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The Danish Directors Dialogues on a contemporary national cinema Mette Hjort Ib Bondebjerg intellect The Danish Directors Dialogues on a Contemporary National Cinema Mette Hjort and Ib Bondebjerg Translation by Mette Hjort (in consultation with the directors) First Published in Great Britain in Hardback in 2001 by Intellect Books, PO Box 862, Bristol BS99 1DE, UK First Published in USA in 2001 by Intellect Books, ISBS, 5824 N.E. Hassalo St, Portland, Oregon 97213-3644, USA Copyright ©2000 Intellect Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission. Consulting Editor: Robin Beecroft Copy Editor: Nicky Kinsman A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Electronic ISBN 1-84150-830-6 / ISBN 1-84150-035-6 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cromwell Press, Wiltshire Note on Editorial Practice In the biographical notes and filmographies the titles of films by the interviewees are provided first in English and parenthetically in Danish. All subsequent mentions of these films within the interview in question are by English title only. If these films are evoked in other interviews, the first mention is by both English and Danish titles. Films that do not have official English distribution titles are identified by translated titles. In those cases in which the original title is in English the official Danish distribution title is nonetheless provided parenthetically. All other Danish films mentioned in the course of the interviews are similarly identified by their official or unofficial English titles and their official Danish titles. Films by non-Danish directors are mentioned only by official English and original foreign titles. In some cases the Danish films under discussion are based on literary works, and the same notational principles apply with regard to the titles in question. Explanatory translator’s notes have been added in a few cases. A short glossary of key terms at the end of the book helps to explain recurrent terms or institutional arrangements. The first mention of the relevant term in each of the interviews is marked with an *. The bibliography includes all cited texts, but also a number of key works or documents pertaining to Danish cinema, and some useful website addresses. Those entries in which the Danish represents an obstacle to basic comprehension have been glossed. The first interview was conducted in June 1997 and the final one in March 2000. All directors have had the opportunity to comment on the relevant transcriptions and to update their interviews, either in writing or in a follow-up interview. All interviews are thus up-to-date at the time of going to press in June 2000. Contents List of Figures 4 Acknowledgements 5 Dedication 5 Introductions Preface 6 David Bordwell (University of Wisconsin, Madison) Danish Cinema: A Small Nation in a Global Culture 8 Mette Hjort and Ib Bondebjerg Four Generations of Danish Directors 23 Ib Bondebjerg and Mette Hjort Interviews 1. Gabriel Axel 28 2. Henning Carlsen 42 3. Jørgen Leth 58 4. Christian Braad Thomsen 75 5. Jytte Rex 89 6. Erik Clausen 101 7. Anders Refn 115 8. Helle Ryslinge 128 9. Nils Malmros 137 10. Morten Arnfred 151 11. Søren Kragh-Jacobsen 165 12. Bille August 179 13. Jon Bang Carlsen 195 14. Lars von Trier 208 Open Film City by Lars von Trier 224 15. Ole Bornedal 228 16. Susanne Bier 240 17. Jonas Elmer 249 18. Lotte Svendsen 257 19. Thomas Vinterberg 269 Glossary 284 Bibliography 286 3 List of Figures 9. Dogme 95 Vow of Chastity. 143. Eva Gram Scholdager as Elin, the scapegoat 24. Dogme 95 Certificate. figure in Tree of Knowledge (Kundskabens træ). 26. Björk as the Czech immigrant, Selma, in Lars [Photo: Torben Stroyer] von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark 151. Morten Arnfred during the shooting of Night 28. Gabriel Axel. Vision (Spår i mörket). [Photo: Bengt Wanselius). 36. Babette (Stéphane Audran) with the ingredients 158. Harriet Andersson as Jasmin in Heaven and Hell for her feast (Babette’s Feast/Babettes gæstebud). (Himmel og helvede). [Photo: Vibeke Winding] [Photo: Peter Gabriel] 165. Søren Kragh-Jacobsen. 42. Henning Carlsen. 172. Jordan Kiziuk as Alex in Søren Kragh- 50. Donald Sutherland as Gauguin in Wolf at the Jacobsen’s adaptation of Uri Orlev’s novel, The Door (Oviri). [Photo: Rolf Konow] Island on Bird Street. [Photo: Astrid Wirth] 58. Jørgen Leth. 179. Bille August. [Photo: Rolf Konow] 69. Elements in Leth’s so-called ‘existential 187. Björn Granath as Erik incites the other peasants catalogue’ (Good and Evil/Det gode og det onde). to attack the overseer in Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle [Photo: Henning Camre] Erobreren). [Photo: Rolf Konow] 75. Christian Braad Thomsen. [Photo: Jan Buus] 195. Jon Bang Carlsen. [Photo: Rigmor Mydtskov] 83. Jesper (Stig Ramsing) is arrested for the murder 202. Addicted to Solitude. of a young girl, Lillian (Stab in the Heart/Kniven i 208. Lars von Trier shooting his Dogme film, The hjertet). [Photo: Fie Johansen] Idiots (Idioterne). [Photo: Jan Schut] 89. Jytte Rex. 216. Poster for Europa. 