Danish Resources - Movies!
Note: I haven’t seen all of these, and the summaries are from IMDB, others from Google. I have shortened some summaries.
The links in the title are to the IMDB page for each film.
Valhalla (1986) - Animation, Adventure, Family
Through Loki’s treachery, two children in the Viking age find themselves spirited away into the world of Norse Mythology
Martin (14) is forced to deal with confused sexuality and the loss of a mother in a provincial setting in the mid-seventies, where the famed Danish liberation of porn has had its influence on the grownups.
The successful entrepreneur Lars Halbo returns to Denmark when he inherits the family firm, but when he refuses to cooperate in illegal cartel pricing, his little company comes under heavy pressure.
Sorg og glæde (2013) - Drama
Filmmaker Johannes and his wife, schoolteacher Signe, experience the biggest sorrow and misfortune one can ever imagine. Nevertheless, in all the hopelessness they must try to reach for mutual and mature love in order to continue life after death.
Lev Stærkt (2014) - Drama
Two hard-living best friends and aficionados of illegal racing contests find their bond tested when one of them goes to trial for vehicular homicide.
Et rigtigt menneske (2001) - Drama
Lisa is the daughter of busy parents. In her loneliness Lisa invents an imaginary friend, P, who lives behind her bedroom wall. A tragic car accident turns the lives of everybody upside down and magically P steps out of the wall.
Vil du se min smukke navle (1978) - Drama (link)
Kundskabens træ (1981) - Drama
As a group of Danish children pass into adolescence, gradually the most popular girl becomes an outcast, for trivial reasons that she never understands.
Det Forsømte Forår (1993) - Drama
At their 25th high-school anniversary some bourgeois citizens remember their time in school as a happy one. In reality it was quite the contrary. The school was a madhouse in which the teachers, especially Blomme, tormented the students. As a result one of them became a murderer.
Pelle erobreren (1987) - Drama
The end of the 19th century. A boat filled with Swedish emigrants comes to the Danish island of Bornholm. Among them are Lasse and his son Pelle who move to Denmark to find work. They find employment at a large farm, but are treated as the lowest form of life. Pelle starts to speak Danish but is still harassed as a foreigner. But none of them wants to give up their dream of finding a better life than the life they left in Sweden.
A college professor abandons his family and his career in order to champion his mistress, a student radical accused of killing a policeman.
Rene Hjerter (2006) - Drama
Kriss lives at a mental institution, where he spends all day watching an old black-and-white film called “Rene hjerter”. One day he and his friend, Willy, escapes the institution to find the star of “Rene hjerter”, Ulla Vilstrup.
I Dine Hænder (2015) - Drama
Maria is a young and caring nurse who wants to break free. Niels is an incurable patient who wants to travel to Switzerland to commit assisted suicide. Together they embark on an intense journey that will bring them closer to each other but also closer to their dreams.
Lad De Små Børn… (2003) - Drama
A young married couple has to deal with their emotional breakdowns after the death of their only daughter.
Stille Hjerte (2014) - Drama
Three generations of a family coming together over a weekend. A sick mother’s wish to die before her disease worsens gets harder to handle as old conflicts come to the surface.
Forbrydelser (2004) - Drama
Anna is a recent graduate theologian who are in search of a job. When she is offered a temporary job as a priest at a women’s prison, she sees no reason to say no. There she meets Kate, a woman under the other inmates, possesses supernatural powers.
Due to a weather problem a plane from Denmark is forced to land at the Slovene airport. Amongst the passengers, being taken to a hotel in Ljubljana, is a quiet, beautiful young Danish girl Iben (25). This is how she meets Tina (25) who drives a shuttle as a summer job. They both need each other, but are very careful because one of them is hiding a secret. They speak to each other in English and in their native languages. Only one of the two languages has the so-called dual, a special grammatical form used in expressions that involve just two subjects. The other language does not. Dual is an honest story about two people who meet precisely at the moment when they absolutely should not have - but they are nevertheless a bit happier because they did.
Broderskab (2009) - Drama
Former Danish servicemen Lars and Jimmy are thrown together while training in a neo-Nazi group. Moving from hostility through to friendship and finally passion, events take a darker turn when it’s discovered.
You and Me Forever (2012) - Drama
Hold om Mig (2010) - Drama
A film about peer pressure and taking responsibility for one’s own life. The story revolves around Sara, Mikkel, Hassan and Louise, four teenagers, who are searching for their own identity and an anchor in their lives. One ill-fated day in the classroom a misunderstanding is thrown out of proportion and creates a wave of chaos. Suddenly they are the guilty ones and the victims of a game that has got out of hand.
