Torben Zeller Movies
- 1999
In 1927, Adrian Palmberg (Lars Simonsen) faces a severe emotional crisis when his wife and child are killed in a fire. Distraught, Palmberg angrily announces that there is no God and proclaims himself immortal. He exiles himself to a basement before being declared insane and confined to a mental institution, where he does frequent verbal battle with a psychiatrist before finally coming to terms with both God and mortality after turning 100 years old. Featuring exceptional black-and-white cinematography by Harald Paalgard, Manden som ikke ville do (aka The Man Who Would Live Forever) was the directorial debut from Torben Skjodt Jensen and was screened at the 1999 Gothenburg Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ghita Nørby, Lars Simonsen, (more)
- 1993
In this comedy, Viggo Hansen (Erik Clausen) has been released, set free, returned to the waters, unhooked, etc. That, at least, is how the company that he has worked at for over twenty years looks at their firing of him. It's a kindness they perform for their workers; a kindness which also permits them to open factories (using cheaper labor) in Portugal. Viggo, on the other hand, has already got plenty of problems, and being unemployed simply brings all of them to a boil. He's middle aged, which is a big enough problem. He has just found out that his son is a homosexual. He can't get along with his daughter and her insufferable husband, and he has completely lost interest in his wife. With all that on his plate, he decides to try having a little affair, and takes off with his new lady-love on a vacation. When that also turns out to be a disaster, he comes home to his wife and discovers that she seems to be wise to the whole thing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erik Clausen, Helle Ryslinge, (more)
- 1993
As children will often do, Eigil (Bjarke Smitt Vestermark) has a hard time with certain figures of speech his parents habitually use. Why are they "leaving the Snooks" and "buying a cat in a bag?" (These are Scandanavian expressions for going crazy and getting the worst of a deal, respectively.) He believes that the Snooks must feel bad about being left in that fashion, and surely someone must rescue that poor cat. In this children's movie combining puppets and live action, Eigil sets out to make things right. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Ravn
- 1992
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
- Starring:
- Karen-Lise Mynster, Erland Josephson, (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
