Baard Owe Movies

A septuagenarian taking his penultimate voyage from Oslo to Bergen begins to mentally prepare for his final trip, but finds that sometimes things don't turn out as expected when he misses the last departure for the first time in 40 years. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Morten Arnfred and Lars von Trier's second chapter in the ongoing Danish television series The Kingdom chronicles the further misadventures of the staff and patients of an ultramodern Copenhagen hospital located atop an ancient, haunted swamp. The film opens with Judith (Birgitte Raaberg) giving birth to her mutant child (Udo Kier). Dr. Stig Helmer (Ernst-Hugo Järegård) is coming under heavy scrutiny for a botched operation that left a patient brain dead, and beginning to dabble in the dark arts in order to ward off those seeking an end to his career. Hypochondriac Mrs. Drusse (Kirsten Rolffes) finally does have something bad happen to her medically when an ambulance hits her. This is supposedly the second of a planned three-part story. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This historical Norwegian drama suitable for family viewing, centers on an 8-year old 14th-century Norwegian girl from an isolated valley on Norway's west coast who loses most of her family and neighbors to the dreaded Black Death.. Following the death of her community, the girl, Maren, learns to survive in the densely forested mountains. Later she is discovered by villagers living in the next valley. They believe the girl has the ability to see the future, and they want her to make predictions for them. Eventually she is rescued by her father, who was away when the plague hit their village. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Europa (retitled Zentropa for the American release) is an hallucinatory Danish film set in postwar Germany. Jean-Marc Barr plays a young German who aspires for a job as a street conductor. But this is no mere "Joe Job;" Barr's adventures on the line are designed as a metaphor for the emergence of the "New Europe" following the war. Barbara Sukowa costars as the daughter of a railroad magnate--and possible Nazi sympathizer. Many of the special-effects sequences are computer enhanced, but even the "live" scenes have an unsettling, surreal quality to them (colors changing abruptly, backgrounds shifting without warning, etc.) This experimental film left some viewers confused, which may be why English-language prints of Zentropa are narrated by Max Von Sydow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young boy wandering with a band of gypsies is endangered when a royal proclamation grants people permission to shoot gypsies on sight. Benny Haag plays Inge and his twin brother Arild, the latter who fights with his father against the "undesirables." The father sends mercenaries to wipe out the gypsies, unaware his own son is among those slated to be executed when captured. The gypsies are portrayed as the heroes, while the blonde Swedes are clearly the enemy. Although this story takes place in the 16th century, parallels between the story and the intolerance of Swedes to foreign workers in the 1980s is evident. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this suspenseful chase movie, a couple try to outrun both the police and the gangsters who are after them for a murder they did not commit. Suzanne (Pernille Falck) dreads yet another dull weekend in the country with her rich parents but is unprepared for what lies just ahead. Leonard, an escaped convict, is in desperate need of food and a car, and Suzanne happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time -- she ends up providing him with both and is taken with him as he makes his motorized getaway. In-between escaping the men who are chasing them, Suzanne and Leonard find time to take advantage of their growing physical attraction, although their romantic interludes are destined to be offset by unexpected trauma as Leonard inadvertently commits a crime that cannot be erased or ignored. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Mille (Lisbeth Lundquist) is married to a rather dull man, a scientist, whose lack of ability to satisfy her sexually is accepted by both of them. In this Danish film, she has liaisons with men and women outside of her marriage, and all of them talk a lot. The happiest people among her friends are Susanne, a lesbian, and Uffe, a homosexual antique dealer. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Nine years after the release of his acknowledged masterpiece, Ordet, Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer offered this a story of an individual in search of a measure of personal peace and serenity, which proved to be his last completed film. Gertrud Kanning, like the maid Joan in Dreyer's best-known film, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc, is a woman in isolation. On the eve of her husband's appointment to a cabinet minister post, she announces that she is leaving their loveless marriage. But her younger lover Erland Jansson, a concert pianist, is more interested in keeping their affair illicit than in continuing it in the open. Gertrud's old lover, the poet Gabriel Lidman, offers more than his friendship, but she holds back from turning to him, instead choosing to live out her life in solitude rather than compromise with love again. Adapted from a 1920s play by Hjalmar Soberberg, Gertrud plays out in long takes, with few close-ups and exterior scenes. Though initial critical reaction to the film was largely unfavorable, its reputation has steadily grown, especially considered in the context of Dreyer's long career. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide