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about the program
Heart of Light: The Danish Wave in Cinema has been organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in collaboration with the Danish Film Institute. Special thanks to the Consulate General of Denmark in New York for its support.
BESAT / POSSESSED
Anders Rønnow-Klarlund, 1999; 99m
A mysterious stranger arrives by plane from Romania; within hours, he dies of an infection with weird, Ebola-like symptoms. Søren, an ambitious, rising star in the medical establishment, sets off for Romania in order to track down the source of the disease. Yet what he will discover will soon make him question the science to which he has devoted so much of his life. The next word in medical paranoia after von Trier's The Kingdom, POSSESSED is a taut, witty thriller that
constantly delights as it adds yet another level of
complications to Søren's quest; as the "puppeteer" seemingly controlling everyone's strings, German actor Udo Kier is simply perfect. Rønnow-Klarlund's first film, THE EIGHTEENTH, was featured in the 1997 edition of New Directors/New Films.
Fri Sept 10: 3 pm and 9:30 pm;
Sat Sept 11: 4 pm
BLEEDER
Nicolas Winding Refn, 1999; 101m
Pusher, Nicolas Winding Refn's first feature film, was the revelation of our 1997 Danish film series; with BLEEDER, he more than lives up to the promise of that auspicious debut. Recently screened at the Venice Film Festival, BLEEDER details the love between Leo and Louise, both living on the edge yet buoyed by each other and a tight circle of friends and family surrounding them. But when Louise becomes pregnant, their world begins to unravel, forcing long seething tensions out into the open. Beautifully shot in bright, neon colors and full of offbeat humor, BLEEDER again shows Winding Refn's rare talent for capturing a milieu, for bringing us into and helping us understand the rules of a subculture's particular game.
Fri Sept 10: 1 pm and 5 pm;
Sat Sept 11: 9:30 pm
LET'S GET LOST
Jonas Elmer, 1997; 92m
Veteran producer Per Holst-who has worked with Lars von Trier, Bille August and Bo Widerberg, among others-was so impressed by Jonas Elmer's short films that he asked him to turn one of them into a feature. The result: LET'S GET LOST, a bracingly fresh, largely improvised comedy replete with the off-the-cuff quality of the early French New Wave. Recently jilted, Julie tolerates three male friends sitting on her sofa watching soccer matches so she won't feel lonely; secretly, she's also hoping to lure one of them into a scheme to take revenge on her ex. The film moves with a sly, unpredictable rhythm, as exactly who's using who becomes increasingly difficult to figure out.
Tue Sept 14: 4 pm;
Wed Sept 15: 1 pm and 5:45 pm
BREAKING THE WAVES
Lars von Trier, 1996; 158m
Set in a remote, tight-knit community on the rugged coast of Scotland, BREAKING THE WAVES is the story of Bess, an innocent young woman who marries an oil-rig worker shortly before a cataclysmic occurrence alters both their lives. This harshly beautiful elegy to physical passion and spritual transcendence features a heartbreaking, star-making performance by Emily Watson as Bess, whose very existence seems to stir up the passions long denied by her strict Calvinist community.
Sat Sept 11: 6:15 pm;
Sun Sept 12: 4 pm;
Tues Sept 14: 1 pm
BARBARA
Nils Malmros, 1997; 143m
Known for his autobiographically inflected works, such as Tree of Knowledge and Beauty and the Beast, Nils Malmros for his eighth film adapted one of the modern classics of Danish literature, Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen's novel Barbara. Set in the Faroe Islands in the late 18th century, the story begins as a young vicar, Pastor Poul, arrives at the Islands to take over a congregation. He soon meets the enchanting Barbara, the widow of not one but two of his predecessors. Despite the warnings of several in the community he falls in love and marries her, yet his lingering doubts about her continue to gnaw at their relationship, forcing a final confrontation. Malmros makes terrific use of the harsh, rocky landscapes to emphasize the profound, elemental passions surging through these characters, for whom the trappings of civilization are no match for the forces of an uncontrollable nature.
Sun Sept 12: 7:15 pm
Thurs Sept 16: 3:15 pm
Sun Sept 19: 6:15 pm
PIZZA KING
Ole Christian Madsen, 1999; 100m
A fastfood joint selling shawarma (lamb) and other Middle Eastern delights, the "Pizza King" is also the headquarters for Junes and his friends. A second-generation immigrant drifting into petty crime more out of boredom than anything else, Junes feels himself increasingly pressured by his loose-cannon best friend Bobby to get involved in a big score that will set all of them up. Director Ole Madsen, whose vibrant, handheld shooting style is reminiscent of the early Scorsese, makes his feature film debut with this rough-hewn, edgy look at young immigrants unwilling to follow their parents into lives of small shopkeepers or restaurant owners, hoping instead to cash in on the material promise life in the West seems to offer.
Mon Sept 13: 1 pm, 5 pm and 9:15 pm
MANDEN SOM IKKE VILLE DØ /
THE MAN WHO WOULD LIVE FOREVER
Torben Skjødt Jensen, 1999; 99m
Although a markedly secular society, Denmark has nevertheless produced a number of important films which explore the spiritual dimension. Several masterworks of Dreyer of course immediately come to mind, as well as Lars von Trier's BREAKING THE WAVES and The Kingdom. To this tradition we can now add Torben Skjødt Jensen's THE MAN WHO WOULD LIVE FOREVER. After a bitter tragedy, the farmer Adrian Palmberg turns his wrath against the God he feels has abandoned him; he builds himself a private refuge, where he remains in solitude for years. When he finally comes out he feels he has won: he is now immortal, beyond the power of the Being who had already robbed him of one life. The black-and-white Cinemascope images-shot by Norwegian cinematographer Harald Paalgard-are simply breathtaking, and convey on their own the sense of spiritual meditation that runs through the story.
