later proved to be an excellent writer in later films and when directing them himself. And then he is really too well under surveillance. And when he understands, he does nothing about it. Over and over he acts stupid. It's OK being afraid, but he does always react like he's not afraid just afterwards. And then he proves to be a master shooter when getting hands on a gun!

The film is kept in dark and bleak colors, making it realistic and "lawyerish". Very Scandinavian crime-like. The actors are the best, but they have too little to act upon. And in the end they realize this, and starts acting bad. The last minutes are unbearable to watch.

Everything here could have been great, but it isn't. And twist and turns should make it exciting as can be. You'll only enjoy this if you don't expect too much. I did, due to knowing Danish film was at it's very best some years earlier. Instead, pick up "Headhunters" which is really built the same way, but is everything this film isn't. This tries to be exciting, but is just better avoided.

This 2008 Danish thriller has now been issued on DVD with English subtitles to take advantage of the wave of enthusiasm for 'Nordic noir'. It is well worth it. It is a superb example of noir, far better than many American attempts. In fact, it has already been sold to Hollywood for one of those 'remakes' of foreign films which America produces for audiences too lazy to read subtitles, but which are always inferior to the originals. Few people appear to have seen this film yet, as there are only two reviews on IMDb so far. Perhaps viewers are deterred by the fact that the DVD box only has Danish on it, and no English language blurbs, but the subtitles are on the film and are well done. This film is an extremely tense nail-biter about revenge, corruption, and murder. The pace and the tension never let up for one second, and the direction is excellent by Kasper Barfoed. He has already entered the English language film world as the director of the excellent new thriller THE NUMBERS STATION (2013), which I hope to review if time allows, as it is an example of a successful migration of a Danish noir director into our language. The original screenplay of this film is by Stefan Jaworski, who from his name seems to be some kind of a 'Danish Pole', hard to imagine but stranger things have happened (such as Piper Perabo, who is a 'Norwegian German American', once thought to be a 'Portuguese Norwegian', but I see that has in recent weeks been corrected on her IMDb bio and Portugal has been dropped entirely from her pedigree, much to the dismay of all the Portuguese, I am sure). Jaworski has an amazing talent for inventing the most hair-raising twists and turns in a thriller script, and I suspect he must be a good chess player. The lead in this film has been well chosen. He is Nikolaj Lie Kaas (the Lie family being a famous family in Norway, which is possibly why he retains that middle name in a position of prominence for his screen credits). He himself is Danish and has appeared in 54 films despite being only 30 years old. In this film he appears to be constantly in a state of intense angst and confusion, and is so stressed-out, it hypes up the tension of the story to higher levels. 'Why,' he wonders hopelessly, 'are people trying to kill me all the time?' After all, his father had been killed a year earlier, and now the same people are after him. But there are so many false identities and false deaths and blind alleys in this story that it is a perfect puzzle. People who like playing Sodoku will love it, as the entire film is a gigantic intellectual miasma. As usual with Scandinavian and French thrillers of these days, monstrously corrupt people are abusing their power, perverting 'the system', and stopping at nothing to get what they want. And alas, that is a pretty accurate depiction of our contemporary world. Admirers of BORGEN will notice the girl who plays Katrine appearing in a supporting role here, Birgitte Hjort Sorensen, this time with dark hair. Ulf Pilgaard plays the sinister lawyer Martin Schiller, and he too will be recognised from BORGEN, where he played Joachim Chrone. Laura Christensen, who plays Louise, will be recognised from THE KILLING, where she played Lisa. Kim Bodnia plays the evil gangster Claes Kiehlert, and will be recognised from THE KILLING where he played Bulow, and that terrible Swedish series which I hated, THE BRIDGE (2011-13), where he plays Martin Rohde. Even Henning Jensen, who appears only briefly as the hero's father in flashbacks, was in THE KILLING as Gilsfort. One could go on like this, drawing the endless traces of the spider's web of the pool of Danish talent from one production to another. But it is clear that the Danes have amassed what is effectively a superior repertory company of highly-skilled actors which reminds us unmistakably of the similar group in Sweden during the Ingmar Bergman years. And with all that talent swimming in the Danish cultural seas, there is rich fishing to be had.

This film is a great testament to the capabilities of the incredible danish cinema. The acting is utilized to its fullest and the script is very clever and well-written.

It is a very beautifully put together film and the cinematography and cutting and editing flows splendidly. You can truly tell that a true auteur is behind it, and it takes some unconventional paths as acustomed to european cinema.

Overall, truly an incredible piece of art that is recommended for any lover of film. It's truly a masterpiece in every sense of the word that should be experienced for yourself. Truly spectacular!

Quite typical Scandinavian thriller in that everybody seemingly has demons, is grumpy or drinks too much plus the colours are bleak.

Nevertheless the story holds your attention and though the main character behaves sometimes rather curiously the twists are surprising and the end worthwhile. It would benefit from cutting maybe 10 minutes.

If you like films like the adaptations of the Adler-Olsen series you will like this one.