Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Art of Crying/Kunsten at Græde i Kor (2006) - Fog's South Jutland incest drama adaptation is a deeply affecting masterpiece

8/20/2018

The Art of Crying/Kunsten at Græde i Kor (2006) - Fog's South Jutland incest drama adaptation is a deeply affecting masterpiece

♥♥♥♥♥♥

+ 3rd Best Movie of the Year
+ Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Drama of the Year + Best Adaptation of the Year

'When dad is happy he forgets to kill himself' reads the tagline on this ominous Danish poster for Peter Schønau Fog's The Art of Crying

In 11 year-old Allan's family in Southern Jutland, his father Henry regularly gets 'poorly' and has to be 'comforted' by Allan's sister Sanne, while their mother leaves them on sleeping pills. But when funerals hit their small town, Henry gets an occasion to shine; by getting everyone to cry with his eulogies.

The Art of Crying is written by Bo Hr. Hansen (Word of God/Gud Taler Ud (2017)), adapting Erling Jepsen's (Frygtelig Lykkelig (2004)) same-titled, autobiographical 2002 novel, and directed by debuting Danish master filmmaker Peter Schønau Fog (You Disappear/Du Forsvinder (2017)).
It is an exceptional, original, heartbreaking and often awfully funny film, which manages eminently to catch the dilatory cadence of the people and region it takes place in, and their rather chilling gloom, especially as it plays out in Henry's intimate and also overly intimate relationship with death. Dark humor also runs as an invisible current through the flat landscapes and the people that move around in them, and through Jepsen and Hansen's dialog.
The film's superb quality of course also stems from first rate performances all-round: Especially Jesper Asholt's (Truly Human/Et Rigtigt Menneske (2001)) portrayal of the terribly destructive Henry and Jannik Lorenzen (Young at Heart/Ungt Hjerte (2016)) and Julie Kolbeck as his two unlucky children are fiercely real in their deeply moving performances.
The Art of Crying is likely the best Danish film in years.

Related posts:

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a short clip from the film here, in which Allan and his milkman father Henry are out on a visit

Cost: 16.5 mil. DKK, equaling approximately 2.53 mil. $
Box office: 2.2 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.86 times the cost)
[The Art of Crying premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival, Canada) and runs 107 minutes. The funding includes 8.2 mil. DKK in state support. The film was the 18th highest-grossing in Denmark in 2007 with 2.2 mil. $ from 228,303 admissions, an impressive number in the small country, but although it was screened at at least 15 festivals and released regularly in a few countries, it hasn't registered foreign grosses (besides 16k $ in Mexico). The film won an AFI award, 2/4 Bodil award nominations (Denmark's film critics' award), the Nordic Council film prize, 8/11 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar) and many other honors. It was also Denmark's entry for the 2008 Oscars, but it was snubbed. Fog returned with You Disappear/Du Forsvinder (2017). Asholt returned in Temporary Release/Ledsaget Udgang (2007), Lorenzen in April 9th/9. April (2015). 1,996 IMDb users have given The Art of Crying a 7.5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Art of Crying?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

8/20/2018

The Art of Crying/Kunsten at Græde i Kor (2006) - Fog's South Jutland incest drama adaptation is a deeply affecting masterpiece

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

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