12th Annual European Union Film Festival
Denmark
FEAR ME NOT
(DEN DU FRYGTER)
2008, Kristian Levring, Denmark, 95 min.
With Ulrich Thomsen, Paprika Steen
This edgy thriller/character study from director Levring (THE KING IS ALIVE) and prolific writer Anders Thomas Jensen (AFTER THE WEDDING) stars Thomsen (THE CELEBRATION) as a well-off businessman in the throes of a midlife crisis who volunteers to test a new anti-depressant drug. His initial elation gives way (shades of BIGGER THAN LIFE) to increasingly bizarre and irrational behavior. The tension mounts subtly and inexorably (a scene with a young woman hitchhiker is especially unnerving), leading up to a killer twist. In Danish with English subtitles. Preview courtesy of IFC Films. DigiBeta video. (MR)
Saturday, March 21, 10:00 pm
Tuesday, March 24, 6:15 pm
WORLDS APART
(TO VERDENER)
2008, Niels Arden Oplev, Denmark, 116 min.
With Rosalinde Spanning, Johan Philip Asbæk
“Provocative, well-turned drama with charismatic performances by the two young leads.”--Alissa Simon, Variety
Denmark’s official entry for the 2009 Academy Awards, this fact-based drama centers on a teenaged girl (Spanning in a superb debut performance) raised in a strictly religious Jehovah’s Witnesses family. When she begins dating a nonbeliever boy, the relentless pressure exerted upon her by the religious community leads to both ostracism and the discovery of inner strength. As in his acclaimed 2006 hit WE SHALL OVERCOME, director Oplev excels at portraying young people at odds with a repressive system. In Danish with English subtitles. Preview courtesy of IFC Films. 35mm widescreen. (MR)