94. Isolde (Pia Vieth) embraces the lover, played by 228. Ole Bornedal. [Photo: Rolf Konow] Kim Jansson, who will inadvertently become 234. Nightwatch (Nattevagten). [Photo: Rolf Konow] her assassin (Isolde). [Photo: Hannelise 240. Susanne Bier. Thomsen] 244. Sidse Babett Knudsen and Paprika Steen in the 101. Erik Clausen during the shooting of Carl, My romantic comedy, The One and Only (Den eneste Childhood Symphony (Min fynske barndom). ene). [Photo: Ole Kragh-Jacobsen] [Photo: Johan Johansen] 249. Jonas Elmer. [Photo: Anders Askegaard] 108. Erik Clausen as Charles in The Circus Casablanca 253. The psychology student, Julie (Sidse Babett (Cirkus Casablanca). [Photo: Roald Pay] Knudsen) with her football-loving friend, 115. Anders Refn. Mogens (Bjarne Henriksen) in Let’s Get Lost. 121. Pete Lee Wilson, Jean Marc Montel and Karmen [Photo: Anders Askegaard] Atias in The Flying Devils (De flyvende djævle). 257. Lotte Svendsen. [Photo: Jan Buus] [Photo: Flemming Adelson] 263. Poster for Gone with the Fish (Bornholms stemme). 128. Helle Ryslinge. 269. Thomas Vinterberg. [Photo: Robin Skjoldborg] 132. Henry (Kirsten Lehfeldt) entertains a renowned 277. Ulrich Thomsen as Christian, the abused son in scholar from the US (Coeurs flambés/Flamberede Vinterberg’s award-winning Dogme film, The hjerter). [Photo: Susanne Mertz] Celebration (Festen). [Photo: Lars Høgsted] 137. Nils Malmros in conversation with Brian Theibel as Willy Bonde during the production of Tree of Knowledge (Kundskabens træ). 4 Acknowledgements The Danish Directors: Dialogues on a Contemporary National Cinema is a belated response to the students who took Mette Hjort’s ‘Contemporary Danish Cinema’ course at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Malve Petersmann, Joanna Freedman and Andres Pelenur, in particular, heroically pursued their new-found interest in Danish cinema in spite of the paucity of relevant materials in English. Ib Bondebjerg signed on and agreed to assume responsibility for editing the Danish edition of the volume because of related experiences in a Danish context. Although Danish cinema commands considerable interest among indigenous audiences, the directors’ views on their art and its place within various national and international contexts could until now primarily be gleaned from interviews that, by virtue of having been published largely in local newspapers, lacked accessibility and, in some instances, depth. This volume is an attempt, then, to encourage key film-makers to articulate their views in detail within the context of a sustained dialogue aimed at film scholars and film enthusiasts alike. We’ve incurred a lot of debts of various kinds along the way. Special thanks are due to David Bordwell, who was one of the first people to believe in the project, which would have been stillborn had he not, with his inimitable warmth and enthusiasm, expressed interest in the idea. We would not have been able to carry out the project without the assistance of the Danish Film Institute: Vicki Synott provided facts, figures, publications and guidance at crucial moments; Bente Frausing supplied us with countless videos; Claus Horneman and Henning Sørensen generously arranged screenings of 16 mm films; Lene Boholm graciously allowed us to compile a set of complimentary stills from the Danish Film Institute’s promotional collection; Ebbe Villadsen tracked down many of the official English titles and helped weed out inconsistencies and mistakes, and Lars Ølgaard provided various forms of library assistance. We are also happy to acknowledge a generous grant from the Danish Film Institute, which made possible an unabridged translation of the Danish edition. We are grateful to the directors, and especially Christian Braad Thomsen, for judicious advice, copies of films and books, and above all, for their willingness, not only to set aside time for the interviews, but to check and comment on the resulting Danish and English texts. Susan Hayward identified Intellect Press as a possible home for the book in the English-speaking world, and Robin Beecroft, our editor, deserves our heartfelt thanks for his remarkable efficiency, patience, flexibility and warm enthusiasm. Thanks also to Scott Mackenzie for his help with proofreading. Mette Hjort is grateful to Arnt Lykke Jakobsen and Helle Pals Frandsen, who solved a number of thorny terminological problems. She would also like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for a generous three-year grant in support of her research on national cinemas. On a more personal note, Mette Hjort would like to thank Kirsten Hjort for editorial help early on. Our families have expanded significantly since we first undertook this project, and we’d like to dedicate this book to these newcomers and, we trust, future film enthusiasts – Siri, Jessika, and Magnus – as well as to Erik, who was there from the start, loves many of the films, and cheered us on.