The Green Butchers

'Taste this marinade' 'No' 'Smell the marinade' 'I smoke 20 joints a day. I wouldn't smell my hair if it was on fire'

This is the kind of humour you are up against with this movie and I love it. The Green Butchers is a wry, dark but well executed movie that doesn't act like a brash, puke 'em up, farty yank movie would with the same subject matter. Oh no sir. None of that old rubbish here. Scandinavia wins again and this time it's a Danish offering. Two butchers work for a man who is less than impressed by their efforts so they go it alone and open their own butchers shop to escape his scathing criticisms and earn some self respect. The opening doesn't go well. Then there is an accident. Then there is a modicum of success. Then there is a lot of success, But, because of this there has to be another accident to keep up with supply and demand. People disappear. But the meat is so good. Do you see where I'm going with this.? Not one spoiler will there be in this review. I gave this movie 9/10. Why not the full 10? I hear you ask. Nothing is perfect in this world that's why. But The Green Butchers comes mighty close in my humble opinion. Get it people and enjoy. Oh by the way CANNIBLISM is a part of this movie. Even if it is by default. =-)

Not entirely sure how I stumbled upon this movie, but I'm so glad I did. Initially, we were put off by the fact that it was subtitled, but even my dyslexic brother who hates to read (especially at the weekend) enjoyed this film. I found the script fantastic and the way it was delivered in such a dead-pan manner only added to the puddles of pee on my sofa. Not entirely sure whether it's quite so funny to the native Danish as the comedy seems to be enhanced by the tonelessness of the subtitles and the ambiguity of the translation. I haven't watched many Danish films (or any for that matter), but judging by this film I'm guessing they're not constrained by the same political correctness as elsewhere (gawd bless 'em) making the character of Eigel a breath of fresh air, because let's face it special needs are funny. There are so many great one-liners in this film it puts American sitcoms to shame.

OK, so I'm not usually one that runs out and rents foreign movies...especially foreign dark comedies. I think I can count on one hand the number of films that I found genuinely hilarious from beginning to end. This movie will be added to the short list. Even dark comedies right out of Hollywood sometimes turn me off because they require an incredibly dry sense of humor. But this one had my eyes welling up with tears. My sides hurt. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. This movie was recommended by my mother and I don't think I would have even dreamed of watching it had she not raved about it. Don't be afraid of having to read during your movie - you'll miss out on a hilariously well-acted flick.

If you don't mind subtitles, you like comedy and truly interesting characters, along with a taste of something different from mainstream American cinema, then take a chance and rent this film.

Two contrasting friends, (one very neurotic sweater, the other the strong quiet loner type) working for a jerk butcher in a smaller danish town, decide to strike out on they're own together and open a butcher shop themselves. Not successful at first they incorporate something new to they're recipe and become an instant hit with the village.

That being an interesting story in itself, this smartly humorous film is laced with even more, (friendship, romance, crime, death, personal tragedy) that makes this film so funny yet riddled with numerous subtle interests that make it so interestingly funny yet warm and fuzzy.

A must mention is the characters created and the actors making them believable. You can have the best script yet if the characters aren't believable it can sink a film and with this, the directing, acting, character believability and story all mesh so well they make this a very entertaining film.

So, if your in the mood to stretch a lil, want to see something very good yet done a bit differently, then I suggest you rent this film while I'm on my way out to find more by director writer Anders Thomas Jensen.

The art of the absurd is alive and thriving in current Danish cinema! Well, at least it is in this movie. Nobody in this movie are amused. They are all either annoyed or shocked, and if they aren't yet, they soon will be! It is a story of screw-ups, murder, embarrassment, dignity, and, in the end, love and redemption. The chilling, awkward humorous style is idiomatic and won't appeal to everyone, but personally I found it to have just the right fascinating mix of the bizarre and the absurd. You pity the characters from a distance, even as you dislike them up close and personal. But their story is so tragic that you find it in yourself to forgive them and be happy for them, even when they get away with murder.

This is, in my judgment, definitely the best Danish movie of the last few years.

9 out of 10.