Mon Sept 13: 3 pm and 7 pm
MAGNETISØRENS FEMTE VINTER /
THE MAGNETIST'S FIFTH WINTER
Morten Henriksen, 1999; 123m
In a quiet, northern Swedish town in 1820, Dr. Selander lives with his blind daughter Maria, respected by the community and the local governors as well. One day, a Dane calling himself Dr. Meisner arrives, supposedly after years of study and travel abroad. Meisner calls himself a "magnetist," and claims that he can cure all sorts of diseases and conditions using specially built gadgets which alter magnetic currents. At first Selander ignores him as a charlatan, but Meisner does claim to be especially effective against blindness-and Maria does seem interested…. Based on a novel by Swedish author Per Enquist, Morten Henriksen's film adaptation powerfully brings the era to life, creating the sense of a smugly self-contained world whose foundations are soon to be rocked by the onslaught of foreign knowledge. The first-rate cast features Ole Lemmeke, Rolf Lassgard, and the great Erland Josephson.
Wed Sept 15: 3:15 pm and 8 pm;
Thurs Sept 16: 1 pm
LYSETS HJERTE / HEART OF LIGHT
Jacob Grønlykke, 1998; 92m
"HEART OF LIGHT is a wonderful, stunningly beautiful portrait of a man's search for self-realization."- Geoffrey Gilmore, Sundance Film Festival
The first feature film shot totally in Greenland-which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark-HEART OF LIGHT is the story of Rasmus (played by Rasmus Lyberth, a celebrated Greenlandic singer), a man sinking into a mire created by constant unemployment and alcohol. When one of his sons goes on a killing spree, Rasmus turns inward, searching inside himself for the answers to the tragedy that's become his life. He embarks on an extraordinary journey into Greenland's vast, snowy interior; there, amid the towering blue skies, clear light and mountains of ice, he will re-establish contact with the culture he has lost, finding in tradition the strength to cope with the modern. A deeply felt, visually ravishing work.
Fri Sept 17: 1 pm and 6:15 pm;
Sat Sept 18: 8:30 pm
THE CELEBRATION
Thomas Vinterberg, 1998; 105m
A gorgeous summer evening in the Danish countryside. Children and friends gather to celebrate a family head's 60th birthday. Then the shocking accusations begin. Are they spiteful lies or ugly, searing revelations? A super ensemble cast and edgy handheld camerawork shape a taut family melodrama as director Thomas Vinterberg's audacious and moving film-the inaugural work of Denmark's controversial Dogma 95 collective-veers madly from the supercilious to the tragic.
Preceded by: TEIS AND NICO (Henrik Ruben Genz, 1998, 20m). Two young brothers stumble upon the rules of dating etiquette.
Fri Sept 17: 3:30 pm and 9 pm;
Sun Sept 19: 9 pm
DE YDMYGEDE / THE HUMILIATED
Jesper Jargil, 1998; 78m
An extraordinary, in-depth look at the process behind the creation of perhaps the most daring "Dogma" film yet: Lars von Trier's Idiots, (hopefully) soon to be released in the U.S. Idiots follows a group of twenty-something Danes who live communally and who act like mentally handicapped spastics in public situations. THE HUMILIATED details how the cast comes together with von Trier, and the way that offscreen tensions make their way into the shooting script. The film is also a revealing portrait of Lars von Trier, whose thoughts recorded in an audio diary provide a running commentary on the course of shooting Idiots. Even if you haven't seen Idiots, THE HUMILIATED is a remarkable experience.
Preceded by: IF I GIVE YOU MY HUMBLENESS, DON'T TAKE AWAY MY PRIDE (Karin Westerlund, 1999, 14m). A sensation at this year's Cannes Festival: an intense portrait of passion in the desert.
Sat Sept 18: 6:15 pm;
Sun Sept 19: 4 pm
Panel Discussion: The Nouvelle Vow-or Is the Danish "Dogma" Movement For Real?
Presented in collaboration with the Center for Communication, Inc.
Sat Sept 18: 4:15 pm
Admission is free with any valid ticket for a Danish film shown at the Walter Reade Theater September 18 or 19.
Over the past 18 months, no development in international
cinema has caused more heated controversy than the emergence of the Danish "Dogma" films-thus far (in the U.S.), Thomas Vinterberg's CELEBRATION, and the soon-to-be-released Idiots by Lars von Trier and Mifune by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen. Brandishing in their credits a certificate which signifies the filmmaker's agreement to abide by a set of filmmaking rules (no artificial lights, no tripods, no canned music, etc.) Dogma seems a conscious return to a more direct, more "imperfect" cinema in an age of computer-generated imagery and megamillion-dollar budgets. At Cannes this year, it was announced that an additional 15 international filmmakers had signed up to create certified Dogma productions-but is Dogma really anything more than a publicity stunt? Join Paul Morrissey (slated for an upcoming Dogma film), Jesper Jargil (director of THE HUMILIATED) and producer Anthony Bregman (Good Machine) for a discussion on Dogma's present and future impact on filmmaking.
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