The film is about a girl who lost her mother in prison out of drugs, but now her mom is back in town and it means nothing but trouble.
En Familie (2010) - Drama
A successful Danish family faces agonizing choices when its charismatic patriarch falls ill.
Se Min Kjole (2009) - Drama
Four dysfunctional teenage girls steal a car and elope from the institution where they live. They go on a road trip across Denmark, confronting ghosts of the past and settling old accounts as their dark secrets are revealed.
Smukke Mennesker (2010) - Drama
Follows the lives of four longing souls. Ingeborg who feels unattractive and young Jonas who is so attractive that he can literally sell some of what he’s got. Anna, a young beautiful woman with a physical disability, and Anders, a tender man with a psychological disability. Four people yearning for love, four people, each hoping for a better tomorrow.
Christina is living in a suburb to Copenhagen. With her class mates Cecilie, Trine and Pernille, a tight-knit gang of girlfriends, she slacks her schoolwork, living mostly for the weekends of gate crashing, getting drunk, experimenting with drugs and scoring guys. But her world is turned upside down when Cecilie’s boyfriend Shaid starts hitting on her, and Cecilie mistakenly believes the two of them are making out. Cecilie takes offense at Christina and the other girls turn furious. Suddenly Christina is on the receiving end of the girls’ wrath, being bullied. Quickly things are getting out of hand and suddenly everything is too late!
Alting Bliver Godt Igen (2010) - Drama, Thriller
A writer-director known for becoming obsessed with his own stories, Jacob Falk stumbles upon photographs of prisoners of war being tortured by Danish soldiers. Suspecting a political conspiracy, Falk falls into a frenetic chase to reveal the mystery behind the photos which leads him to discover a truth more disturbing than he imagined.
I Lossens Time (2013) - Drama, Crime
Helen, who is a priest, is approached by scientist Lisbeth with a desperate plea for help. A young man, who has been sent to a high security psychiatric ward after having killed an old couple, has attempted suicide while rambling about God. In a race against time the two women begin a shocking journey deeper and deeper into the sick mind of a young man’s soul.
Hævnen (2010) - Drama, Romance
The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.
Rosita (2015) - Drama, Romance
Johannes lives together with his father, the middle-aged widower Ulrik in a small fishing town in the northern part of Denmark. They live a quiet routine life, each minding their separate jobs in the fishing industry. Ulrik misses the love and tenderness of a woman and arranges for the young, beautiful, Filipino Rosita to come to Denmark - just as many other men in the town have done before him. Johannes is reluctantly drawn into this as Ulrik’s translator. However, over the following weeks Johannes and Rosita are getting more and more attracted to each other which forces Johannes to take responsibility for his dreams and his future.
Nøgle hus spejl (2015) - Drama, Romance
Lily and Max have been married for more than 50 years. Now they live together in a nursing home, where Max has been reliant on professional care since his stroke. Lily has been putting her own needs aside and is desperately longing for excitement and intimacy in her life. When a man known as “the Pilot” moves in next door, Lily is immediately charmed by him and his passion for life. But neither her family nor the other residents at the nursing home are fond of her new acquaintance. Misunderstood by her family and trapped in her life with Max, Lily decides to fight to escape the bars of her invisible prison and claim her freedom.
Det Andet Liv (2013) - Drama, Romance
A multi plot film in which three different destinies are thematically and geographically intertwined through a pivotal period in the lives of the characters, where they exchange the humdrum of daily life with a pursuit of excitement and love through online dating. Their lives are turned upside down by sex and secrets as they discover that letting in adventure has fatal consequences.
Copenhagen (2014) - Drama, Romance
When the girl of your dreams is half your age, it’s time to grow up.
Allegro (2005) - Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Famous pianist Zetterström returns home to his native Denmark, to give a concert, just to find out that the choices he has made in his life have affected his love life greatly.
9 April (2015) - Drama, War
In the early morning of April 9th 1940 the Danish army is alerted. The Germans have crossed the border; Denmark is at war against Europe’s strongest army. In Southern Jutland Danish bicycle- and motorcycle companies are ordered out, to against all odds, hold back the forces until the Danish reinforcements can be mobilized. In the fatal hours, we follow second lieutenant Sand (Pilou Asbæk) and his bicycle company - they will as the first Danish soldiers meet the enemy in combat on April 9th 1940.
Drengene fra Sankt Petri (1991) - Drama, War
A group of school-mates form a resistance group in nazi-occupied Denmark.
