Per Holst Movies

Two neo-Nazi recruits enter into a homosexual relationship that threatens to be their undoing when they are forced to make a decision that will affect the rest of their lives. Danish serviceman Lars (Thure Lindhardt) is about to be promoted to sergeant when vicious rumors force him to turn his back on the military. Subsequently moving back home with his conservative parents, Lars finds their repeated attempts to cover up the incident repellant, and soon falls in with a local group of racist radicals fronted by the aptly nicknamed Fatso (Nicolas Bro). Fueled by his frustration with both the military and his parents, Lars is eventually seduced into the group, quickly ascending to "A" rank despite the repeated objections of senior member Jimmy (David Dencik), who believes that his devoted younger brother should have been honored with that distinction instead. Later going to live in a secluded summer cottage owned by the board chairman, Lars slowly starts to form a connection with Jimmy, who has been assigned the task of renovating the remote vacation home. Their defenses crumbling, the two men eventually become lovers. But Lars' disillusion with the group is growing, and when they begin turning their hostilities from immigrants to gays, he realizes that he and Jimmy's days as neo-Nazis are numbered. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Swedish filmmaker Mikael Hafstrom directs the coming-of-age drama Ondskan (Evil), based on the autobiographical novel by Jan Guillou. In the mid-'50s, teenager Erik Ponti (Andreas Wilson) suffers serious abuse at the hands of his father (Johan Rabaeus). He translates the violence at home to school, eventually getting himself expelled for fighting. His mother (Marie Richardson) struggles to come up with the money to send him to a private school, where the senior boys brutally haze the juniors in a ritualistic tradition. Erik makes enemies with senior Otto Silverheim (Gustaf Skarsgård), but, fortunately, finds friendship with Pierre (Henrik Lundstrom) and romance with Marja (Linda Zilliacus). Evil was screened at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Recalling Brassed Off and The Full Monty, this dark comedy, directed by Lotte Svendsen, tells of a downwardly mobile fishing community in Denmark. Set in 1981, the fishermen's former affluence abruptly ends when the government institutes fishing quotas. First fancy stereos and luxury cars go by the way side, then houses, and then marriages. The film focuses on married couple Lars Erik (Henrik Lykkegaard) and Sonja (Sofie Stougaard). Lars Erik used to have three employees and his own boat, now he has nothing. His wife has secretly gotten a job with their neighbor who makes pottery for tourists. Because she dare not tell the proud Lars Erik of her current furtive employment status, he assumes that Sonja is having an affair. Just as the cold embrace of the abyss threatens to envelop Lars Erik, Swedish pop band Vikingarna comes to town! The group's unusual blend of funky grooves and feel-good pop momentarily leavens the grinding tedium of the community's abject despair. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This Danish-Swedish-Norwegian film takes place off the coast of Denmark in the mid-18th Century. In 1760, timid 25-year-old pastor Poul (Lars Simonsen) arrives to serve at the rainswept Faroe Islands community of Torshavn where parishioners tell him about the scandalous behavior of young Barbara Christina Sallin (Anneke von der Lippe). Eventually, despite warnings, Poul marries her. When Barbara enters into an affair with a student from Copenhagen, Poul is pressured to prosecute his own wife for the crime of fornication. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

A young man growing up at a difficult time enters into a relationship that only makes his life more complicated in this acclaimed coming-of-age drama. Stig (Johan Widerberg) is a 15-year-old boy growing up in Malmo, Sweden, in 1942. While WWII rages in Europe, Sweden remains politically neutral, though it's all but impossible for the people of Malmo not to have an opinion about the conflict, and Stig's own brother intends to volunteer to serve on a submarine. Stig has fallen in love with his schoolteacher Viola (Marika Lagercrantz), who is 22 years his senior. To his great surprise, Viola confesses that she's also attracted to Stig; she's stuck in a failing marriage to Kjell (Tomas von Bromssen), a depressive alcoholic salesman, and there's something in Stig's naive desire that touches her. The two become involved in a passionate love affair, which Viola makes little effort to disguise from Kjell; in fact, Kjell becomes friendly with Stig and tries to teach him about his great passion in life, classical music. Eventually, Stig becomes attracted to Lisbet (Karin Huldt), a girl from school his own age, and when they become involved, Stig breaks off his affair with Viola. Viola is not eager to give up Stig, and in time, she retaliates with violence. Lust Och Fagring Stor was the final film from noted Swedish director Bo Widerberg; he died two years after its release -- at the age of 56. Jonah Widerberg, who played Stig, is Bo's son, and was 21 at the time the film was released. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this animated feature, intended mostly for the pleasure of children, some characters are far more bohemian than is customary in better known American and Japanese productions, which may give the adults who are sometimes dragooned into watching these things some unexpected pleasure. In the story, an owl, a loving duo of adolescent sparrows, and some flight-loving mice join together to combat the threat to their lives presented by Fagin, a hawk-like predator who oppresses them. They construct various traps and surprises for the evil bird. When they are not doing that, they have some fun together. One highlight of the show is a seaside sequence in which a seagull entertainer leads a dance and gets everybody, including some cardplaying birds, a few drunk ones, and a flirtatious hen, to join in. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this wry comedy, the self-deceiving exploits of Lasse (Peter Hesse Overgaard), are shown, as he more or less innocently runs small cons on the people in his life, all the while sponging off of his girlfriend in a bohemian quarter of Copenhagen. He is a no-count, but fairly handsome young stud who imagines that he is some sort of art promoter, or is perhaps even a video artist himself. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Long but rewarding, the Danish-Swedish Pelle the Conqueror is based on the early passages of Martin Andersen Nexoe's four-volume novel. Pelle (Pelle Hvengaard) is the son of a 19th-century Swedish farmer (Max Von Sydow). Seeking escape from their poverty-stricken surroundings, father and son emigrate to Denmark. Upon arrival, however, they are treated like indentured servants, leading to a profound ideological turnaround for the impressionable Pelle. In the original novel, Pelle ended up embracing Communism. Nexo's political overtones are soft-pedalled in the film, which concentrates on the close, indestructable relationship between Pelle and his father. Adapted for the screen by Bille August, Pelle the Conqueror won the 1988 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this light comic feature, two television and stage comics (Morten Lorentzen and Povl Erik Carstensen) host a film which shows what happens when unsuspecting members of the public are subjected to a variety of pranks and practical jokes, Candid Camera-style. Among the jokes are phony dog doo, corpses and phone calls. However, so many people spot the phoniness that the joke is on the pranksters, who (mercifully) lack the ruthlessness to really fool people. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

At a pace faster than a speeding bullet or flying cream pie, this farce is about two men -- hunk Walter (Ole Stephensen) of the dim bulb, and slapstick shoe repairman Carlo (Jarl Friis-Mikkelsen). Straight out of Danish television, the two characters are already stereotyped as they set off through exotic Spain on a package tour. Instead of the usual treks through museums, historic sites, and restaurants, there are encounters with diamond smugglers, thugs, and the requisite pretty women. Between Carlo's jabber and Walter's befuddled views, the duo are hard-pressed to woo and win. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Well-known Danish film producer Per Holst turned director for this muddled psychological melodrama about a civil servant (Ove Sprogøe) who cannot admit to his unfaithful wife (Bergman regular Bibi Andersson) that he has just lost his job. In desperation, the quiet clerk murders the entire family. Again and again. Or is it all in his head? Is the timid civil servant indulging in a stress-relieving fantasy, or his he really a homicidal maniac? Holst, who kept to folksy comedies thereafter, apparently couldn't decide whether he was making a Bergmanesque piece on marital angst or a straightforward crime drama and the end result convinces no one. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi