Key House Mirror/Nøgle Hus Spejl (2015) - Nørby elevates grim dementia-themed drama

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A beautiful romantic still on a Copenhagen rooftop with natural backlight is doubled on this poster for Michael Noer's Key House Mirror

 

Lily has moved into a nursing home with her husband of more than 50 years, who has turned into an immobile vegetable. But she doesn't require care, and her continued zest for life leads her to a new romantic acquaintance.

 

Key House Mirror is written by Anders Frithiof August (A Fortunate Man/Lykke-Per (2018)) and great Danish filmmaker, co-writer/director Michael Noer (R/R: Hit First, Hit Hardest (2010)). The title is a literal translation of the original Danish title.

The film takes a tit for tat approach to the third age, which makes it hard to enjoy, as the nursing home as life's last stop-over looks like an individual-suffocating death prison of human disintegration.

Ghita Nørby (Den Stundesløse (1973, TV movie)) lifts the film considerably and is outstanding, impressively bereft of vanity and fully credible in a generous, very commendable performance. Sven Wollter (A Song for Martin/En Sång för Martin (2001)) is warm as her Swedish nursing home boyfriend, but Key House Mirror lacks something unexpected: The plot moves forward in a way that is too predictable, and the scenes with Trine Pallesen's (Tempelriddernes Skat II (2007)) daughter character and her family are a drag in their cold predictability. Key House Mirror may be called a grim watch, as it acknowledges that mostly everything is ugly and horrible.

 

Related posts:

 

Michael Noer: Northwest/Nordvest (2013) - Strong performances make Noer's underwritten crime thriller work

Top 10: Best debut movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

 

R/R: Hit First, Hit Hardest (2010) or, Prison Ain't Nice 

 

 

Watch a behind-the-scenes clip from the making of the film

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: In excess of 1.09 mil. $

= Uncertain but likely a mega-flop (projected return of 0.42 times its cost)

[Key House Mirror premiered 23 January (Göteborg Film Festival) and runs 91 minutes. The film sold 94,423 tickets in Denmark, at an average 87 DKK ticket prize coming to approximately 1.09 mil. $. The film was also released in Germany, Sweden and France, but with unreported (likely small) gross numbers. If made on a realistic 3.5 mil. $ budget and with a 1.5 mil. $ final gross, the film would rank as a mega-flop. The film was nominated for 4 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar), among other honors. Noer returned with Papillon (2017). Nørby returned in Dagny (2016, short), Lux Aeterna (2017, short) and theatrically in Before the Frost/Før Frosten (2018); Wollter in Odd & Maud (2016, short) and theatrically in Solsidan (2017). 508 IMDb users have given Key House Mirror a 6.9/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Key House Mirror? 

Marco Effekten (2021) - China Virus cinema hell ends with Zandvliet's unmemorable, murky thriller

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The faces of the two new star police partners hover above an incinerating person on a hospital bed on this dark poster for Martin Zandvliet's Marco Effekten

Following a shortened down period Danish veteran police investigator Carl Mørch comes back to work. With his investigator partner Assad he follows clues from an unaccompanied minor gypsy boy in custody, which leads to a suspicious pedophile case and development aid in Africa, which has to be revisited.

Marco Effekten is written by Anders Frithiof August (Camping (2009)) and Thomas Porsager (Sjit Happens (2013-16)), adapting the same-titled 2012 novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Alfabethuset (1997)) from his Department Q/Afdeling Q crime novel series, and directed by Martin Zandvliet (Applaus/Applause (2009)). The Danish title translates to 'the Marco effect'.

This reboot of the Department Q movie series, with the rights having changed hands from Zentropa to Nordisk Film, attempts what is a very difficult task: Tossing an established and (locally in Denmark) spectacularly popular universe up in the air, just to try to put it all back together successfully again with an entirely new cast.

The new film doesn't feel like a continuation or a match-for-match of the beats that made up the 4 hit Zentropa films. Zandvliet goes for another tone and look, and Ulrich Thomsen (Allegro (2005)) is a different Mørch; less abrasive, more ... Thomsen. The actor is fascinating to look at with his seen-it-all stoic features, but we don't get deep or see development in his character. Even less so for the new Rosa, and not much character background for Assad, either, although Zaki Youssef (Rita (2015, TV-series)) seems solid for the part.

