Stig Hoffmeyer Movies

Adapted from the semi-autobiographical fiction of Scandinavian author Askel Sandemose, Misery Harbor concerns Espen (Nikolaj Coster Waldau), an introverted young author in love with a young woman named Jenny (Anneke von der Lippe). Jenny is involved with a literary critic, so, hoping to impress her, Espen asks her to read the manuscript of his first novel. In the novel, the protagonist, much like Espen himself, runs away from the Danish factory town of his birth and finds work on board a British ship, where he meets Wakefield (Stuart Graham), an ill-tempered ne'er-do-well. Wakefield is determined to make Espen's life miserable at every opportunity, and when Espen jumps ship in Newfoundland and begins to court Eva (Margot Finley), Wakefield is on hand to spoil that as well. Misery Harbor was the first in a series of films co-produced by Canadian and Norwegian production companies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this drama, the story of the 1944 Alf Sjorberg film Torment is taken up many decades afterwards. In the original film, based on an enormously well-known book by Hans Scherfig, a sadistic schoolteacher is shown wreaking havoc in the lives of his charges, though he eventually dies in what appears to be a quite innocent way, by choking on a piece of candy. In this new film, the boys the schoolmaster tormented so badly are all grown up and have settled into their lives. Some are even quite successful. At a reunion, they recount how each of them was treated by this man whom all of them hated (shown in flashbacks), and it becomes clear that they organized to punish him. Eventually, it begins to appear that one of these boys arranged to poison him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Based on the 1932 novel Mendel Philipsen and Son by Henri Nathansen, Sofie was adapted for the screen by celebrated actress Liv Ullmann, making her directorial debut. Beginning in Copenhagen during the late 1880s, Sofie (Karen-Lise Mynster) is a devoted Jewish daughter who falls in love with the Gentile painter Hojby (Jesper Christensen). Her parents, Semmy (Erland Josephson) and Frederikke (Ghita Nørby), don't approve of the relationship, so they encourage her to marry her mentally ill cousin, a Swedish shopkeeper named Jonas (Torben Zeller). She gives birth to a son, but their already loveless marriage becomes further complicated when Sofie develops an interest in her brother-in-law Gottleib (Stig Hoffmeyer). Jonas is inconsolable after the death of his mother (Kirsten Rolffes), so much so that Sofie has him institutionalized and takes over his business. Years later, Sofie returns to Copenhagen with her son to help her aging parents and attend an auction where she reunites with Hojby. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

This expressionistic non-narrative film is about the psychological and emotional trials of a man just released from prison after 16 years. Johannes (Peter Thiel) killed his wife in a fit of misguided passion many years ago, and is now middle-aged and trying to adjust to life on the outside. Every sound he hears in his small apartment reminds him of the sounds of his years in prison: doors opening and slamming shut, footsteps down the hall. He struggles to communicate his feelings about his crime to his mother and daughter, but never quite manages a breakthrough. Others seem more understanding, and there is some hope that after a while, Johannes will no longer feel quite so alienated. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This is the fourth in a series of Danish films based on a story by the children's novelist Ole Lund Kirkegaard, and unlike its predecessors, it is geared solely to the young tots. As the tale of the Turkish boy Hodja (David Bertelsen) and his magic, flying carpet takes off, Hodja has just been awarded the carpet by the village elders and he shares his rides with his girlfriend Emerald (Zuhal Ozdemir). The two are unceasingly chased by the nefarious Rat (Lars Junggreen), who is anxious to pirate the carpet as a way to curry the Sultan's favor. But the last laugh will be Hodja's -- the carpet does not run on high octane fuel, just the belief in magic by those who climb aboard. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide