Terribly Happy, SIFF 2009, 9/10
Robert (Jakob Cedergren) is a cop from Copenhagen who has done something both understandable and inexcusable. As punishment, he is banished to the town of Skarrild to be the local law enforcement and recover so he can return to the city.
As with any small town, it only appears quiet and peaceful. Children caught stealing are given a whooping and sent on their way. Outsiders basically either adapt or are never seen from again, likely to be found drowned in the local bog. The new bike store manager disappeared soon after arrival. The most powerful man in town is Jorgen (Kim Bodnia) and is married to a beautiful outsider Ingelise (Lene Maria Christensen). Her daughter walks the street, pushing a baby carriage with teddy bears as passengers, the nights when the parents fight. And the town fathers play cards lamenting that they don’t have a fourth person to play with anymore.
As Robert gets used to Skarrild’s ways, the beautiful Ingelise enlists his help to protect her from her husband . When he decides to do so, he finds that the small town of Skarrild has their own brand of justice. The love triangle that ensues mirrors classic noir films, with dark, cynical and hilarious results.
I love Danish black humor, it just tickles me in the right places. This film, adapted from a novel by best-selling Danish author Erling Jepsen, adds in a little bit of Western Noir and very beautiful Denmark landscape as a character. Director Henrik Rube Genz (“Someone Like Hodder“) makes it look easy bringing us a film that shows how corruption and compromise finds its way into everyone’s hearts sooner or later and causes all manner of heartache.
Tags: dark humor, Denmark, Movies, SIFF
