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| Star Peter Frödin looks silly before a woman in a chastity belt on this DVD cover for Søren Fauli's Grev Axel |
In late 18th century Denmark a performing actor without much luck steals a man's pony and learns that said man was about to become a count. He swiftly assumes the man's identity and suddenly becomes a popular man of means and power.
Grev Axel is written by Anders Thomas Jensen (Men & Chicken/Mænd og Høns (2015)) and directed by Søren Fauli (Antenneforeningen (1999)). The titles means 'count Axel'.
The film launches crazy comedy in the Mel Brooks vein, though with a clear Danish style and engaged performances all the way around:
Peter Frödin (Grethe (2016-17)) and Sofie Gråbøl (Flickering Lights/Blinkende Lygter (2000)) are tremendous.
The film would have benefited from a larger budget, and its script is clearly politely structured to follow the 'three act handbook', which isn't a compliment in this case.
Related post:
Søren Fauli: How to Get Rid of the Others/Hvordan Vi Slipper Af med De Andre (2007) - A generally awful Danish surreal comedy turkey (co-star)
Watch a scene from the film here, which is regrettably without subtitles but hysterically funny if you understand Danish
Cost: 13.5 mil. DKK, approximately 2.03 mil. $
Box office: 348k $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.17 times its cost)
[Grev Axel premiered 6 April (Denmark) and runs 90 minutes. The film was supported with a sum of money from the Danish Film Institute. It sold 67,468 tickets in production country Denmark. The listed gross, - only from there, - makes for an average ticket prize of 5.15 $. The film was not theatrically released elsewhere. The film won 2/5 Robert award nominations (Denmark's Oscar). Fauli returned with Polle Fiction (2002). Frödin returned in En Kort En Lang (2001); Gråbøl in Livsforsikringen (2003, short), Nikolaj og Julie (2002-03) and theatrically in Lad De Små Børn... (2004). 645 IMDb users have given Grev Axel a 5.5/10 average rating.]
What do you think of Grev Axel?
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