Offscreen

Accomplished actor Nicholas Bro wants to make a movie. He asks his friend and director Christopher Boe for his help, and being the good guy Boe is, he gives him a camera and the essentials to start his film. Bro's (not Boe) idea is to shoot a love-story involving himself and his wife. I forget specifics at the moment, but I think it was an attempt on his part to fix his struggling relationship. Well, it backfires, and the basis of the movie is Nicholas attempting to finish his movie, thus showing his wife how much he loves her, and ultimately getting her back. The results are nothing less than eye-opening.

This is my first peek into a Christopher Boe film and I must say I'm very impressed. I've heard he's one of the world's leading young directors and I can easily back that statement. Before I gush over Boe anymore, I do have to also commend Nicholas's performance as well. It was really something else, and almost at times, felt too realistic. Getting back to Boe, and it's related to Nicholas in a way, the reason why I was so sucked into this film was because of the realism. The ideas and writing for Bro's character hooked me in on a level that screamed real life tragedy.

What real life tragedy? What kind of tragedy? As the climax of the movie began I was almost immediately reminded of the movie, The Video Diary of Ricardo Lopez. It was a graphic, tragic and a very emotional real-life film that displayed mental problems on a level I've never seen before. I never in my life would have thought I would see a movie that would create a comparable feeling that that film gave off. But it did, and I applaud them for doing so.

A fierce and uncomfortable film, which far exceeds the boundaries of the real-life genre. Almost all the actors play themselves and especially Nicholas Bro delivers an incredible performance in the role of his alter ego. In the barely nineteen years of his acting career, he has more than 70 films to his name and knows how to portray all his characters, however diverse, with credibility and conviction. He succeeds in doing so again here and just like the main character, the viewer has difficulty distinguishing reality from fiction. The smart direction and restless images also contribute to this. Filming is done almost continuously by hand, often without artificial light in the semi-darkness, creating a gritty and clunky home-movie-like atmosphere. Not a Dogma film by all the rules, but it does have all the elements of it. Lars von Trier would be proud of it. Certainly not a movie for a nice evening in front of the TV with chips and children. Yet another one of those disturbing masterpieces from Scandinavian cinema. The poster on the left suggests something comedy-like, but nothing could be further from the truth!

As a rating an 8!

NB: Don't be fooled by the title: thank goodness this film has nothing to do with the Dutch dragon 'Off Screen' from a year earlier.

Danish writer/director Christoffer Boe leaves no seat dry and no mind bored with this intense and rare movie. Not necessarily provocative, not 'art cinema', just plain and simple genius. Really a must-see for those who think they've seen everything or for those who just about had enough of mainstream (Danish) cinema. Christoffer Boe is one of indeed very few Danish directors who has a mission with his art, besides reaching a great audience. "Offscreen" will never be a box office hit but a fantastic movie to watch now and then - to those of us who find movie-making a delicate art and not JUST a mass media for entertainment. This movie is the third from the director and is indeed his most thought-provoking - with amazing acting from great Danish actor Nicolas Bro. You've never seen anything like this - - !