We Shall Overcome/Drømmen (2006) - Great performances make Oplev's school drama soar

♥♥♥♥

It doesn't speak to a film's advantage that it was a local hit in 2006, but that a thorough web search for its poster only turns up a poor DVD cover such as this, - yet that is the case with Niels Arden Oplev's We Shall Overcome

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1969 in a Jutlandic countryside: The boy Frits gets a bad start in his new school, and his love of American Civil Rights Movement icon Martin Luther King doesn't earn him the favor of the school's tyrannical principal. - Who of the two will win?

We Shall Overcome is a concentrated drama, shot on the beautiful Danish island of Ærø, standing in for Jutland. It is heightened greatly by the powerhouse performance from debuting Janus Dissing Rathke (Bora Bora (2011)), who gives honesty and strength to Frits. Of the adults, Bent Mejding (Matador (1978-81)) as the principal and Jens Jørn Spottag (Terribly Happy/Frygtelig Lykkelig (2008)) as Frits' father are also particularly good.
The winds of idealism and change blow here, although the adults are pretty uniformly cowards and dingbats.
We Shall Overcome is written by Steen Bille (Worlds Apart/To Verdener (2008)) and great Danish co-writer-director Niels Arden Oplev (Mr. Robot (2015), TV-series). Its original Danish titles translates to 'the dream'. It is a touching, fine film.

Related reviews:

Niels Arden Oplev: Speed Walking/Kapgang (2014) - Funny and sweetly nostalgic 70s coming-of-age in rural Denmark
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo/Män Som Hatar Kvinnor (2009) - An exciting adult ride in sadism and mystery from cold cold Sweden
Chop Chop/Fukssvansen (2001) - Oplev's Danish crazy-comedy 

Watch the trailer for the film here, unfortunately without any subtitles

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown (but likely a big flop)
[We Shall Overcome premiered January 30 (Göteborg International Film Festival) and runs 109 minutes. It sold 404,703 tickets in in its native Denmark, netting 18 mil. DKK, and was thus the biggest Danish movie in Denmark of the year, in which admissions to Danish films were generally down 21 % from the previous year, which also saw 7 more Danish films released (41 in 2005 vs. 34 in 2006.) The film won 16 awards at a number of festivals and award shows, including one Bodil (Danish critics' award) out of four nominations, for Mejding as Best Supporting Actor, and 6 wins out of 16 nominations at the Robert Awards (Danish Oscar), among others for Best Screenplay, Film, Director and Supporting Actor (Mejding). Without knowledge of the world gross for the film, I can only tentatively guess that it should count as a big flop. 2,147 IMDb-users have given We Shall Overcome a 7.3 rating.]

What do you think of We Shall Overcome?

This Life/Hvidsten Gruppen (2012) - Riis middle-of-the-road WWII resistance drama

♥♥♥

The tag-line for Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis' This Life translates to, 'Some must die so others can live'

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In Hvidsten in Jutland, Denmark the locals are angry at the Germans' occupation of Denmark in 1940, and when the opportunity arises, a group of them therefore help the resistance movement smuggle in weapons.

This Life, originally titled Hvidsten Gruppen [The Hvidsten Group], is a true WWII story, written by Ib and Jørgen Kastrup (Storm (2009), both) and producer Regner Grasten (Cinder Rock'n Rella/Askepop - The Movie (2003)) and directed by Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis (Catch the Dream/Tarok (2013)).
The exciting story is, unfortunately, not transformed into a great film by Riis and Co., which is a shame: The film doesn't draw any lines outside of the confines of Denmark and is mediocre to a degree that makes it of interest exclusively for Danes. - The courageous heroes of the group bring many (nationalist) feelings in motion.
Bodil Jørgensen (Nothing's All Bad/Smukke Mennesker (2010)) is, in glimpses, great, and so is Jens Jørn Spottag (We Shall Overcome/Drømmen (2006)). But apart from them, the acting is of very varying quality and generally too undramatic and controlled, which makes the portrayal seem stiff. The uninspired and uncinematic photography by Morten Bruus (The Circus Casablanca/Circus Casablanca (1981)) contributes to this fault.
The biggest problem with This Life is that there simply weren't enough real talent and ability involved, beginning with director Riis.

Watch the trailer here - unfortunately, the filmmakers have not made it available with English subtitles

Cost: 24 mil. DKR. ~ ca. 3.7 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertainty
[This Life was shot in Jutland, including Hvidsten, and in Zealand. Its budget included 6.9 mil DKR. from the Danish Film Institute and 5 mil. DKR from TV2. The film became a major hit in Denmark, where it was the biggest Danish movie of the year with 765k admissions, following 87k admissions in the opening weekend. The film will be counted as a box office success, although the actual revenue is unknown. This Life has a 6.5 rating on IMDb, based on 1,606 users' opinions.]

What do you think of This Life?
Film/s about the resistance during WWII that you want to recommend?