In China They Eat Dogs/I Kina Spiser De Hunde (1999) - Olsen finds comedic gold with terrific Jensen script

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The four main stars in black jumpsuits walking away from an explosion makes up this poster for Lasse Spang Olsen's In China They Eat Dogs

Arvid is a bank worker, who one day stops a bank robbery using a squash racket. But he later decides that he was wrong to do this, and that he and his brother Harald should be part of the robbery of a money transport.

 

In China They Eat Dogs is written by Anders Thomas Jensen (The Promised Land/Bastarden (2023)) and directed by Lasse Spang Olsen (Operation Cobra (1995)). The title is a literal translation of the original Danish title.

Possibly among the funniest Danish films of all time, Jensen's script is brilliant, and the lines and plot are highly original. The performances are delivered with bravado by Kim Bodnia (Krigarnas Ö (2016)), Dejan Cukic (Borgia (2011-14)), Trine Dyrholm (Brecht (2019)), Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Riders of Justice/Retfærdighedens Ryttere (2020)) and Tomas Villum Jensen (Old Men in New Cars/Gamle Mænd i Nye Biler (2002)).

Olsen, previously known as a stunt coordinator, is no great director, and the action elements and sound work in the film are often sketchy.

 

Watch a very short clip from the film here

 

Cost: 8 mil. DKK, approximately 1.17 mil. $

Box office: At least 1.5 mil. $, projected final gross of 1.8 mil. $

= Uncertain but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.53 times its cost)

[In China They Eat Dogs was released 10 September (Denmark) and runs 91 minutes. Very unusually for a Danish film, Olsen did not secure any state funding for his film, for which it was denied repeatedly, and instead gathered funds from different avenues. Shooting took place in Denmark, including in Copenhagen. The film sold 223,248 tickets in Denmark, coming to 1.5 mil. $. Regrettably the gross numbers from its foreign markets (Norway, Iceland, Germany, Slovenia, Czech Republic) are not reported online. Likely small, they could have resulted in a projected final gross of 1.8 mil. $, which would result in a big flop rating. The film won 1/3 Robert award nominations (Denmark's Oscar). The film got a sequel in Old Men in New Cars/Gamle Mænd i Nye Biler (2002) with returning stars and creatives. Olsen first returned with Kløcler & Vingsøe Udfordrer Afrika (2000, TV game-show) and theatrically with Jolly Roger (2001). Bodnia returned in Dragonfly/Øyenstikker (2001); Kaas in Taxi (1999, TV-series)), Kajen mod Vest (1999, TV movie)) and theatrically in Max (2000). 23k+ IMDb users have given In China They Eat Dogs 7.3/10 average rating.]

What do you think of In China They Eat Dogs?

Terribly Happy/Frygtelig Lykkelig (2008) or, A Fix in Southern Jutland

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Not much is revealed, besides a story that involves a man, a woman and a gun, on this forgettable poster for Henrik Ruben Genz's Terribly Happy

A policeman from Copenhagen draws his gun on his wife and gets sent to a position in Southern Jutland as punishment. As a countryside cop there, he soon finds himself entangled in the very particular 'methods' of the locals.

Terribly Happy is written by Dunja Gry Jensen (Norskov (2015-17)) and co-writer-director Henrik Ruben Genz (Chinaman/Kinamand (2005)), based on the same-titled 2004 novel by Erling Jepsen (Ingen Grund til Overdramatisering (1999)). Despite the film having a bit of a slow uptake, it proves to be a good, exciting country-set noir/dark comedy.
Kim Bodnia (The Name of the Game/Krigarnas Ö (2016)) and Lene Maria Christensen (Brothers/Brødre (2004)) are perfect as the town's punchy heavy and its good-looking blond.
Terribly Happy has several intense scenes and homicidal-fatalistic horrors. Some minor flaws and an annoying tail to an otherwise great, wicked ending weigh it down a little bit. Still this is a very well-made and recommendable plate.

In lieu of a trailer for the film, not currently available on Youtube, here is a bizarre television event in which Jepsen is to have a conversation with Genz but slaps him playfully in the face twice in the beginning, making Genz's lip bleed so that he leaves the situation, leaving the writer awkwardly alone with the still filming camera crew

Cost: 20.5 mil. DKK, equaling approximately 3.41 mil. $
Box office: Uncertain
= Uncertain - but likely a huge flop
[Terribly Happy premiered 5 July (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic) and runs 99 minutes. The film has played at at least 16 film festivals in different countries. It had a limited release in North-America, where it peaked at #51 and in 9 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 170k $. In its native Denmark, 266,795 paid admission to see it, which is considered successful here. Unfortunately, the film played within the framework of the Cinema Club Denmark, which means that most audiences only paid half prize for their tickets. I'd predict its theatrical gross somewhere in the 15 mil. DKK range, making it still a huge flop by Film Excess' high standards. This is in line with its producer's statement in an interview that he hasn't made a dime on it. It was Denmark's entry for the 2010 Oscars, but it wasn't nominated. It won 7/14 Robert nominations (Denmark's Oscar) and 6/7 Bodil nominations (Denmark's film critics' awards). Genz returned theatrically with Excuse Me/Undskyld Jeg Forstyrrer (2012), another Jepsen adaptation. Terribly Happy is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Terribly Happy?

Bleeder (1999) - The mysterious second film by Nicolas Winding Refn

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+ Best Copenhagen Movie of the Year + Best Crime Drama of the Year + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year 

The Danish poster for Nicolas Winding Refn's Bleeder features the bloody head of Kim Bodnia and lots of critical praise for the film, declaring it a masterpiece, a must, blinding; the actors outstanding; Bodnia a Danish Robert De Niro

QUICK REVIEW:

There are two grown up brothers in Copenhagen: One works in a video store. The other is going to be a father. He cannot relate to this coming responsibility. And then things start to go wrong.
People were swooning over Bleeder, when it arrived in '99, (see the picture text above), and by all means it is an exciting and cool film, and Kim Bodnia (Pusher (1996)) plays with a fiery intensity his part as an angry, disillusioned man.
- But what is Bleeder really about? Perhaps it was mostly a 'training' film for its young director Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher II (2004)), - it was only his second after Pusher (1996). Or perhaps I just can't grasp any bigger picture in Bleeder. Perhaps it's missing.
Refn has made mysterious films since as well, in particular his first American film, Fear X (2003) springs to mind.
Bleeder does seem mysterious as a film, which shows us some extreme violence, but lacks any apparent stance concerning it. Perhaps this stance was only later defined by Refn, as he continued to make very violent films and was again and again confronted with this by other people. He has now come out with a stance which is something like 'violence is inherent in human nature and a key element in all creation and artistic creation in particular.'
Usually, - as in his latest, the great Only God Forgives (2013), chosen as Best Film of 2013 by Film Excess, - the violence in his films drives the plots forward, but that isn't always the case in the dark, intense, and romantic, Bleeder.

Related reviews:

2013 in films - according to Film Excess
Nicolas Winding Refn: Only God Forgives (2013) - Violent beauty in Bangkok
Bronson (2008) or, Violent Man

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

A young Mads Mikkelsen plays the geeky cinephile brother in Nicolas Winding Refn's Bleeder

Watch the hard-punching, English subtitle trailer for Bleeder here

Budget: Approximately 10 mil. DKK
Box office: Approximately 7 mil. DKK
= Huge flop (returned approximately 0.7 times its cost)

What do you think of Bleeder?
If you love it, can you say what is is about, if anything, looking past the obvious plot stuff?