Oh Happy Day (2004) - Some fun and uplift in Joof's cliche-ridden second flick

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Co-writer/star Lotte Andersen looks gobsmacked at the feeling of dark hands on her milky-white face on this bright poster for Hella Joof's Oh Happy Day

Middle-aged Hannah lives in a passionless marriage and attends choir at church, where the group there now invite a stranded, American choir leader to lead them. And soon Hannah's life sings to a new tune ...

Oh Happy Day is written by Jannik Johansen (Murk/Mørke (2005)), co-writer/star Lotte Andersen (Okay (2002), actor) and co-writer/director Hella Joof (Shake It All About/En Kort En Lang (2001)).
Andersen's protagonist Hannah is well-acted but too passive and mousy overall, and the cliches come in a steady pace in Joof's spiritual comedy: Not least the one that Danish men are uniformly uncool dorks, but also the cliche of the sensual, musical black man is established fact in Oh Happy Day.
The heavy-handed  script does venture to promote faith and a more liberated church form, which is fine, and Ditte Gråbøl (A Caretaker's Tale/Viceværten (2012)) is a fun sidekick for Andersen. English 1980s popstar Rick Astley has composed some fine songs for the film.
Oh Happy Day would have been a more infectious romcom, if it had been a better film.

Related post:

Hella Joof: Shake It All About/En Kort En Lang/Shake It (2001) or, Him or Her?

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Reportedly 2 mil. £, equaling approximately 2.5 mil. $
Box office: Unknown, but likely in excess of 2.42 mil. $
= Uncertain, but likely a huge or big flop (likely returned around 1 times its cost)
[Oh Happy Day premiered 25 August (Copenhagen International Film Festival, Denmark) and runs 92 minutes. The production was financed with support from the Danish Film Institute. Shooting took place in Denmark. The film sold 248k tickets in Denmark, making it a local hit, and it was released in Germany, Netherlands and Sweden, although grosses from there are unreported and likely tiny. It was nominated for 6 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar) and 1 Bodil (Danish film critics awards). Joof returned with Easy Skanking/Fidibus (2006). Andersen returned in Min Søsters Børn i Ægypten (2004); Gråbøl in Forsvar (2004, TV-series) and theatrically in Accused/Anklaget (2005); and Malik Yoba (Bull (2000-01)) in Arrested Development (2004, TV-series), Slur (2005, short) and theatrically in Kids in America (2005). 691 IMDb users have given Oh Happy Day a 5.6/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Oh Happy Day?

Murk/Mørke (2005) or, Shutter Jutland

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+ Best Mega-flop of the Year

Star Nikolaj Lie Kaas' face is planted in a fog over a man in a boat on this poster for Jannik Johansen's Murk, which has the tagline 'Ingen bør dø alene', translating to, No one should die alone

Jacob and his wife are journalists on the newspaper Politiken. When Jacob's fragile sister takes her life on her honeymoon, Jacob goes to the site of her tragedy in the little town of Mørke in Jutland to investigate her suspicious husband-to-be.

Murk is written by Anders Thomas Jensen (Men & Chicken/Mænd & Høns (2015)) and co-writer/director Jannik Johansen (Stealing Rembrandt/Rembrandt (2003)). Mørke is the name of a real town in Jutland, and the name translates to 'murk'.
Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Clash of Egos/Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006)) plays the protagonist as a really sour, sullen, skeptical, doubtful man; Nicolas Bro (People Get Eaten/Mennesker Bliver Spist (2015)) is frightening as the psychopath brother-in-law Anker. Together the two keep things lively in a somewhat anemic script, which trots around more than necessary in things we have already figured out. The film is handsomely shot (by Rasmus Videbæk (Island of Lost Souls/De Fortabte Sjæles Ø (2007))), if also sometimes stating the obvious, and well scored (by Antony Genn (The Look of Love (2013))).
Bit parts, especially the country cop, lack color. Laura Drasbæk (Daisy Diamond (2007)) is good but has ridiculous hair here. Murk is an overall good, quiet thriller.

 

Related post:

 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch an automatically generated Wikipedia video of Jannik Johansen here

Cost: 22 mil. DKK, equal to approximately 3.33 mil. $
Box office: In the neighborhood of 1.068 mil. $
= Mega-flop (returned around 0.32 times its cost)
[Murk premiered 23 August (Copenhagen International Film Festival, Denmark) and runs 124 minutes. Both of Kaas' parents committed suicide, when he was young. The film sold 100,682 tickets in its production country Denmark, making a gross of somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.068 mil. $, which would make the film a mega-flop. It only played in 3 other markets, only at relatively small festivals. The film was nominated for 5 Robert awards (Danish Oscars) and 2 Bodil awards (Danish film critics awards). There was talks of a US remake in the following years, which never came to fruition. Johansen returned with White Night/Hvid Nat (2007). Kaas returned in Allegro (2005), also with Bro. 2,510 IMDb users have given Murk a 6.8/10 average rating at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Murk?