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Young, nearly adult characters superimposed on the pleasant poster for Rasmus Heisterberg's In the Blood |
Simon is a young student of medicine, who shares a flat with several other young friends and parties abundantly. He and his best friend Knud also have a plan for a longer stay in Bolivia.
In the Blood is written and directed by debuting Rasmus Heisterberg (King's Game/Kongekabale (2004)). The title is a literal translation of the original Danish one.
Exceptionally fine photography (by Niels Thastum (Exit Plan/Selvmordsturisten (2019))) roots our situation of being observing outsiders to an intimate portrayal of youth here, heightening this very Copenhagen film. What it portrays is the intoxicating, anxiety-provoking time as a free person; that time which for most people seems to have lasted too shortly (in hindsight).
The acting, if not flawless, is good throughout. At one point I tired some with the drinking obsessed, low brow friends, (why couldn't they have been a bit more differentiated, charming, funny?), SPOILER and then the film develops a bit anticlimactically, since Bolivia never happens. As so often happens, the 'small story' is chosen over the larger one, in a Danish picture. In the Blood, as also habitually happens, was overly celebrated locally, but is still a good movie.
Related posts:
Rasmus Heisterberg: Department Q: The Absent One/The Absent One/Fasandræberne (2014) - Nørgaard's second Q movie picks up some slack (co-writer)
Northwest/Nordvest (2013) - Strong performances make Noer's underwritten crime thriller work (co-writer)
Truth About Men/Sandheden om Mænd (2010) - Arcel's witty meta-dramedy (co-writer)
Cecilie (2007) - Well-made but unoriginal Danish horror (co-writer)
Fighter (2007) - Arthy makes good youth drama with propulsive kung fu (co-writer)
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown, projected 1.46 mil. $ (10 mil. DKK)
Box office: Approximately 529k $
= Box office disaster (projected return of 0.05 times its cost)
[In the Blood premiered 10 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark, including in Copenhagen, in Germany and Thailand. The film sold only 6,006 tickets in Denmark, the only market in which it had a general release. It was also screened at 8 festivals. If made on a realistic first feature low budget of 10 mil. DKK, the film would rank as a box office disaster. It was nominated for 8 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar), winning one. Heisterberg has not returned as a director since and has taken a long break from films in fact; though he is finally returning as co-writer on Joshua Oppenheimer's hotly anticipated The End (2024). Kristoffer Bech (Stjernestøv (2020, TV-series)) returned in Hjertestart (2017); Elliott Crosset Hove (Before the Frost/Før Frosten (2018)) in Across the Waters/Across the Waters (2016). 746 IMDb users have given In the Blood a 6.0/10 average rating.]
What do you think of In the Blood?
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