Um Homem de Sorte

Often a prosaic formulaic film can be a financial success based on casting and marketing decisions that provide anticipation of the release. Having viewed this just by chance last night on Netflix (not dubbed, as commenters have criticized) the film combined a rare and intriguing immersion of a different time and place.

Few films are made from Nobel Literature Prize winning novels, as this described by the prize winner Henrik Pontoppidan in 1917. "But the subjects which especially attracted me demanded a more spacious form and a broader style. I turned to the novel, an artistic form which had in former days been neglected and had thus acquired a bad reputation, but which during the nineteenth century had developed and elevated itself to the ranks occupied by drama and the ancient epic. In a trilogy, including Lykke Per written over a decade period, I have attempted to give a continuous picture of the Denmark of today through descriptions of human minds and human fates which reflect the social, religious, and political struggles of the time.

Rather than being unduly slow moving, this film conveyed the life of several strong willed characters along with an accurate depiction of two cultures of the era - fundamentalist Christianity and Secular Judaism. The three hours of the film could only define the contours of the radical Christianity, while dramatizing the cultural-financial-humanistic world of this class of Jews, that also illustrates this same group in neighboring Germany.

The film brilliantly depicted the era on two levels, a brilliant man who bristled under this form of Christianity; and his lover who was part of the vanguard of enlightened humanist sensibilities, soon to be destroy by the disaster of the Third Reich.

The acclaim by other commenters who saw the Danish language version, indicates this film should have been an artistic and financial success. As produced, it is a rare gem, that fulfills the original writers goal of capturing a time of transition in Denmark, and of Europe

If you choose to watch a foreign language film dubbed into your language, you are not watching the work as created by the actors and director. If you are too ignorant to read subtitles you have no right to review.

Last night I had the pleasure of enjoying this movie at the East Bay Jewish Film Festival, in Northern California, USA. It appears that the 3 people who have previously reviewed this movie are from Denmark, so they have a different perspective than someone from my part of the world.

What is very confusing is that when you search for this movie it comes up on imdb as BOTH a mini series and also a movie. It was interesting last night, when they told us, that there was an intermission. Now I know why. I also understand and agree with the other viewers that it is too long and too slow. But if it was originally designed as a mini series, things generally get stretched out.

However, I found it to be a very interesting movie. What was not made clear was whether it was based on a true story or not? If it was, I would have wanted to know if any of his engineering ideas were ever adapted in any way for Denmark or some of the projects that the Jewish family sponsored at the end of the movie stayed in existence for a long time or not.

The cinematography was fascinating and perhaps understanding the difference between people in the big city of Copenhagen as opposed to Jutland would have been nice. Anyway, I liked it.

Lykke-Per/ A fortunate man tells the story of a man who tries to create his own legacy, during a time of economical and social turmoil (Denmark at the end of the 19th century).

I found this movie to be very balanced, emphasizing as much on the man's own issues than on the country's evolution during that era - it depicts in a suble way what every Man shall encounter eventually : the desire to free oneself from one's past, the need to forgive, loneliness and finiteness.

When a movie is relatively slow but it still lets you slide on your couch uncomfortably because you don't know what's coming, and when it hits strong emotions inside you, then you have seen a beautiful movie. Watch it in original language with subtitles.