

I'd like to devote a little time to Danish in 2009. I've done a little bit of reading about Danish before, but never any continuous study. I am so fascinated by how progressive the language is in terms of sound reduction, and how non-Germanic it can sound as a result. As some of you know, I've had a fascination with Scandinavia since my early childhood, not quite of Egein proportions, and I really enjoyed my visit to Denmark back in 2006.
I don't really know who the regulars are on this forum, but Hej!, and I'd warmly appreciate your corrections to my little text above. I'm sure there's LOTS of mistakes cos I've never even written a single Danish sentence before.
So I've been watching Danish films throughout the week. How familiar are people with the Danish cinema of the past twenty years, and which films have you seen / enjoyed. So far, I've seen:
Idioterne [The Idiots] - Lars von Trier - 1998.
Comment: He's certainly ambitious and I found "The Idiots" very thought-provoking, although sometimes I do feel he's simply out to shock. I have "Breaking the Waves" and I'll have to come back to it.
Pusher, 1996, Pusher II - Nicholas Winding Refn - 2004.
Comment: I wasn't going to bother with these because I don't typically enjoy gangster cinema, but they are brilliant. So low-key, refusing to romanticize violence but not condemning the criminals, so much black comedy! I don't typically like sequels either, but I thought Pusher II was as good as Pusher. Really looking forward to seeing Pusher III very soon.
Venner for Altid [Friends forever]- Stefan Henszelman - 1987.
Comment: It was okay. Normally I like slow, character-led films but this was a little too slow for me. I think the problem was that I kept comparing it to Lukas Moodysson's Show Me Love/Fucking Amal, another downbeat high-school coming-out drama that is better. I'll have to try watching this one again.
Adams æbler [Adam's Apples]- Anders Thomas Jensen - 2005.
Comment: It was fun and moving, if a little cheesy. The ending was disappointingly predictable. The tragi-comic mix worked surprisingly well.
Elsker dig for evigt [Open Hearts] - Sussane Bier - 2002
Comment: Very moving, so much so that it was difficult to watch at times.
Italiensk for begyndere [Italian for Beginners] - Lone Scherfig - 2002.
Comment: I know this is the most "popular" Danish film ever, it even made it into mainstream American cinemas, but I really liked it. It was the first Dogme-influenced film that I saw and the one that inspired me to watch all the rest. (Before I had considered Dogme a self-absorbed art-house movement, I knew very little about it).
I may have seen a couple of others as well, but these are the ones I remember best. Any comments on Danish film would be appreciated, or suggestions on what to watch text.
MANGE TAK
Zorba