Frits Helmuth Movies

A career criminal stumbles upon his big chance to get out of the business, though not everyone thinks it's such a good idea, in this witty thriller. Torkild (Soren Pilmark) is the leader of a band of small-time crooks; having just celebrated his 40th birthday (which coincided with his being dumped by his girlfriend), Torkild is looking to land a big score so he can get out of the business. While trying to map out a major heist, a guy known as the Man From Faro (Peter Anderson) approaches Torkild with a job -- he needs someone to steal a bag for him. Torkild and his cronies are up for the job, but they soon discover that a team of security guards is on hand to make sure the bag isn't stolen, and one of Torkild's friends is wounded in a shootout. After they've made their getaway, Torkild discovers why everyone was fighting over the bag -- it contains over four million kroner ($500,000 in American currency) -- and he and his partners decide they're not keen on turning it over to the Man From Faro. After their car breaks down, Torkild and company happen upon an old restaurant that's up for sale, and they decide to use their newfound wealth to buy it and go into business -- which would be complicated enough without the arrival of the Man From Faro, who wants to know what happened to the money he hired Torkild to steal. Blinkende Lygter also stars Iben Hjejle, who gained the attention of American audiences as John Cusack's love interest in the film High Fidelity. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This Danish biographical drama pays tribute to and chronicles the rags-to-riches life of Carl Nielsen, the famed Danish 19th century composer. The story is comprised of three parts following Nielsen from age 7, 15, and 19. The first part, set in 1871, examines the family life seven-year old country boy Carl. The impoverished family has just suffered two devastating losses after one member emigrates, and another dies of TB. Carl's love of music came from his father, a fiddler. It was his father who taught him to play. The second part is set in 1879. Carl is forced by his domineering mother to join an army post in Odense. There he becomes their bugler. He also teaches himself the piano and finds himself influenced by the enigmatic Mozart playing Outzen. He then falls for Magda, a Mormon who desires to save him. The relationship doesn't work out. The third segment begins in 1883 with Carl beginning his musical career and beginning to compose. He plays at parties for the local aristocracy. He falls in love with the lovely Anna, but she rejects him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this gentle satire, a taciturn, peace-loving judge and father finds his comfortable life challenged by his exasperated wife, who tries to provoke some kind of response out of him by flaunting her long-term affair with his best friend. At the same time, his son has been arrested on a drug charge. Rather than provoking a catharsis in this thoroughly settled man, these crises provoke a serious case of psychosomatic hay fever. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In a sexual and romantic drama of intrigue, lies, and gossip, a young woman enjoys both a husband and a lover for a long period of time, having children by both men, before her deception begins to fall apart. Elise (Ann-Mari Max Hansen) is an outgoing, happy woman married to Henry (Ole Ernst), the town doctor. Because of a mix-up one day, she finds herself first compromised and then romantically involved with William (Henning Jensen), a captain of the Dragoons. Elise is an amateur actress in local theatricals and loves to invent games with Henry which involve them sneaking off for a secret rendezvous now and again in another town. Her story is told from the viewpoint of the town vicar, who may not be such an innocent bystander as he first seems. Eventually, gossip begins to run rampant, and Elise's life heads for a radical change.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Heavy-handed direction by Ole Roos has taken away any subtlety that might have otherwise promoted the symbolism and dramatic intention of this film about two army men gone AWOL on a New Year's eve in 1945. The men have just come back from the Russian front and are now in hiding both from their German army superiors as well as the Danish resistance fighters. They take refuge in a small cottage for awhile, where a young Jewish woman helps to patch up a wound suffered by one of the men in their flight. Soon a romantic pairing begins to take over the story, which still focuses on obvious psychological hang-ups, maudlin melodrama, and visual symbols that can be a puzzle at times. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

An effective drama in its first and most action-filled half, with some tapering off later, this story centers on Suzanne (Lene Gurtler), a young teen who has developed a mild fascination for the local silversmith (Erick Wedersoe). He encourages this interest and so one day she goes to him on a errand of business and then he asks her if she would like to dance. He puts on some music, they dance briefly, and then he suddenly accosts and rapes her. Ashamed by what has happened, Suzanne says nothing to her parents but does break down and tell a girlfriend. When she later learns that she has gotten pregnant, she still keeps quiet, intending to eventually let everyone think her boyfriend is the father. Circumstances change her life still further in unexpected ways. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Heavily influenced by the French stage sensation La Cage Aux Folles (which was filmed the very same year) this trite drag-queen comedy about a group of homosexuals sharing an apartment with a naive but straight country boy did not live up to expectations. The lead characters lead boring lives during the day and, as depicted here, downright pathetic existences at night, all decked out in peacock plumes and high heels and with nowhere to go. Several of the performances -- especially Fritz Helmuth as the love-starved, aptly named Bent -- manage to reach a little beyond the stereotypes, but Bodil Kjær, of all people, delivers a simply dreadful (and one-note) parody of a once-glamorous movie star. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

This historical drama is based on a play by Henrik Ibsen and set in the 16th century. The central figure in the low-keyed story is a Norwegian noblewoman who is seeking to bring independence to that country despite the involved political intrigues of the Swedes and Danes, who are using Norway as a pawn in their complex rivalries. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Annemari is having an affair with a visiting bureaucrat while her fiancé, a fisherman, is away. However Annemari would rather spend time with the middle-aged island schoolteacher instead of either her fiancé or the bureaucrat. The schoolteacher, a daydreaming alcoholic, also wants Annemari, but the wife of a rich farmer is trying very hard to get him into bed. When situations such as these develop on an ice-bound island where there is no escape, and the people involved are stoically silent, tensions build until they must be forcefully resolved. The 1948 novel this movie is based on, Loegneren, or The Liar by Martin A. Hansen is still a best-seller in Denmark. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A sort of forerunner to Hollywood's Boogie Nights (1997), this Danish melodrama is set in the world of strip clubs. A medical student (Frits Helmuth) earns money for tuition working in a burlesque joint. He falls for one of the girls (Malene Schwarz), but she is also involved with a movie director (John Price). The director and Helmuth get into a philosophical debate about love and Darwinism, and the film ends with a duel (the film's title). Duellen was met with mostly incomprehension when it premiered and is no more lucid when viewed today. The striptease scene featuring full-frontal nudity is tame by modern standards. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi