Go with Peace, Jamil/Gå med Fred, Jamil (2008) - Shargawi's charged Danish-Muslim spiral of violence drama-thriller

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+ Copenhagen Movie of the Year + Best Drama-Thriller of the Year + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.05

A rough male hand with rings, an Islamic tattoo and a lid cigarette makes up the sparse image on this poster for Omar Shargawi's Go with Peace, Jamil

Danish immigrant Muslim Jamil kills a man who has taken part in the murdering of his mother many years ago, a vengeance that mirrors the centuries old Islamic rift between the Sunni and Shia camps. This starts a spiral of violence that is hard to end again.

Go with Peace, Jamil is written by coaching writer Mogens Rukov (Elise (1985)) and debuting co-writer/director/actor Omar Shargawi (Al Medina (2015)).
The problem with this Copenhagen-set Arab revenge drama thriller is its first 45 minutes, in which I didn't care for any of the characters; combined with the fact that we don't know who Jamil murders, or why.
This is a shame. Because with the needed patience, the viewer is then treated to some powerful scenes of Jamil with his father and son, which are very beautiful and full of truth, with tremendous performances to boot. Jamil actor Dar Salim (Lommbock (2017)) has since become a local star, but the rest are amateur actors, and the work achieved is remarkable.
The ending is uncompromising as a strong anti-violence statement. Go with Peace, Jamil is, despite its flaws, a recommendable crackerjack of a movie.

 

Related post:

 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Watch a trailer for the film with English subtitles here

Cost: 10 mil. DKK, approximately 1.47 mil. $
Box office: 87k $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.05 times its cost)
[Go with Peace, Jamil premiered 28 January (International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The film sold 5,310 tickets in production country Denmark: The Danes did not respond much to the mostly Arab language film, and the country's considerable Muslim minority also did not flock out to see the film. This reportedly gave it a mere 83k $ total gross, - figuring with a tall 15 $ ticket prize, - and the only 2 other markets listed at the film's Box Office Mojo page are Norway and Greece with 2 and 1k $ grosses. The film was shown in several more markets, mainly at festivals. It was nominated for 2 Roberts (Danish Oscar). Shargawi returned with Fra Haifaa til Nørrebro (2010, documentary) and theatrically with a segment in anthology drama Do Not Forget Me Istanbul (2010). Salim returned in Livvagterne (2009, TV-series), 2900 Happiness (2009, TV-series) and theatrically in Submarino (2010). 400 IMDb users have given Go with Peace, Jamil a 6.9/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Go with Peace, Jamil?

Submarino (2010) - Vinterberg's elegant, downbeat Copenhagen-set social realism drama

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1 Film Excess nomination:

Best Child Actor: Gustav Fischer Kjærulff, Sebastian Bull Sarning, Mads Broe Andersen (lost to Kiernan Shipka for Mad Men S4)

 

+ Best Copenhagen Movie of the Year

 

Lead Jakob Cedergren seems literally submerged in the contours of Copenhagen on this poster for Thomas Vinterberg's Submarino

 

Submarino is a tale of two brothers, which lays off with the day the brothers' infant brother died. As adults many years hence, one of them has grown into a violent man, while the other is a heroin addict on welfare and father. Both are miserable men.

 

Due to the fine beginning and following crosscutting structure, Submarino becomes an elegant acquaintance of the social-realism drama kind. It is well photographed (by feature-debuting cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen (Far from the Madding Crowd (2015))) and well-played, especially by the boy actors; Gustav Fischer Kjærulff (A Family/En Familie (2010)), Sebastian Bull Sarning (The Hunt/Jagten (2012)) and Mads Broe Andersen. Among the adult actors, Morten Rose (Antboy 3 (2016)) as Ivan falls through a bit as one of the many people that debut in the film, both in front and behind the camera.