Hvidsten Gruppen (2012) - Drama, War
The true story of the Fiil’s a family of innkeepers who during Nazi-Germany’s occupation of Denmark took up arms against the German occupiers. But in the fight for freedom, some must die so that others may live.
Hamsun (1996) - Drama, War, Biography
Knut Hamsun is Norway’s most famous and admired author. Ever since he was young he has hated the English for the starvation they caused Norway during WWI. When the Germans occupy Norway on April 9, 1940, he welcomes them and the protection they can give from Great Britain. He supports the national socialist ideals, but opposes the way these ideals are turned into action - that Norwegians are jailed and executed. His wife Marie travels in Germany during the war as a sign of support from Knut and herself.
Mennesker Bliver Spist (2015) - Drama, Comedy
Good-hearted mechanic Herluf is test-driving a car, but forgets the way back to the garage, and has to ask for directions. At a party, he forgets the words to his favorite song. And one day, he disappears.
De frigjorte (1993) - Drama, Comedy
When a Danish factory releases its workers, a welder (Erik Clausen) grows restless and soon begins an affair.
Midt om Natten (1984) - Drama, Comedy
Benny and Arnold are homeless, living on Norrebro in Copenhagen.
Skyggen af Emma (1988) - Drama, Comedy
Emma (Line Kruse) is an eleven year-old only child from a wealthy Danish family. Emma’s parents seem more interested in their own interests than in her. One evening when Emma overhears her mother talking about how tragic it must be to have your child kidnapped, Emma decides to stage her own kidnapping
Babettes Gæstebud (1987) - Drama, Comedy, Music
In a remote 19th Danish century village two sisters lead a rigid life centered around their father, the local minister, and their church. Both had opportunities to leave the village: one could have married a young army officer and the other, a French opera singer. Their father objected in each case and they spent their lives caring for him. Many years later - their father is now deceased - they take in French refugee, Babette Hersant, who agrees to work as their servant. After winning the lottery, Babette wants to repay the sisters for their kindness and offers to cook a French meal for them and their friends on the 100th anniversary of their father’s birth. It proves to be an eye-opening experience for everyone.
Flammen og Citronen (2008) - Drama, History, Thriller
A drama centered on two fighters in the Holger Danske World War II resistance group.
En Kongelig Affære (2012) - Drama, History
A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.
Guldkysten (2015) - Drama, History, Romance
In 1836 the Danish romantic visionary Wulff travels to Africa to create plantations on the Gold Coast, but his best intentions and belief is soon confronted with a harsh reality dominated by slave trade and unbelievable brutality.
Lang Historie Kort (2015) - Comedy, Romance, Drama
Long Story Short is the story of Ellen and her friends, all in their late thirties/early forties, and their more or less self-inflicted complications of love and longing for romantic redemption. The story is a summary of three years of love-related highs and lows for the group of friends told through eight chapters, each of them set at a party: a New Year’s Eve, a housewarming, a Midsummer’s Eve, a wedding, a surprise party, a naming ceremony, an anniversary and a round birthday. It is an ensemble story about a group of people who struggle with the conception of the perfect relationship and are bound to re-evaluate their take on what true love is.
Mifunes Sidst Sang (1999) - Comedy, Romance, Drama
Kresten has moved from his parents farm on a small Danish island to Copenhagen in order to pursue his working career. When his father dies he has to move back to the farm, where nothing much has happened since he left. He places an add in the local newspaper to get help running the farm and taking care of his mentally disabled brother. Liva, who is running away from annoying telephone calls, answers it. But running away from your past isn’t easy.
En Kort en Lang (2001) - Comedy, Romance, Drama
Jacob is a young man used to getting everything he wants. For several years, he has been living in a happy homosexual partnership with Jørgen, and one night Jacob decides to pop the big question to Jørgen. Jørgen happily accepts Jacobs marriage proposal, but then something happens: Jacob falls in love with a girl, and not just any girl. The girl is Caroline, married to Jørgens younger brother Tom. Jacob’s life suddenly gets very complicated, trying to figure out whether he wants to spend his life with Jørgen or Caroline. Most of all, he wants both! When Caroline gets pregnant with Jacob, matters are even more complicated.
Adams æbler (2005) - Comedy, Drama, Crime
A neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devotional priest.
De største helte (1996) - Comedy, Drama
The bank robbers Karsten and Peter are on the run in Sweden. With them is one of their teenage daughter.
En Soap (2006) - Comedy, Drama
A tragicomedy focused on the relationship between the owner of a beauty clinic and a transsexual.
