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From ZERO to 6 ♥s. 100% ad-free. Run on pure love for movies, documentaries and TV-series. September 2024: More reviews of titles from 1990-2024 - Upcoming review: The Ice Harvest (2005)
Star Sidse Babett Knudsen looks disturbed behind a young male on this minimalist poster for Gustav Möller's Vogter
Eva is a dedicated prison guard in a Danish penitentiary. But when the young man responsible for her son's death some years earlier gets transferred, her composure goes out the window.
Vogter is written by Emil Nygaard Albertsen (Eliten (2015)) and co-writer/director Gustav Möller (The Guilty/Den Skyldige (2018)). The original Danish title translates to 'guardian'.
A character study of a woman who loses touch with her normal moral center, the film depends on the performance of Sidse Babett Knudsen (Ted Lasso (2021, TV-series)) as Eva, and Knudsen is predictably dependable. Sebastian Bull (The Hunt/Jagten (2012)) impresses as the unpredictable convict that she latches herself onto.
It may seem a bit incredible that no-one at Eva's job connect any of the dots as to her strange attachment to the prisoner, and also that she manages to dodge consequences, but it is just barely under what is an actual problem for the film. Vogter is an intense and stern film about our inevitable connections with each other.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown, projected 3.5 mil. $
Box office: 603k $ and counting
= Too early to say
[Vogter premiered 22 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 100 minutes. The film has sold 22k tickets in Denmark in 5 days, coming to approximately 360k $. It made 273k $ in France, its only registered market on Box Office Mojo, this summer. It is set to release in Portugal, Hungary and Romania in October. Möller is announced to return with Snow Blind, a thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Knudsen returned in Le Fil (2024). Vogter is fresh at 82 % with a 7.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
Star Tilda Swinton stands out in a wealthy family's portrait on this poster for Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love
A wealthy Milanese family's oldest son wants to open a restaurant with a mysterious new friend, who also appeals to his mother over the course of a time which is, for the family in question, fateful.
I Am Love is written by Barbara Alberti (Melissa P. (2005)), Ivan Cotroneo (Sisi (2009, TV-series)), Walter Fasano (Mother of Tears (2007)) and Italian master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Luca Guadagnino (The Protagonists (1999)), whose 5th feature it is. It is the 1st in Guadagnino's Desire trilogy that also comprises A Bigger Splash (2015) and Call Me By Your Name (2017). The title is a literal translation of the original Italian one.
It is a sensual love tale from beautiful Northern Italy with wonderful actors, foremost among them Tilda Swinton (Problemista (2023)) in a lovely performance, which teams with life and lust. The siblings and the chef are also portrayed vividly.
I Am Love is a delectably photographed (cinematography by Yorick Le Saux (Only Lovers Left Alive (2013))) cinematic treat, which somehow steers clear of becoming clichéd. It works its way to a fierce climax, which is open for interpretation, and ends there. The first of his works that most of us met him through, GuadagninosI Am Love deserves a 'Bravo!'
= Box office success, possibly even a big hit (returned 2.94-3.80 times its cost)
[I Am Love premiered 5 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 120 minutes. Shooting took place from June - August in Italy and London, England. The film opened #32 to a 121k $ first weekend in 8 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 166 theaters (different weeks), grossing 5 mil. $. The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 1 mil. $ and the UK with 620k $. Box Office Mojo lists an 11.7 mil. $ final gross, while The-Numbers.com list 15.1 mil. $, however without backing it up with a detailed summary. The film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, lost to In a Better World/Hævnen from Denmark. It was also nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Guadagnino returned with 7 short and documentary projects prior to his theatrical return, A Bigger Splash (2015). Swinton returned in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). I Am Love is certified fresh at 81 % with a 7.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
Star Anders W. Berthelsen photoshopped in on some stairs in front of Denmark's parliament on the poster for Mikkel Serup's Mørkeland
Following several years of unemployment, journalist Ulrik Torp gets an internship at his old workplace, a national Danish newspaper. He is tasked with an assassination story that seems to have implications involving the ongoing general election...
Mørkeland is written by Marie Østerbye (Player (2013)), adapting the same-titled 2019 novel by Niels Krause-Kjær (Tilskueren (2004)), and directed by Mikkel Serup (Klassefesten 2: Begravelsen (2014)). It is the sequel to Nikolaj Arcel's great thriller King's Game/Kongekabale (2004), which was also a Krause-Kjær adaptation. The title translates to 'darkland'.
