Lone Scherfig Movies
Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig is part of the Dogme 95 film movement, which espouses a form of cinéma vérité that eschews special effects and glitzy treatment of its subjects. Cameras are handheld; films are shot on location with no extraneous props or atmospheric music. This is all part of the group's renowned, so-called "Vow of Chastity."Employing the principles of Dogme 95, Scherfig made Italian for Beginners in 2001. The film won the Silver Bear juried prize at the Berlin Film Festival, and has enjoyed accolades from audiences in Europe and America, where the director made a special version minus the Danish inside jokes. The romantic comedy -- a new direction for the normally serious Dogme 95 -- centers around a group of disparate people in Copenhagen, who meet to learn the Italian language. Relationships form; romances blossom; the story unfolds with ever increasing complications and convolutions, hinting at the complexities of love. The love angle may reflect a female sensibility, something that Scherfig brings to the otherwise all-male Dogme 95 group, who invited her to join them. She has been quoted as saying that since she has made soap operas for television, she knew how to avoid crossing that line between tragi-comic and maudlin when writing the script for the film. Indeed, while the movie touches upon many serious subjects such as loss through suicide and divorce, it has a feel-good, light quality about it.
Italian for Beginners, shot on a budget of less than a million dollars using local settings, has brought the former Danish Film School teacher recognition from prestigious film festivals and Hollywood alike. That positive regard eluded her while working on several previous feature films, including On Our Own, as well as some forgettable sitcoms, such as Taxa, for Danish television.
Since the success of Italian for Beginners in America, Hollywood has beckoned. So far, Scherfig has resisted Tinsel Town's siren call, preferring her quiet life and garden by the sea in Denmark with her husband and daughter. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Viggo Mortensen and Jason Isaacs star in this period drama set in 1930s-era Germany, and detailing the ways in which an otherwise "good" man can be slowly seduced by dark forces. John Halder is a professor of literature. When he's not teaching, most of John's time is dedicated to looking after his neurotic wife, tending to the couple's two young children, and caring for his elderly mother, who suffers from senile dementia. Disheartened by his mother's downward spiral, John authors a novel supporting euthanasia for the terminally ill. Much to John's surprise, the Nazi party singles out his tome as the "way forward," and soon begins to heap flattery on the author in the form of glowing compliments and extravagant gifts. As a result, John finds himself making a variety of minor moral compromises that soon begin to snowball. As his moral compass becomes less and less reliable and music manifests in John's conscience at the most inopportune moments -- such as the time a Bavarian boy choir bursts in as he's attempting to seduce a young lover -- the author begins to question his own motivations while also taking pause to consult with his best friend, a Jewish psychoanalyst named Maurice (Jason Isaacs). Unfortunately for Maurice, the situation is quickly worsening for the Jews of Germany as John continues his ascent in the party ranks. While John does everything within his power to save Maurice, the risks involved in truly removing his old friend from harm's way may already be too great for the morally compromised author to consider. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs, (more)
- 2008
- PG13
A suburban London teen finds her traditional education replaced by something slightly more sinister when an older, more worldly suitor sweeps her off of her feet while placing her future in jeopardy. London, 1961: 16-year-old Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is smart, attractive, and eager to start her adult life. She's grown tired of the familiar adolescent routine, so when urbane newcomer David (Peter Sarsgaard) appears in town, Jenny senses a rare opportunity to shake things up a bit. Quickly falling under David's spell, the impressionable Jenny begins accompanying her newfound beau to classical concerts, art auctions, crowded pubs, and dinners that stretch into the small hours of the night. But Jenny is brighter than most kids her age, and her parents always dreamt of getting their exceptional daughter into Oxford. These days it seems like she's headed in a different direction -- will David ultimately be her undoing, or the person who helps her finally realize her true potential? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, (more)
- 2007
Director Lone Scherfig teams with screenwriter Niels Hausgaard to tell the comedic tale of a troubled small town, and the brave few who made it their mission to keep the community together. As the citizens of a secluded Danish town gradually loose their trust in one and other, the sight of a naked man walking through town in the early hours of the morning sets off an unsettling wave of paranoia. Only when they find the naked man will the townspeople find the strength needed to move beyond this strange emotional state. Now, as a dedicated few set out to uncover the naked man's identity and re-establish their sense of community, they suddenly begin to realize that in assisting their neighbors they are simultaneously and inadvertently bettering themselves as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lars Kaalund, Bodil Jorgensen, (more)
Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig, the writer and director of the 12th Dogme 95 film, 2000's critically acclaimed Italian for Beginners, presents this comedy drama starring Jamie Sives and Adrian Rawlins as brothers Wilbur and Harbour. When their mother died early in their lives, it became up to Harbour to keep tabs on Wilbur, the younger and chronically depressed of the two siblings. Now in their thirties, their father has passed away, leaving them to take over the family's used book store. It is there that they encounter Alice (Shirley Henderson), a hospital janitor who sells the books that patients leave behind, and her young, optimistic daughter, Mary (Lisa McKinlay). Together, the four form a bond that changes each of their lives, with Harbour falling in love with Alice and Mary's sunny demeanor giving the suicidal Wilbur a reason to live. The first English-language effort from Scherfig, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself was nominated for best film at Denmark's 2003 Bodil Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Sives, Adrian Rawlins, (more)
The Dogma 95 movement has seen some searing looks into the human condition but rarely a romantic comedy -- until now. Veteran Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig spins this deadpan look at a group of lovelorn outsiders living in a grey corner of Copenhagen. After the perennially foul-tempered minister of a local church is fired after doing great injury to the organist, Andreas moves to the area to take over the parish. Staying in a hotel until his predecessor can be wrested from the rectory, Andreas befriends the establishment's scatter-brained manager, Jørgen, who is utterly in love with a beautiful Italian barmaid working at a nearby pub run by Hal-Finn. When the irascible Hal-Finn is chastised by the bar's owner for his unkempt appearance, he goes to a local salon where he meets Karen, a comely hairdresser harried by her grasping mom. Meanwhile, Andreas falls for a lethally klutzy pastry shop assistant named Olympia. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anders W. Berthelsen, Peter Gantzler, (more)
- 1990
Kaj (Steen Svare) is a pleasant, shy, somewhat overweight Danish bachelor who runs an outdoor hot-dog stand. A quartet of his friends think it would be great fun to take him on a boat excursion to the cheap thrills of Swinoujscie, Poland, where the booze and the women are cheap (but you stand the chance of having your wallet stolen). Its his fortieth birthday, and as far as any of them know, he's still a virgin, or nearly so. While the lads a whooping it up in a bar (and incidentally getting into all sorts of trouble), Kaj goes to the house of a nice family in the mistaken belief that he's headed for a whorehouse. Instead, he's treated to a nice meal and it's assumed that he's there to marry the family's similarly chubby daughter (Dorota Pomkykala). Indeed, as he stays at the family home overnight, they do become friends. The next day, Kaj bails his friends out of jail and they head back to Denmark, Kaj with a twinkle in his eye. Maybe he'll come back and marry that girl after all. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
