Copenhagen

Stayed up late and watched this film.. bad decision, for I could not put it out of my mind, thinking about what I would say regarding it. If you're like me, you probably watch quite a few indy and foreign films, so there's more a possibility of coming across individuals you know little or nothing about involved in their effort. With this film there are several exceptional talents displayed. It's a great experience, because when you see the person again, you'll easily remember the first time you saw them. It's impossible now to ever forget this performance of Frederikke Dahl Hansen, she is just awesome.. binged.it/1sYfR1m .. Twenty years old she's playing the role of a very bright, awkward/shy-at-times, fourteen year old girl.. falling hard in love for the first time (with a guy twice her age). It's a standout, career-starting display of top notch talent, at times you see each part clearly. For a young actor her age, to be portraying a character so much younger is the big challenge, and give credit to her being selected for the role. Now although she will without question be in many more productions, you will always see a part of her as Effy (and we have another Effy.. if you haven't seen 'Skins'..watch it). Gethin Anthony also deserves much praise, his complex character again being played to perfection.. good portion of us wondering how he was going to come through it all in the end. It's a truly wonderful little film, one you'll definitely look forward to viewing again.

not surprising. but beautiful in a special manner. a simple story about search of origins and a meeting. and the admirable performance of Frederikke Dahl Hansen, the interesting portrait of foreign lost in different space by Gethin Anthony. romance. and delicate build of questions. because it is a film, like many others from same genre, about the small details. about need of other, about past, about clash between two different ways to discover the truth. and the great thing, maybe the challenge, is the option to present, with different nuances, the same story, exploring roots, imposing solutions and crisis and confuse feelings from contemporary every day situations. that film who discover shadows. with grace. and high precision. romance. but only as skin. the heart is more interesting.

When I picked up this movie, I thought how two different age people touring around Copenhagen looking for someone can be interesting for 90+ mins. However, I never felt bored with the whole movie. In fact, the movie draws my attention so deep that you feel you are in their situation. The movie also shows how truly beautiful Copenhagen is.

True talents to both characters but the real gem is how the director/writer crafted those intriguing small talks between them. This movie is an art.

I am very protective of my movie time and end watching a film the moment it veers off to the nowhere land. So, obviously I watched "Copenhagen" to the end. If you liked "Before sunrise" trilogy, the movie aspires to them, except the script here is the main problem and that's a shame. So, the actors: the main character played by Gethin Anthony does what he can with the script but because the script is flat, his talents go unsupervised and honestly I got lost at times. For example, why he goes in fits and is so mad or angry at times? Why a young American be so rude to a cute teenage waitress who spilled coffee on a table? It's almost unheard of. The guy travels in Europe for a while too, so, it doesn't fit the profile. Moreover, if he was not on good terms with his father why is he even judgmental towards his grandfather? Why is he constantly quarreling with his best friend? I donno. On the other hand, Effy, the main female lead character is resourceful, energetic and awkward at times which is fine as she is supposed to be 14 rather than 20 as the real age of the actress. Her role is better developed in the script. The plot: the main idea of a family search for a long lost grandpa is meaningless to the viewer, there is no background to prompt the interest and appears to be only in the movie to hold the movie together. However, all those bits and pieces are beautifully glued by Copenhagen's images of cobbled narrow streets, canals and crowded clubs and interesting music in the background. That, the cute Danish accent and the age of Effy add to the more dimensional atmosphere of the film. There is something I cannot point to, perhaps the nostalgia (I lived in Sweden for more than a year and have great memories) or the fact that the main character grows up suddenly and makes the right choice made this film interesting enough for me to watch it to the end.

The age of sexual consent in Denmark is 15. That's why the main female character kept mentioning her upcoming birthday. I had been wondering like other reviewers, why they would make the character 14, thereby adding a sort of pedophile angle to an otherwise interesting film.

Why not just have her be 17? But they had to make her 14,because at 15 the whole underage conflict would no longer exist as a legal question. Although it still would as a moral issue. Enough on that.

I don't know why they chose English actors to play Americans, but this male lead was totally natural and believable. I consider him the star of this movie. The other reviewers are "gaga" over the girl.

But remember that we are viewing her as non-Danish people. We are sucked in by her accent and the scenery. But if we were Danish ourselves, we might just think she is an appealing young thing, without being in awe of her.

Having said that, of course she did a nice job of portraying a precocious girl from a broken home with just the right amount of worldly wisdom and sincere innocence.

Other reviewers have skillfully pinpointed the fact that these guys were emotionally immature while the underage girl is emotionally advanced. Because of that, it makes perfect sense why they would be drawn to her.

The movie highlights a certain prolonged adolescence prevalent in many Western men. It takes some a long time to grow up.

Essentially the movie features a substantial character arc. A selfish, boorish guy learns what it means to truly care about another person, both in terms of his father and his new female friend.

I really wanted to know what he did for a living back home. I didn't need a long description of it, but it would give some much-needed context. I also needed to know about his mom. This background information could have been satisfied in a few brief remarks or one conversation.

Copenhagen looks nice. I don't know enough about Cinematography to judge it here, but there were definitely some nicely framed shots of water and colorful homes.

The music was a key factor for me. There is a scene where our male lead is walking on a beach or something, and there is a dramatic electronic beat steadily gaining volume and steam. I loved that.

Check it out. It's worth watching, despite the creepiness of the age-related sexual tension.