SPOILER Submarino ends with a great, cathartic ending, becoming a minor modern Copenhagen classic. The title refers to the notorious prison torture technique of lowering a victim's head into a bucket of water, urine or feces, which is called upon as a metaphor for the situation of the characters in the film, who are submerged in other serious problems that make it similarly hard to breathe. The film is an adaptation of Jonas T. Bengtsson's (The Hour of the Lynx/I Lossens Time (2013), screenplay) same-titled 2007 novel, written by Tobias Lindholm (The Hunt) and Danish master co-writer-director Thomas Vinterberg (The Celebration/Festen (1998)).

 

Related posts:

 

Thomas Vinterberg: Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) - Vinterberg's plush but grating English adaptation

The Hunt/Jagten (2012) - Vinterberg's strongest film since 1998 is a reversed Celebration  

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]
Dear Wendy (2004) - Vinterberg and Von Trier's unpopular, gun-themed mega-flop 

Watch a clip of the film here

Cost: 12 mil. DKK, equal to approximately 2 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 0.8 mil. $

= Box office disaster

[Submarino premiered February 13 (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 110 minutes. It was made on a small budget almost completely from a pool for debuting talents within Danish TV2, stressing that many of the involved forces, besides veteran Vinterberg, should be debutantes. Filming took place in Vesterbro, Nordvest and Nørrebro in Copenhagen. 46k paid admission to the film in its native Denmark, making 540k $ (68 % of the total gross). The film screened at 10 international festivals, and its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 84k $ (10.5 %) and Mexico with 62k $ (7.8 %). It got nominated for no less than 15 Roberts (Danish Oscar), winning 5, and 5 Bodils (Danish critics' awards), winning one. It was also nominated for the European Film Awards' Best Actor prize (Jacob Cedergren) and the Nordic Council's Film Prize of the year, which it won. 7,333 IMDb-users have given Submarino a 7.6/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Submarino?

Applause/Applaus (2009) - Paprika Steen's powerhouse performance makes drama debut

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Star Paprika Steen looks anguished in front of her makeup mirror on this poster for Martin Zandvliet's Applause

Middle-aged Copenhagen-based actress Thea is out of rehab and wants custody of her sons back. That doesn't come easily, and apart from them, she has nothing but her own misery in her life.

 
All the plot takes place while Thea is performing a Copenhagen stage production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1962). These sequences from the play are from an authentic, acclaimed production that Paprika Steen (Okay (2002)) appeared in prior to filming Applause. (Steen plays Martha in the play.)
Steen's anguished portrayal of a woman in crisis is this film, - it's title is not even shown at any time in the film, (which is rather strange), just her name in excessively large letters.
That is silly, and it is also a shame that this fantastic film struggles to even pass 80 minutes playtime. The writers Anders Fridthiof August (The Model (2016)) and debuting co-writer/director Martin Zandvliet (Land of Mine/Under Sandet (2015)) have not dared to escalate the conflict, and instead underplay the third act, characteristically for 'good' Danish taste and films made on a tight budget in the small Scandinavian country.
But thanks to Steen's incredible performance, this is a rare and worthwhile movie about a dysfunctional, middle-aged woman.

 

Related posts: 

Martin Zandvliet: Teddy Bear/10 Timer til Paradis (2012) - Matthiesen's little gem of intercontinental romance (co-writer)

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

A Funny Man/Dirch (2011) - Kaas shines in serious biopic of Danish national treasure comedian 

 

Paprika Steen talks about making the film in a Q&A here

Cost: Reportedly 3.6 mil. DKK, approximately 580k $
Box office: In excess of 505k $
= Some uncertainty, but looks like a huge flop (returned 0.87 times its cost)

[Applause premiered 4 July (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic) and runs 85 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark, including Copenhagen. The film was screened at many film festivals and had limited general releases in the US, Hungary and its production country Denmark, where it sold 39,852 tickets, coming to its 505k $ gross. It won 1/2 Robert award nominations (Denmark's Oscar), among other honors. Zandvliet returned with A Funny Man/Dirch (2011). Steen returned in Everything Will Be Fine/Alting Bliver Godt Igen (2010). Applause is fresh at 89 % with a 7.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Applause?