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Reviews
Blinkende lygter (2000)
Very dark and violent
How this qualifies as a comedy - even by Danish definitions. It is simply difficult to see how the amount of superfluous and graphic violence contributes to the film.
That said, each of the four central protagonists reveal a source for their criminality deriving from the horrific childhoods each had to experience. This adds a layer of something supposed to be like depth to each character - but it's really not enough to make us care much about the characters. It's a start - not a completed development.
Die Fälscher (2007)
Subtle, disquieting and marvelously acted
The three defining (and compelling) attributes of Die Fälscher are: Subtle, Disquieting and Marvelously Acted.
Subtle. Die Fälscher avoids the binary good/evil depiction of the horrifying realm of the Nazi concentration camps. The.mix of conflicting emotions in the lead counterfeiter Salomon Sorowitsch is what makes this film so moving. Yes - Salomon is horrified, outraged and sickened by the treatment of the torture and murder of those all around him. Yet he is also proud of his skills as a counterfeiter - skills that have given him a protected status and skills in which he takes pride as an art that he hones in the camp to unprecedented heights in what is essentially an art form. Salomon is conflicted that his growing skill has allowed him to perfect the heretofore unreachable counterfeiting of the US dollar while realizing that his great achievement is advancing the Nazi regime that creates the horrors around him. There's more too - but this gives an idea of what is meant here by subtle.
Disquieting. Because the characters are developed as full human beings - both prisoners and Nazi overseers alike - this film escapes the cardboard cutout so common in other films of the Nazi horrors. Because we see the characters as multilayered, we feel as if we know them as individuals. That alone in a Nazi concentration camp film is enough to be disquieting.
Marvelously acted. Die Fälscher won the 2007 Best Foreign Film Academy Award with good reason. Karl Markovics as Salomon is, as noted, superb. Even the more one-dimensional character of Sturmbannführer Herzog is delicately played by David Striesow.
Space Force (2020)
Worth watching for Steve Carell and John Malkovich but fairly weak overall
The ongoing snipes of Dr, Adrian Mallory (John Malkovich) and General Mark Naird (Steve Carell) remain sharp, witty and believable. There interaction is worth putting up with the unlikely plot turns, storyline holes and over-repeated jokes (the cadets at Space Force are... wait for it... "space cadets").
Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding (2018)
Endearing, witty and quirky
Anne (Fockeline Ouwerkerk) is one of those characters who unexpectedly remains with you long after you've watched a film. She is a richly-layered personality, full of endearing quirks and aware of - if not fully accepting of - the uniqueness of her worldview. Her love of word takes on a life of its own... and in its excess becomes all the more engaging. The film also is among the best depictions of the mix of emotions that come with trying to care for those with parents who are losing their faculties. Anne struggles to balance the jumble of retaining dignity, past hurts and love as she suddenly is left to handle her increasingly senile father. Finally, you can enjoy the movie on its surface just as a fun romcom.