The novelist has finished two books more since 2019's Mørkeland, and one wonders as spectator if this film took too long to get made, or was the wrong novel to adapt to begin with, because in any case it comes out as somewhat redundant in today's post-COVID, Ukraine War beset Europe. Denmark's political scandals in the last several years have revolved around its overly powerful, self-governed prime minister and her even less rationally controlled, (sometimes dangerously out-of-control) chief of staff and close friend, that is the very center of Denmark's democratic power. Yet in Mørkeland the threat for most of the film is a tiny right-wing party that struggles to get past the 2 % barrier to get MPs, - we are never introduced to any of the more central politicians of the country's election race, - and in fact everything somehow revolves around this tiny, insignificant party. This is an odd plot-line that may have been partly relevant - before the Trump presidency, COVID and several other things happened.
Anders W. Berthelsen (Ditte & Louise (2018)) is back as Torp, with more skin flaps and larger old-man ears, a few more pounds, an actor positively freed from glamouring himself up with procedures and fitness torture, (it is appreciated!), and his journalist look is still very much spot-on. The surrounding cast are competent but that's about it, as their characters are mostly drained of the juice that is wit, humor or personality. There's neat exterior shots of traffic in motion and the film's thriller score (by the completely unknown trio Elvin Matz, Aramis Silvereke and Alexander Weslund (Houseplants, short (2023, all))) is perhaps its best component. Did these three actually make this score? In the age of AI, one is naturally suspicious.
SPOILER The movie's surprise twist is that the real villains really (deep state) mainstream thinkers (including ex-intelligence agents) who believe they better quell the electorate's right-wing leanings and secure EU stability. Real-world Denmark has had vocal, big right-wing parties with power for decades, so this fantasy seems a bit far-fetched. And the relevant political scandals of much bigger proportions (that could have been tackled) are standing in a very long line around the block.
Mørkeland shrinks compared to King's Game. But the execution isn't terrible.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown, projected 30 mil. DKK
Box office: 11.5 mil. DKK and counting
= Too early to say
[Mørkeland was released 22 August (Denmark) and runs 99 minutes. The film has been #1 for 2 weekends in Denmark and sold 137k tickets so far, but it plays in Biografklub Danmark/'cinema club Denmark', meaning that at least half the tickets are sold at half prize. It opens in Sweden, its only slated foreign market, 13 September. Serup does not have his next film announced yet. Berthelsen returns in Børnene fra Sølvgade (2024). 160 IMDb users have given Mørkeland a 6.3/10 average rating.]
A very "groovy" and "hip" zeitgeist-tasting poster for Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night
An important engineer is found slain in a small South state town, and the right away the homicide expert Virgil Tibbs from the East is accused. But he'll soon be tasked with collaborating with the local racists.
In the Heat of the Night is written by Stirling Silliphant (Over the Top (1987)), adapting the same-titled 1965 novel by John Ball (Judo Boy (1964)), and directed by great Canadian-American filmmaker Norman Jewison (40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)).
It is an electric, powerful picture, - still one of the most stimulating American films of all time. The racism theme is served with aplomb; through the terrific performance of Sidney Poitier (The Jackal (1997)), the audience experiences what it may have been like to be black in the American South, both the belittlement and the menace involved. Rod Steiger (End of Days (1999)) inhabits the local sheriff, who learns something from the outsider during the course of the film, in role-model fashion. All of the local rednecks are portrayed convincingly. The cotton farm scene is especially effective.
In a way the murder plot is 'second fiddle' to the racism theme here. Quincy Jones' (Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)) score (abetted with participation from Ray Charles) is a hip and mighty musical pairing that also deserves praise. Haskel Wexler's (Something's Gotta Give (2009)) cinematography is outstanding. SPOILER In the Heat of the Night succeeds in condensing its issue at hand in a meaningful way to reach a optimistically hopeful conclusion; that human meetings may break down hatreds and prejudice.
Box office: Reportedly 24.3 mil. $ (North American alone)
= Mega-hit (projected return of 17.5 times its cost)
[In the Heat of the Night was released 2 August (USA, Philippines) and runs 110 minutes. Poitier was paid 200k $ and 20 % of the profits for his performance; Steiger 150k $. Shooting took place from September - November 1966 in Illinois, Tennessee and in Los Angeles, California. The film had reportedly racked in 11 mil. $ in North American rentals (the gross minus the exhibitor's cut) by 1971, which would make the 24.3 mil. $ domestic gross realistic. If the international reception was markedly less enthusiastic, - not unlikely due to the film's very American theme of Southern racism, - a very conservatively set 35 mil. $ world gross may be projected. The film was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 5: For Best Picture, Actor (Steiger), Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Sound. It lost Best Director to Mike Nichols for The Graduate and Sound Effects to The Dirty Dozen. The film also won 2/4 BAFTA nominations, 3/7 Golden Globes and was nominated for a Grammy, among other honors. Poitier returned as Tibbs in the two sequels They Call Me Mister Tibbs (1970) and The Organization (1971). A 1988-95 spin-off series also entitled In the Heat of the Night was also made. Jewison returned with The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Poitier returned in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967); Steiger in The Girl and the General (1967). In the Heat of the Night is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
