Entre o Bem e o Mal

This was a wonderful surprise at the (Cleveland) CIFF, a well-made dark comedy.

Adam is a neo-Nazi on a sort of Danish "probation for reprobates", where society's sinners are given a gradual re-introduction to public life under the guidance of Ivan, a parish minister. Adam needs to negotiate a "program" for his several weeks stay; despite his efforts at being arch and cynical Ivan takes him totally in seriousness, setting "baking an apple pie" as Adam's goal. A battle of wills ensues between Adam and Ivan, with wonderful comedic support from Gunnar (Nicolas Bro in another wonderful role) the ex-tennis player and Khalid (Ali Kazim) as a not-yet-reformed terrorist.

Everyone is coping here, but the central character is clearly Ivan (perhaps the funniest I've seen Mads Mikkelsen!). He comes across as "Pangloss" with a twist: "everything is for the best" in this world only in that the devil conspires to make everything a test of man's faith. He is completely deluded yet completely steadfast. This rational irrationality is perhaps the greatest challenge to Adam; no matter what he does Ivan retains his faith…to a point where the comedy simply takes another course.

Not to give away the delight of this comedy's surprises, the characters cope with life, each other, are exasperated and exasperating, consistently inconsistent…the trials of Job are well played out in this barely disguised absurdist romp.

"Let's stop with the accusations. It was an old cat. He just happened to fall down while we were shooting."

There are dark comedies. There are pitch black comedies. And then, there's Adam's Apples.

If you want to watch a movie that takes some of the most depressing, horrible things you can think of, and makes them absolutely hilarious, this is the movie for you.

I won't spoil much of the story, as watching what unexpectedly happens throughout is one of the pleasures of the movie. It begins with a priest named Ivan driving an unrepentant neo-Nazi named Adam from prison to the church where he will be performing his community service. Ivan gives Adam the choice of one goal to set for himself to complete, before he leaves. Ivan, completely uncaring, chooses to make an apple pie from the apple tree outside the church, once they are ripe.

From there, things quickly get out of hand. Let's just say that the sensitive need not apply. 

I recommend Adam's Apples to people with a dark sense of humor, who are fine with laughing at incredibly inappropriate (yet incredibly amusing) things. This movie was made for people like you and me. 

I'm not referring to low-brow humor. This is a different animal. An utterly unique (as far as my experience goes), intelligent comedy that ultimately brings sunshine forth from some of the darkest clouds you've ever seen (both figuratively and literally).

Having seen all these actors in earlier flicks I thought I knew what I had in store. I was wrong. I laughed like silly where one shouldn't laugh and enjoyed the movie immensely. It is set in a typical Danish village but there is nothing typical about the inhabitants. The priest has a way with people which even the Bee Gees can't dilute. The doctor has this wonderful Danish dialect which all you non-Danish speaking people will miss out on, but still he will be very funny to you all. It's hard to compare this film to any other, but maybe it owes something to "They Eat Dogs in China". And who would have thought that "A Half Kennedy" is a medical term? If you are only going to see one Nordic movie this decade, don't miss out on this one!

Anders Thomas Jensen has with his earlier films, "De grønne slagtere" and "Blinkende lygter", convinced the audience of his scriptwriting talents, especially his distinct sense of dark humour. "Adams æbler", clearly a more ambitious project, is now gaining him recognition as a director with a vision. Apart from merely being amusing and intriguing as a comedy, the film succeeds in communicating a meaningful message to the audience, while being deep and sufficiently complex in its values. Indeed, the film's central theme questions our central notion of good and evil without giving definite conclusions: whether there really exist absolute values is eventually left unanswered. Which is better of the two: the blindly devoted and fanatically optimistic priest Ivan or the nihilistic neo-Nazi Adam? Jensen attempts to twist the basic setting by making Ivan appear rather unsympathetic: while he helps people as a priest, he doesn't seem to do it because of them but rather because of his faith alone. It is often Adam, who notices this, not failing to observe (almost objecting to) the weaknesses of Ivan's behaviour, and yes, it is the cold-hearted, evil Adam who seems to care more and more as the story goes on.

It is difficult to sum up the whole film with only a couple of words. Mixing biblical allegories, especially the story of Job (the Fall being also an essential part of the film, yet not actually in the plot itself), with modern drama and dark comedy, Adams æbler does not fit into traditional categories. As a comedy, it doesn't straightforwardly tell what to laugh at, but the humorous is intertwined with absolutely serious elements. Thus the movie examines the outskirts of comedy and humour: it encourages the viewer to ponder whether the events are humorous or not. Even the music doesn't correspond with the comedy genre at all, but is constantly foreboding and solemn. It is a versatile film, but despite the exceptional blend, it succeeds in keeping the story together. And it's a good story.

Characters are well built and well played. Ulrich Thomsen gives perhaps his best performance to date as Adam (challenged only by his role in Festen), and so does Mads Mikkelsen as Ivan. Nicolas Bro, Ali Kazim and Paprika Steen must also be commended for their roles. Bro is a kleptomaniac and a drunkard, Kazim plays an immigrant Robin Hood gone bad, and Paprika Steen delivers a steady performance as an unbalanced future mother considering abortion. Special mention goes to Ole Thestrup as the devilishly comical (almost malicious, though we are not quite sure) Dr. Kolberg, who, while joking with his patients misfortunes in lovable dialect and showing virtually no respect to any taboos, fails to demonstrate signs of empathy or other proper human feelings. "He's done for. You could use him as a crapper. Have you had coffee?" As to its thematics, the film is utterly uncompromising: in its treatment of today's starkest evils, it never offers an apology or a clear moral; the final return towards the acceptable, so frequent in the comedy genre, doesn't quite occur. Instead, none of the problems are resolved or even discussed properly – rather, they are laughed at. As in his earlier films and as many of his Danish colleagues have been doing, Jensen is examining the limits of comedy – how far can one go in making fun of sensitive matters such as abuse, rape, violence, racism, disability and so on. Jensen is a provocateur: he discusses ugly subjects with little discretion, avoiding compromises. Like Dr. Kolberg, he wants to talk about things with their real names and discuss them as they are. But in addition, the comedy genre allows him to treat these issues openly.

It's about the battle between good and evil: Ivan sees only the good, Adam only the evil. Ivan tries to make Adam see the good, Adam attempts to force Ivan into seeing the evil around him. Ivan preaches about the distinction between good and evil, pointing out how much the modern world is in confusion with these terms and how much our common conceptions have changed with time. This is ironical, because the movie questions the whole distinction: in other words, it questions the consequences of the fall (not uncommon in Danish lay theology). While not making an actual statement, it points out that good and evil are, at least to a great extent, constructs of society and dependant on the point of view. On the other hand, by making Ivan absolutely blind to misfortunes in his life, it illustrates how it is possible to see good in everything, and close ones eyes from everything bad.

Adams æbler is a very interesting movie. It entertains, shocks, provokes, and finally, redeems. Whether this redemption is favourable as such, is left to the viewer to judge. All in all, it's an absolutely surprising masterwork, one of the rare gems. 8/10.

I love Danish films and this is a wonderful movie with magnificent acting. Its so funny and sad at times. The triumph of good on evil.