Kresten has moved back home to a small Danish island from Copenhagen after his father's death. 

Kersten, (Anders W. Berthelsen), a very successful yuppie, celebrates his wedding to Claire, (Sofie Grabol), his boss's daughter. Next day he gets some bad news – his father has died. What's worse – he never got round to telling his bride or her family that he comes from humble origins – his father was an impoverished farmer, his mother had hanged herself from one of the oldest trees in Denmark, and his brother, Rud, Jesper Asholt, is mentally handicapped. When Kersten advertises for a housekeeper for Rudh, the successful applicant is Liva, (Iben Hjejle), a high-priced hooker on the run.

Officially, this is the third Dogma film but thankfully it's the least dogmatic. Director Soren Kragh-Jacobsen, who had made mainstream films before this one, overcomes the fatuous restrictions. The result is a perceptive, witty, human story about people who have secrets and what happens when they have to come clean. This briskly unfolding narrative contains an ensemble of fine performances, plus an ironic sense of humour. The title is derived from a game the brothers played when they were young, a samurai game in which the Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune was their hero. I'm not a Dogma fan, but I liked Mifune a lot.

Margaret`s comment:
This third of the Danish Dogma films is surprisingly conventional in theme and equally surprising in not pushing the dogma ethics in our face. The reluctant gathering of the yuppie, the demented, the whore and the delinquent in a derelict, isolated farmhouse has only one place to go and that's where it goes, but it has some nice moments on the way, particularly from Iben Hjejle as Liva. I find the title a bit of a cheat, there's no real connection with this actor who's one of my heroes, except in very superficial ways. But apart from being predictable Mifune is quite an enjoyable film.

Share

2 min read

Published

By David Stratton

Source: SBS


Share this with family and friends


Download our apps
SBS On Demand
SBS News
SBS Audio

Listen to our podcasts
SBS's award winning companion podcast.
Join host Yumi Stynes for Seen, a new SBS podcast about cultural creatives who have risen to excellence despite a role-model vacuum.
Get the latest with our SBS podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch SBS On Demand
Over 11,000 hours

Over 11,000 hours

News, drama, documentaries, SBS Originals and more - for free.