Birthe Neumann Movies

You don't necessarily need arms and legs to boogie with the best, as evidenced in this playful tale of an adventurous worm who strives to keep the insect world dancing to the funky sounds of classic disco. Barry is an optimistic invertebrate at the bottom of the food chain. Just when it starts to seem that Barry will wind up working a desk job at the local compost industry, his father gives him an old box of office supplies with a vintage disco record buried deep inside. From the moment those first notes hit his ears, Barry's body starts to move and he's completely hooked. This is his ticket to a more exciting life, and if he can assemble a band in time they may have a shot at winning the upcoming annual song contest. Just as Barry sets out in search of some talented musicians, however, the contest organizers inform him that worms are ineligible to compete. Undaunted, Barry continues his efforts to form a band that isn't afraid of the funk. Just as the band begins to get in the groove, tragedy strikes and they are scooped out of the ground and prepared to be sold as live bait. Now, with his band in a vending machine and his future as the king of disco on the line, Barry must summon the courage to keep boogie fever alive despite the fact that the odds are stacked overwhelmingly against him. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In Dansen, Scandinavian filmmaker Pernille Fischer Christensen continues her multi-film preoccupation with distraught female characters who get misled by their out-of-control emotions and land in relationships with ill-advised romantic partners. The character in question, on this occasion, is Annika (Trine Dyrholm) - a physically desirable young woman employed as an instructor at a dance school run by her family. In time, Annika falls into a relationship with Lasse, a quiet and emotionally incommunicative electrician whom she finds rather devastating. He eventually makes two disturbing admissions regarding his own life: disclosures of a lengthy prison sentence and an "unjust" conviction as a rapist. Annika chooses to overlook this and finds some limited happiness with Lasse, but in time she senses that there may be even more to his past than he has confessed to her - and a disturbing level of impulsivity arises from Lasse that makes Annika feel decidedly ill-at-ease. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Danish director Nils Malmros directs the drama At Kende Sandheden (Facing the Truth), based on the real-life story of his own father. In 1944 Nazi-occupied Denmark, surgeon Richard Malmros (Jens Albinus) performs a successful operation on a young boy, using the chemical Thorotrast for the X-ray procedure. Forty years later, the patient claims that the chemical was the cause of his cancer. The eldery Malmros and his son, Nils (Soren Ostergaard), investigate their case while a journalist starts up a scandal. Flashbacks reveal the details of Malmros' career and the reasons for his desicion to use the chemical. Shot in black-and-white, At Kende Sandheden premiered at the Norwegian International Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

This Danish comedy drama won the Jury Prize at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. It opens in rural Denmark as family members assemble for the 60th birthday celebration of patriarch Helge (Henning Moritzen). At the family estate are Helge's children: France-based restaurateur Christian (Ulrich Thomsen), whose twin sister killed herself; surviving sister Helene (Paprika Steen); and younger brother Michael (Thomas Bo Larsen), married with three children. At the birthday dinner, the bitter Christian stands to deliver a toast -- but instead makes a startling speech accusing Helge of sexual abuse involving both twins. Following principles outlined in 1995 by Danish fimmakers in their Dogme 95 proclamation, this film adheres to their manifesto guidelines of handheld cameras, direct sound, location filming, and the elimination of technical tricks. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This nearly three-hour long Danish drama chronicles the life and times of Lise from the 1920s through the post-war years. Set in Copenhagen, Lise is first seen as a little girl, the daughter of a prominent industrialist and a hat shop owner. She grows up well aware that her father really wanted a boy. Her mother is also cold and distant. Perhaps her parents unwittingly encouraged her to grow up strong-willed and independent minded. After being forced to attend a secretarial school, Lise stands up to them and expresses her desire to become a reporter. Her father finally relents and helps her get a newspaper job. She proves to be an excellent journalist and it is therefore puzzling when she suddenly marries a dull foreign correspondent who promptly quits his job to work in her father's factory. She then begins having children and getting involved with the war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lasse (Anders Schoubye) is an easygoing, somewhat raffish boy. However, when his mother leaves his not particularly ambitious father for a well-to-do dentist, she takes him along. For some reason, he decides to play along with the expectations of his new family, and becomes a clean-cut boy and a model student. Eventually, though, the siren song of his father's less rigorous ways draws him, and the two are soon back together, listening to Elvis records while Lasse's father plays the harmonica. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In Copenhagen, during the hippie era (late '60s, early '70s), the profession of "marriage broker" still existed. One part of the story of this Danish film concerns a romance between a man with this profession and the woman who is the leader of a hippie group. The hippies seek to save old buildings from the wrecker's ball by defacing rather pompous statues and public monuments and use the ensuing publicity to make a case for their cause. The other part of the story concerns the adventures of these unlikely antiquarians. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide