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? 

Hamsun (1996) - Sydow towers in overlong biopic

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The two big Scandinavian stars are set against a handwritten page on this poster for Jan Troell's Hamsun

Norwegian national author and recipient of the Nobel prize for literature Knut Hamsun develops, with support from his alienated wife, from a nationalist to a Nazi in the period leading up to, during - and after - World War II, which comes with grave consequences for the two.

 

Hamsun is written by Per Olov Enquist (Pelle the Conqueror/Pelle Eroberen (1987)) and co-writer/director/co-cinematographer, Swedish master filmmaker Jan Troell (Here Is Your Life/Här Har Du Ditt Liv (1966)), whose 10th feature it is. It is an adaptation of Thorkild Hansen's (Coast of Slaves/Slavernes Kyst (1967)) non-fiction book Processen mod Hamsun (1978).

The deeply illusory, Norwegian madness that the couple live in in Hamsun is frustrating in a way that makes the viewer want to physically grab them and shake them out of their delusions. Max von Sydow (The Final Enquiry (2006)) is masterly and very credible here, whereas Ghita Nørby (Ulvetid (1981)) by his side seems to have troubles portraying the Nazi wife, and in my opinion Nørby lays too much of her sympathetic self into this part.

Hamsun is especially valuable for historically interested and for those interested in portrayals of troubled, great artists. It is a bit overlong: SPOILER Hamsun waits to die throughout the film, and in the end we also want it for him, if only so the whole ordeal would end. Hamsun is a serious but not emotionally overpowering film from Troell.

 

Related post:

 

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 40 mil. SEK, approximately 3.99 mil. $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain (but most likely a sizable flop)

[Hamsun was released 19 April (Norway) and runs 159 minutes. The film had been in development many years earlier but failed to find support in Norway due to its controversial topic. It was Danish company Nordisk Film's involvement that finally got Hamsun into production. Shooting took place in the Spring and Summer of 1995 in Norway, including in Oslo. The most expensive scene shot, in which Hamsun's wife Marie witnesses the sinking of the German cruiser Blücher in Oslo Fjord in 1940, was eventually cut from the film. 147,148 paid admission to the film in Denmark, one of its 4 co-producing countries (the other being Norway, Sweden and Germany). It made 50k $ in North America, where it debuted #24 to a 7k $ first weekend in 1 theater. Other release details are regrettably scarce, and this makes it impossible to determine its theatrical status, though I suspect it was a sizable flop. It won a Robert (Danish Oscar) and 4 Guldbagge (Sweden's Oscar), among other honors. It became Denmark's Oscar entry of the year but did not get nominated. Troell returned with 2 documentaries and a documentary short prior to his theatrical return with Så Vit Som En Snö (2001). Sydow returned in Jerusalem (1996); Nørby in Bryggeren (1997, miniseries) and theatrically in Sekten (1997). 1.6k+ IMDb users have given Hamsun a 7.2/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Hamsun?

Grev Axel (2001) - Frödin and Gråbøl pull laughter from 18th century-set crazy-comedy

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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?