Lars Simonsen Movies

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

This Danish children's film compares and contrasts the lives of rich and poor while telling the upbeat story of the friendship between two eleven-year-old girls. The girls are neighbors outside of Copenhagen. Maj-Britt's parents are both unemployed, but remain amiable as they try to scrape by. Her father spends his free hours raising and training racing pigeons. Christina's family are both working professionals with aspirations of social grandeur. Her mother loves to throw posh soirees and is uptight and finicky about their household. Despite their differences, Maj-Britt and Christina are best friends, until the latter's parents end up serving some of Maj's father's squabs for supper. The battle ends when they both try to help mend a pigeon's broken wing. It is good that they have separated this bird for one day a predatory marten swoops in and slaughters the rest of the flock, leaving it up to the girls and their pigeon to concoct a secret plan and save the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In a light story of angels and human redemption, Arne Mortensen (Jesper Langberg) is an irascible, mean-spirited husband and father of two older children who runs a shoe factory with a heavy iron hand. One day he becomes insanely jealous of his children's love for their chauffeur (Paul Huttel), and with the chauffeur in the car with him, he crashes into a wall. The hitch is that Arne dies, the chauffeur lives -- but nasty Arne's soul is transferred to the chauffeur's body. A second hitch is that two angels in heaven have been charged with reforming one bad guy if they want to keep their heavenly status -- and Arne's soul is elected. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This Danish film is set in 1963, at the height of Beatlemania. Played out against the standard pop-culture backdrop is the story of the friendship between Adam Tonsberg and Lars Simonson. His ego in tatters thanks to a domineering father, Simonsen yearns for the affections of snooty Ulrikke Juul Bondo, though it is "common knowledge" that she's Tonsberg's girl. Tonsberg, however, prefers the company of the down-to-earth Camilla Soeberg. When Soeberg becomes pregnant, Tonsberg is forced to borrow the abortion money from former girlfriend Bondo, who wants him to spend a weekend with her in exchange. This is all going according to Bondo's plan, and soon she and Tonsberg are making wedding plans. Suddenly gaining a moral backbone, Tonsberg calls off the wedding, then helps his friend Simonsen, who is endeavoring to prove that his mother is not the lunatic described by his tyrannical father. The "coming of age" process in this film is even more complex than these notes would suggest, but young Danish filmgoers had no trouble relating to Twist and Shout (originally Tro, Hab Og Karlighed), which allegedly made more money than any previous Danish film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide