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

♥♥♥♥

 

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?

The Idiots/Idioterne (1998) - Von Trier challenges normalcy and human behavior in his Dogme masterpiece

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

+ Best Movie of the Year

+ Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Experimental Movie of the Year + Most Undeserved Flop Movie of the Year

 

A cast assembly framed upside down, and the promise of a nude Jens Albinus in the lower right corner, makes up this French poster for Lars Von Trier's The Idiots

 

The woman Karen is sitting in a restaurant, where a noisy group of disabled people are also dining. But she finds out that they are actually only 'normal' people from a collective, who just cultivate a private 'sport' of 'spazzing out'.

 

The Idiots is written and directed by Danish master filmmaker, Lars Von Trier (Images of Liberation/Befrielsesbilleder (1982)). It is his 6th feature, and the 2nd film made according to the strict rule set of the Dogme 95 movement, co-founded by Von Trier. It is also the 2nd in Von Trier's Golden Heart trilogy, which also contains masterpiece Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dancer in the Dark (2000).

It is Von Trier's only Dogme film, - an ascetic vow to shoot without major effects and interference, budget or accreditation, among other things, - and it is a fittingly extreme film filled with embarrassing scenes, where both people in the scenes and certainly us watching as audiences are made uncomfortable. The cast of young actors, which contains many of the biggest names in Danish film in the subsequent decades, jump courageously into Von Trier's bizarre pool of ideas with both feet.

Watching The Idiots is a funny and wild experience; it is probably the most pure of the Dogme films, and extremely original. It is a deeply unusual film, which ranks among the best Danish films ever made. At its core The Idiots is an existentially provocative masterpiece.

 

Related posts: 

Lars Von Trier: The House That Jack Built (2018) - Something's amiss in Von Trier's depraved, unpleasant serial killer pic  

Nymphomaniac (2013) short version, vol. 1 & vol. 2, or, Lars Von Trier's Suck It  
Melancholia (2011) - Von Trier's heightened reality doomsday reflections 
Antichrist (2009) - Von Trier's cabin-in-the-woods psycho-horror 
The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1/De Unge År: Erik Nietzsche Sagaen Del 1 (2007) - Thuesen and Von Trier's hilarious film school comedy (autobiographical screenplay) 

Top 10: Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Boss of It All/Direktøren for det Hele (2006) - Von Trier's hilarious absurd comedy 
Dear Wendy (2005) - Vinterberg and Von Trier's unpopular, gun-themed megaflop (writer)

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Dogville (2003) - Von Trier's implacable, truly unique drama  
The Five Obstructions/De Fem Benspænd (2003, documentary) or, Lars von Trier vs. Jørgen Leth
Dancer in the Dark (2000) or, Selma the Immigrant  

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Top 10: Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date   
Zentropa/Europa (1991) - Von Trier's audacious ode to the heavy continent is a fever dream on celluloid
Epidemic (1987) - Von Trier's trippy, bizarre second film  
The Element of Crime/Forbrydelsens Element (1984) - Von Trier's ultra-strange debut 

 

 

Watch a 5 -minute excerpt from the film here

 

Cost: 2.5 mil. $

Box office: Around 4.68 mil. $

= Big flop (returned around 1.87 times its cost)

[The Idiots premiered 20 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 114 minutes. The script was reportedly written in 4 days, in connection with the creation of the Dogme 95 manifesto. No less than 13 companies were involved with the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place in Denmark around June 1997. It is one of the first films shot entirely on digital cameras. Details about its limited North-American release are not made available online but was likely very small. In the film's main production country Denmark it sold 119,892 tickets, which comes to roughly 8.2 mil. DKK, or approximately 1.31 mil. $. A Danish blog by the head of the cinemas of Denmark informs that the film sold 719k admissions outside of Denmark, and with an average prize of 4.69 $ at the time, that comes to 3.37 mil. $, a total gross of around 4.68 mil. $. The film lost the Palme d'Or to Eternity and a Day. It won a Robert award (Denmark's Oscar), and was nominated for a European Film award. Von Trier returned with 3 TV movie and video short credits priot to his theatrical return with Dancer in the Dark (2000). Bodil Jørgensen (Ronal the Barbarian/Ronal Barbaren (2011)) returned in 4 TV credits prior to her theatrical return in Klinkevals (1999)). The Idiots is fresh at 71 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Idiots? 

