Copenhagen

Shot in the beautiful city of (you guessed it) Copenhagen, Denmark, the film follows 28-year-old William (Gethin Anthony) as he searches for his grandfather with nothing to guide him besides a letter—written in Danish, which William can not read nor speak—that his father wrote around 40 years ago. After his best friend Jeremy (Sebastian Armesto) and Jeremy's girlfriend (Olivia Grant) leave him to search the city on his own, William enlists the help of a local girl, Effy (Frederikke Dahl Hansen), to aid him in his search. The two begin to form a budding romance, until William discovers that Effy is only 14 years old. Though Copenhagen begins as a search to find one's family, it soon becomes clear that it's far more important to find one's self. Through William's character, Raso paints a vividly accurate portrait of having to mature and develop as one travels through their 20s. Both Anthony and Hansen give remarkable performances, artistically presenting a great deal of sentiment. I personally prefer to remain eternally seven, but Raso gives a great argument on the benefits of growing up.

When I picked up this movie, I thought how two different age people touring around Copenhagen looking for someone can be interesting for 90+ mins. However, I never felt bored with the whole movie. In fact, the movie draws my attention so deep that you feel you are in their situation. The movie also shows how truly beautiful Copenhagen is.

True talents to both characters but the real gem is how the director/writer crafted those intriguing small talks between them. This movie is an art.

not surprising. but beautiful in a special manner. a simple story about search of origins and a meeting. and the admirable performance of Frederikke Dahl Hansen, the interesting portrait of foreign lost in different space by Gethin Anthony. romance. and delicate build of questions. because it is a film, like many others from same genre, about the small details. about need of other, about past, about clash between two different ways to discover the truth. and the great thing, maybe the challenge, is the option to present, with different nuances, the same story, exploring roots, imposing solutions and crisis and confuse feelings from contemporary every day situations. that film who discover shadows. with grace. and high precision. romance. but only as skin. the heart is more interesting.

Like so many others I kept seeing this come up on netflix. However I was always put off by the poster. To me it looked like a hallmark wanna be. Boy oh boy was I wrong. This movie blew me away. Though I want to state up front that I did not find it perfect, and I did get a little uncomfortable at moments. However this movie masterfully handles the storytelling, filmmaking and even cultural aspects. I honestly think that had it not been for the fact that the age of consent in the U.S. Is 18 ( in Denmark it is 15), this movie would have made a star out of the director and the lovely leading lady. This young actress gives jaw dropping performance.

I would also like to point out the beautiful camera work. The long dolly shots and creative use of light are amazing. While I do wish that the lead actor could have given a more original performance and been less stereotypical. The same statement also goes for a hand full of the supporting cast. However those things do not take away from all of the wonderful points of the film.

Highly recommended

I am very protective of my movie time and end watching a film the moment it veers off to the nowhere land. So, obviously I watched "Copenhagen" to the end. If you liked "Before sunrise" trilogy, the movie aspires to them, except the script here is the main problem and that's a shame. So, the actors: the main character played by Gethin Anthony does what he can with the script but because the script is flat, his talents go unsupervised and honestly I got lost at times. For example, why he goes in fits and is so mad or angry at times? Why a young American be so rude to a cute teenage waitress who spilled coffee on a table? It's almost unheard of. The guy travels in Europe for a while too, so, it doesn't fit the profile. Moreover, if he was not on good terms with his father why is he even judgmental towards his grandfather? Why is he constantly quarreling with his best friend? I donno. On the other hand, Effy, the main female lead character is resourceful, energetic and awkward at times which is fine as she is supposed to be 14 rather than 20 as the real age of the actress. Her role is better developed in the script. The plot: the main idea of a family search for a long lost grandpa is meaningless to the viewer, there is no background to prompt the interest and appears to be only in the movie to hold the movie together. However, all those bits and pieces are beautifully glued by Copenhagen's images of cobbled narrow streets, canals and crowded clubs and interesting music in the background. That, the cute Danish accent and the age of Effy add to the more dimensional atmosphere of the film. There is something I cannot point to, perhaps the nostalgia (I lived in Sweden for more than a year and have great memories) or the fact that the main character grows up suddenly and makes the right choice made this film interesting enough for me to watch it to the end.