The restrictive script approach, - perhaps out of excessive loyalty or closeness to the protective author Adler-Olsen, who was instrumental in taking the rights from Zentropa for another take on his novels, - is coupled with a restrictive visual concept: The big almost stock shots of the police headquarter from above, other 'flashy' location shots, - but also shots that define character-setting locales such as Mørch's residence, - are scrapped in Marco Effekten. The result is that the film's first hour or so mostly consists of one or more characters in a (mostly dimly lit) room, mostly in a discussion or interview. With the humor, sex appeal, popular star (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and action gone for the film's first hour, it predictably loses many of the fans' support that the filmmakers were hoping for.

The plot, as indicated, is a complicated mess which is never fully illuminated. SPOILER A gypsy boy (the title's Marco) caught up in a murderous debacle about a falsely accused man, later killed, who was alerted to some big money scandal involving development aid and pedophilia in Africa. The particulars as to the meaning of the title is also never defined. It is all in the shadows. This nevertheless works pretty well, because this limited level of knowledge must be presumed to be what Mørch and Assad also can gather at the time of the case, and we can put the bricks together well enough ourselves. Anders Matthesen (Rene Hjerter (2006)) and Caspar Phillipson (Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)) as the film's main villains are also good and clear enough as antagonists.

Marco Effekten fails to reinvigorate the franchise in a way that its fans will appreciate, and so may likely instead put it is in its grave, but it is a good time as a solid, well-made, somewhat misanthropic thriller.

 

Related posts: 

Martin Zandvliet: Teddy Bear/10 Timer til Paradis (2012) - Matthiesen's little gem of intercontinental romance (co-writer)

A Funny Man/Dirch (2011) - Kaas shines in serious biopic of Danish national treasure comedian 

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Applause/Applaus (2009) - Paprika Steen's struggling Thea

Previous Department Q franchise entries: Department Q: The Absent One/The Absent One/Fasandræberne (2014) - Nørgaard's second Q movie picks up some slack

The Keeper of Lost Causes/Kvinden i Buret (2013) or, Grumpy and Ethnic Find a Woman in a Pressure Chamber 

Thomsen talks about taking over the role here

Cost: 56 mil. DKK, approximately 9.16 mil. $

Box office: Approximately 11.7 mil. DKK and counting, approximately 1.91 mil. $

= Uncertain - but looking to become a mega-flop, expecting a final gross of around 25 mil DKK/4.09 mil. $

[Marco Effekten was released 27 May (Denmark) and runs 125 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark and the Czech Republic, including Prague, and was interrupted by the China Virus pandemic. The film has sold 117,736 tickets in just under two weeks release in Denmark, much lower than the previous Department Q entries opened to. The film is set to release in Iceland and Russia on June 16 and 17, respectively. Zandvliet is announced to return as director of US space drama Challenger. Thomsen returns in Ire (2021); Youssef in Wild Men/Vildmænd (2021). 307 IMDb users have given Marco Effekten a 5.2/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Marco Effekten?

Camping (2009) - Hilarious but slight Danish dramedy

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The stars of Jacob Bitsch's Camping look more or less content in huge, yellow waterproof capes on its inviting poster

Two years have passed since Connie's father shot himself in the family caravan. Now Connie, her brother and their mother are to become reunited. And what better way than through a holiday. In the family caravan, of course.

Camping is the surprisingly funny debut for Jacob Bitsch (Amina's Letters/Aminas Breve (2017)), written by Anders Frithiof August (A Funny Man/Dirch (2011)). It successfully blends dark humor with funny situations and three well-written lead characters. Kirsten Lehfeldt (The Legacy/Arvingerne (2014-17)), Mia Lyhne (Nothing's All Bad/Smukke Mennesker (2010)) and Oliver Brandel all have a knack for delivering lines, and their masterly performances carry Camping to its several laughs.
The film sports welcome, implicit satire and a fair visual side. Unfortunately, - and typical of not a few Danish films, - it is 'under-written', meaning that it is simply too short and slight. Whether it stems from lack of self-confidence, funds or something entirely else is impossible to know, but it is a shame, because Camping, while it lasts, is a warm and hilarious companion.

Watch Camping star Mia Lyhne play Danish Crown Princess Mary in a satirical video from Danish comedy show Live from Bremen/Live fra Bremen here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown, but likely a mega-flop
[Camping was released 4 September (Denmark) and runs 79 minutes. It was released in 15 theaters in Denmark and sold a mere 18,090 tickets. It was additionally screened at 6 international film festivals. Even if the film was made on a small 10 mil. DKK (approximately 1.5 mil. $), the small theatrical reception would make it count as a mega-flop. It was financed as one of four low-budget collaborations between Nimbus Film and TV2. Bitsch has since made two shorts and directed episodes of Sjit Happens (2014-17). His second feature is getting released in 2017. 266 IMDb-users have given Camping a 5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Camping?