Riders of Justice/Retfærdighedens Ryttere (2020) - Jensen delivers another explosive charge of idiosyncratic entertainment

♥♥♥♥♥

 

+ Best Action Comedy of the Year + Best Revenge Movie of the Year 

 

Four armed men and a teenage girl are standing in a barn on the smile-inducing poster for Anders Thomas Jensen's Riders of Justice

 

Marcus returns from active soldier's duty far away, when his wife's life ends in a mysterious train accident. He struggles to meet their teenager daughter eye to eye, when a couple of strange men turn up to tell him that the accident was no accident.

Riders of Justice is written and directed by great Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen (Flickering Lights/Blinkende Lygter (2001)) with Nikolaj Arcel (Klatretøsen (2002)) contributing story elements.

We are back in classic Jensen turf with a male-dominated story with deformity, pent-up anger, violence and the randomness of existence on the menu. Riders of Justice is a hilarious comedy; it also has a couple of genuinely moving scenes, impressive in their far-out action-comedy context, featuring the mesmerizing talent of Mads Mikkelsen (The Hunt /Jagten (2012)) as the beleaguered Marcus and Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Kandidaten (2008)) as his new friend Otto, who has gone through a similar ordeal in losing his wife. There is a framing story on the film about a bicycle purchase in Estonia, which is also very neat and finally also moving, helped along by the power of music. (In this case Nicolas Bro (Dræberne fra Nibe (2017)) on a French horn (!), which sounds beautiful!!)

The film is punchy and doesn't duck neither action nor dramatically related scenes and dialog. The world is a dark and ruthless place, but it packs both good and bad. The plot may be said to have more than its fair share of incredible coincidences; but on the same time the conclusion of it cleverly implies that even incredible coincidences do not point to correlations or meanings, necessarily. SPOILER Randomness is the guiding principle often in life, and in this case Marcus and his team kill countless (terrible) criminals based on a faulty deduction of facts.

Personally I still relish Jensen's preceding film most in his body of work, the outrageously weird and funny Men & Chicken/Mænd og Høns (2015), but Riders of Justice is strictly speaking just as good, especially due to the rich gallery of characters that are invoked: Bro as the obese face recognition expert and guns enthusiast; Gustav Lindh (All Inclusive (2017)) as a kind and wise Ukranian trafficking victim who comes under the team's wings; and Lars Brygmann (King's Game/Kongekabale (2004)), who arguably takes the cake as an abuse victim hacker with extraordinary abilities and issues. Andrea Heick Gadeberg (Daniel/Ser Du Månen Daniel (2019)) carries her weight effortlessly as Marcus' strong daughter.

Related posts:

Anders Thomas Jensen: 2020 in films - according to Film Excess

Men & Chicken/Mænd & Høns (2015) - Jensen scores with hilarious cinema bizarro original

The Salvation (2014) - Classic western yarn meets Danish dynamite (co-writer)
Love Is All You Need/Den Skaldede Frisør (2012) - Bier strikes gold with Italy-set romcom (co-writer)
In a Better World/Hævnen (2010) - Bier's Big Moral Drama lives on its actors' performances (co-writer)
Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006) - The two Jensens' satire is unrefined but hilarious (writer) 
Murk/Mørke (2005) or, Shutter Jutland (co-writer)

The Green Butchers/De Grønne Slagtere (2003) - Great performances in Jensen's hilarious morbid comedy 
Open Hearts/Elsker Dig for Evigt (2002) - Bier's excruciating Dogme chamber drama (writer)

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

The King Is Alive (2000) - Levring's trying desert theatrics (co-writer) 

 

 

Watch a short clip of Brygmann as Lennart from the film here

 

Cost: 39 mil. DKK, approximately 6.24 mil. $

Box office: 2.4 mil. $ and counting

[Riders of Justice was released 19 November (Denmark) and runs 116 minutes. Shooting took place in Funen, Denmark. The film sold 125k tickets in its first weekend in Denmark, where it has topped 150k tickets after less than 10 days and is poised to exceed 750k tickets in coming weeks in the languished China Virus film landscape, possibly becoming Jensen's top-grossing film to date. Due to the pandemic the film does not have releases scheduled in foreign markets yet. Jensen does not have his next project announced yet. Mikkelsen returns in Chaos Walking (2021); Kaas does not have his next gig announced yet. 619 IMDb users have given Riders of Justice a 8.4/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Riders of Justice? 

Men & Chicken/Mænd & Høns (2015) - Jensen scores with hilarious cinema bizarro original

♥♥♥♥♥

 

 + Best Comedy of the Year + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year

 

Star Mads Mikkelsen, holding a chicken, next to a literal egghead on this poster for Anders Thomas Jensen's Men & Chicken

 

A pair of brothers receive from their recently deceased father a video, which explains that he wasn't their real father. On a small island in a decrepit sanatorium their actual closest relatives reside ...

