Vanihm

Generally a good, amospheric and well directed film, the film, it must be said, borrows a little TOO liberally from Katsuhiro Otomos 1980 graphic novel "Domu". The director cites it as an influence, but when you lift ENITRE SCENES from Otomos material - right down to the camera angles - it veers dangerously towards being an outright adaptation rather than just being "inspired". Nothing wrong with that, providing you call it for what it is. But I'll leave that to Otomo's legal team.

This film is the most shrewd and insightful film about puberty I have ever seen - and one of the best films I have ever seen period. It follows a group of Aarhus schoolchildren from the age of 13-15 in 1958-60. The film notices all the small details, the internal power struggles and the growing sexuality of young teens. Much like Heavenly Creatures the film shows the "wonders" of growing up as both beautiful and frightful at the same time. Anyone regardless of nationality can recognise the conflicts and small dramas depicted here. After seeing it I felt as if Malmros had had a crystal ball and looked into the youth of everyone on the planet. Despite the fact that it is filmed in a hyper realistic, almost documentary, style, Malmros manages to fill add dramatic effects through music and background effects to effectively heighten the drama. The last ten minutes of the film builds up tension to the (completely unpredictable, but inevitable) climax and the striking power of the movie's ending sticks with you for hours after the film is over. I truly hope some distributor picks this up for a DVD release internationally - it is too big a masterpiece to be hidden away in Denmark (check out the external reviews if you want more proof)

Normally the name of screenwriter Kim Fupz Aakesonon a Danish film is enough to make my blood freeze. His proletaristic, mind-numbing dialog (mostly consisting of ummmm.... f****... errr s***) is enough to drive me up the wall, and the terribly dull "everyday" (as if people died in car crashes or went insane were everyday things) stories were tiresome. So my expectations for this film were low. Yet I was to be surprised: Director Jacob Thuesen has turned the "everyday" story on it's head, and created a searing critique of the welfare state, the middle class, and society's (particularly the legal system) increasing dependence on experts, and their influence on people's lives.

Troels Lyby is amazing as the father accused of incest, and for once Aakeson's dialogue is fascinating and sharp. For a Danish film it is impressively edited and filmed, and the visual style (especially the unconventional character introductions) is fittingly cold and edgy. The only problem with this film is that it goes on for about ten minutes too long, and the fact that Sofie Graabøl is simply too tried and tested in this sort of film to be anything else than tiresome.

Overall, a greatly underrated movie. I might actually look forward to Aakeson's next film.