Die Tür

A film about coping with grief after the loss of a daughter. It combines drama with mystery; the tunnel into the past can be read as a symbol for the inner psychological labyrinth of a human soul, attempts to come to terms with the past to ease the pain, find a way out of despair.

A movie is a bit darker than I expected. That's not bad, but the last part of the movie is weak. And when a dark episode is weak, that looks like a comedy.

Nevertheless, it's a complex film that is definitely worth watching. Much of what makes "The Door" good can be attributed to Mads Mikkelsen's acting, who offers an impressive character performance. There is a nice depicting of father-daughter relationship.

The premise of this story is so utterly ridiculous, that you rapidly appreciate that it can go in any direction. Whatever the writers choose to pursue as the actual tale, is entirely their right.

What they do pursue, is a tense little drama based around the situation that the magic creates. The result is a dark, edgy, occasionally morbid fairy tale - one could argue that all fairy tales are like that anyway.

Mads gives his usual beautiful-teak performance (I'm sure the man has more than one act... then again, I don't really care if he does), and the supporting cast, particularly the wife and daughter, are excellent.

I did like the way the story gets on top of you, and accelerates. There is a story by Charles Stross that this movie reminds me of, but I can't give you the name without spoiling (it's also not one of his better tales I'm afraid).

Where I could possibly knock off points would be maybe in the logic, but then this isn't an SF tale, it's fantasy. It's also a little long for the tale it tells, it could have been just a bit more compressed for the content. Finally, it's just not a work that moved me - it's good, it's gripping, it's entertaining. But it's not high art.

I can recommend this film, just don't expect it to blow your mind.

I enjoyed very much this movie as it was a blend between dark and fantasy. The actors fitted the roles and I liked the game between the "old" and "new" characters. What I liked the most was the fact that the movie was not predictable and had a touch of sensibility, which most movies nowadays tend to miss. As an European movie I recommend it without hesitation and the thriller part was blended perfectly with the dark story. As a minor observation I can add that the story could have gone a bit darker without fading away the sensibility of the father- daughter relationship. In this light, I think the movie can be improved, but the written part on which is based I think succeeds as a story. So if you want a quality movie, with an imaginative story and good actors, this is the right movie for you.

First I want to say that I have a couple of problems with the plot, some points that have got snagged in my mind and made me wonder, "But why didn't the writer...?". This is one of those times when I wish I had read the book (if there was a book) before watching the film to see if those points arise from the story or how the story was translated into film, but that would obviously defeat the purpose and kill the suspense, so I am better off having seen the film first. Let me say, seeing the film from beginning to end, I forgive those snags.

I will not repeat what the plot summary says. I just want to add that I liked the light world/dark world division, the secrets the supposedly light world hides and perhaps its reflections unto real world. I like the acting in general, the relatively slow pace of a thriller and how that slowness, without actually pacing up, makes the heart pace up and pulls the watcher into it. It's a make believe that you get lost in.

I wonder why there isn't a poster submitted to this web site, why the actors don't have photographs and why there isn't much buzz about the film. I wish the worldwide movie producers made use of a popular web site like this.

One of the best European productions i have seen this year and absolutely Deutsche Grundlichkeit! Mads Mikkelsen would make Oscar material out of an airline safety video and he again is blowing is away.

When distraught artist Mikkelsen finds a door to a parallel world it looks to go his way. The story line makes sense from beginning till end in this top smart suspense script with superb performance by Danish sexiest man of the year Mikkelsen and Schwartz as his wife. This story burns slow, but fastidious, and it twists and twists and twists.

A perfect world is only one layer away from disaster is one that applies here and as said by André Maurois: a man cannot free himself from the past more easily than he can from his own body. The mundane average surroundings make you realize only half way that you are watching a master piece.