Tro, håb og kærlighed (1984) - Comedy, Drama, Music
Danish teens come of age in 1963. Bjorn and Erik are close friends. Bjorn is pursued by Kirsten, a future Stepford wife, but he falls for Anna, who initiates him into love and sex. Erik is somber, caring for his home-bound mentally-ill mother while his strict father rules his life. He desires Kirsten, but she’s unattainable. Pregnancy, a horrific abortion, an engagement party, and a revelation about the rectitude of Erik’s father lead to a climax: Bjorn and Erik must stand up to controlling adults.
Klumpfisken (2014) - Comedy
Kesse is a third generation fisherman living in the small and windblown town of Hirtshals, in Northern Jutland. As a result of new fishery policies and the global financial crisis, the smaller fishermen are slowly succumbing to the pressure of competing with larger fishing enterprises. Desperate times require desperate measures and so Kesse is forced to find more notorious and alternative ways of making ends meet. This in turn, leads him to meet his polar opposite, the female marine biologist Gerd.
At klappe med een hånd (2001) - Comedy
The businessman Erik Svensson sells his company and plans a life in luxury with his beautiful girlfriend in Spain. Just before departure he receives a letter from a former mistress claiming that her daughter is his as well. He hires the undertaker Anders as his chauffeur and the pair leave to investigate the claim.
Jesper Jensen is a successful IT salesman who stops at nothing, even if it means backstabbing his best friend. Being number one in the company and having a beautiful wife and a lovely home, Jesper seems to lead a perfect life, but one day his arrogance and self confidence hits him in the face like a boomerang and he loses everything overnight. Jesper is sentenced to do community service at a recycling center with the odd and funny characters Dion, Theodor, and Lotte. At first he looks down on these people and doesn’t want to be associated with them. When he begins to loosen up, however, he discovers that he can learn a lot from their straightforward and honest approach to life.
De Skrigende Halse (1993) - Comedy
Copenhagen 1984. Ronni is a young, mediocre punk-guitarist, eager to make it big in the death obsessed late-punk milieu. But his girlfriend has left him, the other members of his band are fed up with his incompetence and insecure attitude, he has a problem with his stomach, his doctor wants to abuse him sexually and the former manager of the band thinks Ronni owes him some money. It seems to reach an ultimate low, when Ronni collapses onstage during an all-important concert, but it turns out to be his ticket to glory as he claims to be mortally ill.
Kærlighed Ved Første Hik (1999) - Comedy
Anja is a beautiful and very well proportioned high school senior … and still a virgin. She insists that she wants her first time to be with a guy, who knows what it’s about. Her rich (and arrogant, pretentious and obnoxious) boyfriend Peter serves the purpose, and he’s more than willing. In fact, he’s pushing forward as much as he can, but Victor, a freshman who has a serious crush on Anja, has other plans. Her first time should definitely not be with this buffoon, and he’s ready to take it VERY far!
Recently released/to be released:
Der Kommer en Dag (2016) - Drama
‘Der kommer en dag’ is a movie about an orphanage where violence and humiliations is a part of the everyday life. The history is based on real stories from a boy home called ‘godhavn’, where lots of boys where victims of violent and sexual abuse and medical experiments.
En-to-tre-nu! (2016) - Drama
Jeppe falls deeply in love with the mysterious and beautiful girl, Cecilie, from school. But their time is limited as Cecilie is diagnosed with cancer and Jeppe has to balance school, social life and the dream of becoming a professional basketball player while staying beside Cecilie as this summer may be her last. The story is about life, death, love, time - nothing lasts forever, but if you truly love something, it will never really leave you.
Realizing that her unknown biological father is probably alive, Sofia leaves behind a degrading and humiliating life and embarks on a journey with her naive half-sister Olivia, both girls hoping to find the caring father figure they so desperately need. They find Adam who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. However, that does not stop the girls from trying to get in contact with the former soldier. Adam is constantly on red alert but at the same time he finds that his feelings for the daughter he had never expected to meet are growing.
Fuglene Over Sundet (2016) - Drama
Fuglene Over Sundet is the gripping tale of the Danish Jews’ escape to Sweden in October 1943.
De Standhaftige (2016) - Drama
Deployed on mission in Helmand, Afghanistan, 25-year old Thomas steps on a landmine and gets seriously injured. At the local rehabilitation center he meets Sofie, an ascending ballerina from the Royal Danish Ballet, who is helping a relative to regain strength after a long term sickness. Thomas desperately wants back in the field and gets impatient, as progress does not emerge as fast as he wants to. When Sofie offers to help him with a more intense rehabilitation plan, he accepts. Despite their differences, they develop a special bond and a mutual affection.