 

Men & Chicken is written and directed by great Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen (Flickering Lights/Blinkende Lygter (2000)). 

The year's undoubtedly strangest film is also Jensen's best to date (in my book), and certainly his most eccentric, which carries a real brilliance in it. Politically incorrect and shamelessly weird, we here spin around themes of brotherhood, the mysteries of biology and genetics, the absurdities of life, - and violence.

The film has a more or less auspicious framing device and an ending that is rather sudden, but its list of winning performances is long: David Dencik (Gentlemen & Gangsters (2016, miniseries)), Mads Mikkelsen (Bleeder (1999)), Bodil Jørgensen (Se min Kjole (2009)), Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006)), Nicolas Bro (Beast (2011)) and Søren Malling (Karlas Kabale (2007)) are all stark raving mad and absolutely wonderful in the film. It also has outstanding production design and an excellent score by Frans Bak (Albert (2015)) and Jeppe Kaas (That Time of Year/Den Tid på Året (2018)).

Men & Chicken is bizarro and quotable to an incredible extent; an absolute favorite.

 

Related posts:

Anders Thomas Jensen: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

The Salvation (2014) - Classic western yarn meets Danish dynamite (co-writer)
Love Is All You Need/Den Skaldede Frisør (2012) - Bier strikes gold with Italy-set romcom (co-writer)
In a Better World/Hævnen (2010) - Bier's Big Moral Drama lives on its actors' performances (co-writer)
Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006) - The two Jensens' satire is unrefined but hilarious (writer) 
Murk/Mørke (2005) or, Shutter Jutland (co-writer)

The Green Butchers/De Grønne Slagtere (2003) - Great performances in Jensen's hilarious morbid comedy 
Open Hearts/Elsker Dig for Evigt (2002) - Bier's excruciating Dogme chamber drama (writer)

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

The King Is Alive (2000) - Levring's trying desert theatrics (co-writer) 

 

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here 

 

Cost: Reportedly 36 mil. DKK, approximately 5.66 mil. $

Box office: 4.7 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.83 times its cost)

[Men & Chicken was released 5 February (Denmark) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place in Funen, Denmark, and in Germany. The film opened #79 to a 2k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #43 and in 11 theaters (different weeks) and grossed a measly 30k $ (0.6 % of the total gross). The film was a hit in its main production country Denmark, where it scored Jensen's biggest opening weekend yet and became the year's 2nd highest-grossing local film, selling 351,632 tickets, behind Klovn Forever, coming to 4.3 mil. $ (91.5 %). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 245k $ (5.2 %) and the Netherlands with 113k $ (2.4 %). The film won 3/10 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar). Jensen returns with Retfærdighedens Ryttere (2020). Mikkelsen returned in Rihanna: Bitch Better Have My Money (2015, music video), Hannibal (2013-15) and theatrically in Doctor Strange (2016); Dencik in Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015). Men & Chicken is certified fresh at 83 % with a 6.81/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Men & Chicken?

The Green Butchers/De Grønne Slagtere (2003) - Great performances in Jensen's hilarious morbid comedy

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Comedy of the Year

Two of the most beloved stars of Danish cinema are going into a meat grinder on this wacky poster for Anders Thomas Jensen's The Green Butchers, which effectively conveys the film's grotesque humor

Svend convinces his joint-smoking butcher friend Bjarne to open their own butcher shop together. Bjarne meanwhile falls in love with local young woman Astrid, while Svend begins to make a signature chicken sausage for the enthusiastic customers. - Made from humans.

The Green Butchers is written and directed by great Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen (Flickering Lights/Blinkende Lygter (2000)).
The wacky story is infused with lots of sharp humor and kooky dialog by Jensen. Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Beast (2011)), Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale (2006)), - whose semi-bald hairpiece in the film is itself a source of great hilarity as inhabited by the wonderfully gifted actor, - Ole Thestrup (Men & Chicken/Mænd og Høns (2015)) and others give outstanding performances.
The Green Butchers is outrageously funny; it is a local favorite that's stands tall as a Danish counterpart to Alfred Hitchcock's hilarious dark comedy The Trouble with Harry (1955). It is a handsome production and probably one of the funniest Danish films ever made.

