If someone actually did invent a machine that made time pass at a lower rate than it does, giving us longer lives, he would be celebrated. When it is a film, however, that makes it appear as though it's twice(or more) its running time by virtue of moving at a snail's pace, we're less enthusiastic. I borrowed this from the library(fairly quickly, too, what a wonder that no one else wanted it) to make sure I hadn't missed anything, since we read the novel for Danish class(honestly, could the exam situation be threatening to a greater degree than it is? Possibly if loaded weapons were aimed at you during your presentation and subsequent dialog with the teacher and censor, and even then, I'm not sure it would be), and, well, it's nearly entirely physical description and dialog(in Jutlandic, no less), no narration, and you have to pay close attention(it was written a number of years ago, as well) to figure out what is actually going on(this is easier, of course, as you can see it). Bang did succeed, though; it is not a boring read. It's vivid and rich, you can "sense" the stuff he's telling us of, exactly as he intended. And that's why, while it shouldn't, it surprised me that this was so flat, and essentially the opposite of what I've just said about the source material(it follows the plot, cutting it down somewhat). This elicits next to no emotional response, other than occasionally annoyance. It's not poor from a technical standpoint, if it feels "empty". This tries to inject dumb, silly humor. There is good acting in this; Nørbye clearly makes an effort, and she's not the only one. This has far less characterization than the original. All of these are the same problems as many of our pictures, maybe especially the ones that are based on books and are from this period of time. Still, this remains a particularly bad case. No, what Herman gave us wasn't a screenplay, but it was already cinematic in its language. Perhaps the fault lies in the direction; this is the first and only attempt Sydow has made at such. Hopefully it can serve as a warning to others. And the punishment for anyone else who screws up that job. There is a little disturbing content and a couple of mature themes in this. I recommend this solely to those who refuse to accept my words on this being slow, not engaging and a waste of an hour and a half. 5/10
