#birgo lander

[c-schroed]

Peter Capaldi as Birgo Lander, Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997), directed by Bille August

Visited my mom the other day 'cause one of her fav movies was on TV, and I did n o t expect to see him in there, being so young.

(I know that he was 39 at that moment, but I did not know him before his work at Doctor Who, so there's that. Also, if I had a nickel for every guy in his thirties I've deemed as so darn young this week etc.)

[duckodeathreturns]

062 Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997)

His name is Birgo Lander....He spent his youth in practically all the Danish reform schools; he's an orphan, rich, totally without scruples, even more dyslexic than the mechanic, addicted to gambling, and a drunkard....

(Birgo's introduction from the UK edition of Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow.)

Which maybe doesn't sounds very promising, but as Smilla finds out, he's also charming and loyal and in his own way a total sweetheart while (in the film) looking just like Peter Capaldi which can only be a good thing.

Last time Peter was in a film with Julia Ormond, he was the cheating bastard ex-husband Simon with the funny eye in Captives, but this time he's Birgo Lander who -- and I am in no way exaggerating -- is perfect in every way.    He even gets the stoic Smilla to crack a smile! 

So what if he's only got about five minutes actual screentime, Birgo should have had his own spin-off that was divided into two parts: half him sitting at the bar of his casino with his ascot and his cigarettes and his gold rings and his animated scrunchy face being a dissipated fixer for all the angry people of Copenhagen trying to solve crimes and half him driving very fast while talking like a 1950s hard-boiled detective and/or looking all handsome and heroic in the dawn light. 

Also, he would need to drive a big boat as often as possible. 

The book this is based on is one of the original Scandi Noirs, so the film is based on a translated text.  This probably accounts for the somewhat stylized language of the dialogue, but maybe not, I would need that confirmed by someone who'd read it in the original Danish.  I think it's quite a good book in its own right that's much more than just a murder mystery (I'd actually read long before I even knew there was a film), but the film does have one big draw that the book can't offer and that's seeing Uncle Lander's big happy smile.

[duckodeathreturns]

All right, this is the third time I've come across Peter going on about cravats (and/or fedoras).  Which obviously explains why the delightful Birgo -- who, let's face it, is maybe just a titch more than slightly fey -- is perfect in every way.