Related posts:

Anders Thomas Jensen: The Salvation (2014) - Classic western yarn meets Danish dynamite (co-writer)
Love Is All You Need/Den Skaldede Frisør (2012) - Bier strikes gold with Italy-set romcom (co-writer)
In a Better World/Hævnen (2010) - Bier's Big Moral Drama lives on its actors' performances (co-writer)
Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006) - The two Jensens' satire is unrefined but hilarious (writer) 
Murk/Mørke (2005) or, Shutter Jutland (co-writer)

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Open Hearts/Elsker Dig for Evigt (2002) - Bier's excruciating Dogme chamber drama (writer)

Watch a great scene from the film here with English subtitles; (regrettably the format has been cropped)

Cost: 18 mil. DKK, approximately 2.61 mil. $
Box office: Uncertain - but likely around 18 mil. DKK, approximately 2.61 mil. $
= Uncertain, but likely a huge flop (returned around 1 times its cost)
[The Green Butchers premiered 8 March (NatFilm Festival, Denmark) and runs 95 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark. The film sold 261,726 tickets in production country Denmark, considered a local success but only netting the film around 17 mil. DKK. It was released in many other markets, but mainly at festivals and without the grosses getting recorded online: Only recorded is the tiny North-American release, which grossed 3k $. The film won 1/8 Robert awards (Danish Oscar). Jensen returned with Adam's Apples/Adams Æbler (2005). Mikkelsen returned in Torremolinos 73 (2003); Kaas in Rembrandt (2003); and Line Kruse (Mifune/Mifunes Sidste Sang (1999)) in Baby (2003). The Green Butchers is fresh at 63 % with a 6.26/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Green Butchers?

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

♥♥♥

At least three elements are ominously superimposed on this dark poster for Mikkel Nørgaard's Department Q: The Absent One

Special investigator Carl and his work partner Assad get engaged in a 20 year-old double murder case, as new evidence makes indicate that the wrong individual was punished.

Department Q: The Absent One is written by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg (Fighter (2007), both), with great Danish director Mikkel Nørgaard (Klown Forever/Klovn Forever (2015)) supplying concept elements, adapting The Absent One/Fasandræberne (2008) by Jussi Adler-Olsen (The Scarred Woman/Selfies (2016)).
It is the second in the Department Q franchise, which spans 4 films so far, and as such another loud crime thriller without psychological or thematic depths worth mentioning.
Nikolaj Kaas (Parterapi (2010)), Fares Fares (Fakiren fra Bilbao (2004)) and Danica Curcic (Nobel (2016, miniseries)) do well, and the plot is a good deal better than the one from the first film, Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes/Kvinden i Buret (2013).
The big problem is again that we get no explanation of Carl's enormous personal investment in his job and in the case in this film. The film draws on cliches: The new secretarial colleague to Carl and Assad is a well-organized and caring younger woman; Carl smokes like a chimney nonstop; and one of the rich, evil villains is into bondage and is a violent psychopath. The original Danish title translates to 'the pheasant killers', a title which is pointless and silly: No pheasants are killed in the film, and what should be egregious about it, if there were?

Related posts:

Mikkel Nørgaard: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Klown Forever/Klovn Forever (2015) - A raunchy laugh smash
The Keeper of Lost Causes/Kvinden i Buret (2013) or, Grumpy and Ethnic Find a Woman in a Pressure Chamber
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     
Klown/Klovn - The Movie (2010) - Nørgaard, Hvam and Christensen strike comedy gold

Watch a teaser for the film here

Cost: 5.2 mil. €, approximately 5.72 mil. $
Box office: 11.5 mil. $
= Flop (returned 2.01 times its cost)
[Department Q: The Absent One premiered 18 September (Austin Fantastic Fest, Texas) and runs 120 minutes. 7.15 mil. DKK, or approximately 1.05 mil. $, was awarded the film as co-financing from the Danish Film Institute; total financing came from 14 companies. Shooting took place in Germany and Denmark, including Copenhagen, from September 2013-?. The film had a simultaneous  limited theatrical and VOD release in North America in 2016 but all of its gross numbers are from European markets: In main production country Denmark the film set a new opening record for a Danish film and sold 753,837 tickets in total, the year's best-selling movie in the country, making up the vast majority of the gross, 11.1 mil. $ (96.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Poland with 120k $ (1 %) and Norway with 118k $ (1 %). It won 2/13 Robert nominations. The Department Q franchise returned with Department Q: A Conspiracy of Faith (2016) by Hans Petter Moland, with returning stars Kaas and Fares. Nørgaard returned with Klown Forever/Klovn Forever (2015). Kaas returned first in Men & Chicken/Mænd & Høns (2015)); Fares in Child 44 (2015)). Department Q: The Absent One is fresh at 92 % with a 6.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Department Q: The Absent One?