1910's was the golden age for Danish cinema: a decade that saw directors such as Benjamin Christensen and Carl Th. Dreyer begin their careers. Though not as internationally famous, Holger-Madsen was a towering figure in Danish cinema, one whose film output is larger than Christensen's and Dreyer's put together. Of course this also means that the works aren't as polished, and every once in awhile between important works you would get lesser ones, such as "Folkets ven" (Enemy of the People, 1918).
The film is very timely, and draws inspiration from current affairs, such as the October revolution of 1917 as well as the Finnish civil war in 1918. Almost in sheer panic, Madsen is encouraging people to stay calm, and not to give way for drastic measures. The film follows three men, none of whom is happy with the state of society. They pursue change in different ways. One through legislation and legal, conservative politics. The other through siding with revolutionaries. The third by planning an assassination that would fix it. Can you tell who is the reasonable brother?
The film is very simple. It's anti-violence and pro-democracy, and not much else. Though it presents itself as a societal, thinking man's picture, there's hardly any thought put into the narrative. The lack of depth in the political depiction makes the film hallow, and dull. You can't relate to any of the characters, because they are only presentations of different ideologies, and you can't get interested in the ideologies, because there aren't any details. The cinematography and the visual narration is very basic, as Madsen is hardly a revolutionary even in an artistic sense.
The film prays to God several times, it tries to reason with the audience, and it is so annoying that I wanted to become a revolutionary communist afterwards just to spite it. It's long, tedious, and lacking almost any merit.
Madsen did nearly a 100 films, start watching somewhere else.
