Danish War Films

[Emelia Lute]

Thischanged as the influence and popularity of films produced in the US increased in the 1920s and 30s. The decades after the second world war saw a renewal of energy in the Danish film industry, but the market was more directed inwards, targeting Danes rather than an international audience.

In the late 1960s, Denmark was the first country in the world to legalise pornography, leading to the production of many risqu films. As a result, the Danish film industry gained a reputation for being both provocative and free-spirited.

In addition to those who grew out of the Dogme95 movement, Susanne Bier is a Danish director with an impressive filmography and legacy. Hvnen won her an Academy Award in 2010, and with that she truly cemented her position as one of the most acclaimed Danish directors on the international stage.

An article about Danish cinema would not be complete without mentioning actor Mads Mikkelsen. Throughout his long and illustrious career, Mikkelsen has played everything from Bond villains to depressed high school teachers, bringing his special sense of depth and detail to every role.

In Pelle Erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror), Pelle and his father Lasse leave the south Swedish region of Skne in search for a better life in Denmark. Set in the late 19th century, this Danish-Swedish co-production has been compared to The Emigrants, as it touches upon the same themes of poverty, oppression, and the dream of a better life. It won Best Foreign Language Film at both the Academy Awards and the BAFTA, as well as a Bodil for best film in Denmark, and a Guldbagge for Best Film in Sweden.

The film that won Bier an Academy Award! This complex family drama (are you catching the common thread here?) tells the story of a doctor (Mikael Perbrandt) who splits his life between Denmark and Sudan, where he treats the victims of a war lord. Both him and his son Elias are fighting their own sets of demons, and the question of what is right and wrong (and according to whom?) ultimately weaves their two struggles together.

Denmark has been producing films since 1897 and since the 1980s has maintained a steady stream of product due largely to funding by the state-supported Danish Film Institute. Historically, Danish films have been noted for their realism, religious and moral themes, sexual frankness and technical innovation.

Despite the small size of its native market and its relatively limited resources, Denmark reigned supreme for several years (1909-14) as Europe's most prosperous film center. Its films rivaled those of Hollywood, for popularity on the screens of Paris, London, Berlin and New York.

In 1906, cinema owner Ole Olsen founded the first Danish film-making company, Nordisk Films Kompagni. It gained most of its income from the export market of short films. Not until 1909 were other film-producing companies established. In 1910 the number had reached ten. This period is now known as the Golden Age of Danish Cinema. In the spring of 1910, Nordisk Films Kompagni changed its policy of producing only short films and began making feature films. This was largely inspired by the rhus Fotorama company's Den hvide Slavehandel (The White Slave Trade, 1910), which was the first multi-reel Danish film lasting more than 30 minutes.

With the increasing length of films, there was a growing artistic awareness, which is evident in Afgrunden (The Abyss, 1910). This film launched the career of Asta Nielsen, who soon became Europe's first great female film star.[6] The film was an erotic melodrama, which soon became the preferred genre in early Danish cinema. In 1911, with director August Blom as the new head of production, Nordisk Film was the first of the major European companies to devote itself entirely to full-length feature films. These films were sold abroad profitably because the technical and photographic quality impressed audiences. Yet, when exporting the films, the erotic elements needed to be toned down in order not to offend the working class audiences. In 1913, Nordisk released the first full-length feature movie, Atlantis directed by Blom.

After 1913, Danish cinema began to lose its leading foothold in the film industry, with foreign companies having intensified competition in the production of feature-length films. Danish cinema had also begun to suffer from a lack of imagination and a willingness to take creative risks on the part of Danish producers. Independent producer Benjamin Christensen had great success with the spy film Det hemmelighedsfulde X (The Mysterious X or Sealed Orders, 1914) and the crime drama Hvnens Nat (Blind Justice or The Night of Revenge, 1916), both of which are major works in the history of the Danish cinema; he would later direct several films in Sweden and Hollywood.

During World War I, the USA became the leading nation in film production and Danish exports decreased. In the years following the war, Dreyer made an appearance as director at Nordisk Film with the drama Prsidenten (The President, 1919), followed by the ambitious Blade af Satans Bog (Leaves from Satan's Book, 1921), inspired by the American director D. W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916) in both technique and theme. However, Dreyer, as well as Benjamin Christensen, were not permanently connected to the influential Danish film industries and remained loners. As a whole, Danish film in the 1920s was on the decline in spite of the filmmakers' better technical skills. Of most interest at this time were perhaps the so-called Dickens movies directed by the very able A. W. Sandberg. At one point Denmark again enjoyed some international reputation, by the many farces of the vagabond duo Fyrtaarnet og Bivognen (often known by their French names Doublepatte and Patachon), who were Scandinavian predecessors of Laurel and Hardy. They were introduced by Palladium, the rival of Nordisk Film. Despite these resurgences, at the end of the decade the Danish film industry was on its heels.

In 1929, Nordisk Film Kompagni was established as a sound film company. The Pastor of Vejlby (1931) reinforced the Nordisk's dominance in the Danish market. The 1930s were dominated by many successes with light comedies. The so-called "folkekomedie" (folk comedy) genre was born, with Barken Margrethe (1934) an important early example. The Depression and the economic conditions of the film companies prevented more serious film business, and the victory of the sound movie automatically set greater limits on the international possibilities of Danish film. Many popular stars like Marguerite Viby, Ib Schnberg and Peter Malberg had breakthroughs but in spite of many economic successes no further development of the media was seen.

Between 1940 and 1945, the German occupation of Denmark during World War II pushed the film industry toward more serious subject matter. The darker tone during these years paralleled the rise of film noir in Hollywood. Bodil Ipsen made her directorial mark with 1942's Afsporet, the first Danish film noir, and continued with the psychological thriller Melody of Murder (1944).[7] The standard of the comedy was also lifted, especially by the witty, elegant movies of Johan Jacobsen, a Danish pupil of Ernst Lubitsch. After the war ended, there was a movement toward realism and social criticism, particularly noted in films directed by Ole Palsbo. Soon, however, Denmark's film industry returned to making the light sentimental comedies and uncomplicated regionalist movies that were popular with Danish filmgoers.

Since the start of the 1980s, the Danish film industry has been completely dependent on state funding through Det Danske Filminstitut. A project usually does not get made unless the script, director and cast etc. has been approved by the appointed representatives of the Danish Film Institute. This means that Danish filmmaking is essentially controlled by the state.

In 1983, Lars von Trier graduated from Den Danske Filmskole (National Film School of Denmark) and received international attention with films such as Forbrydelsens element (1984) and Epidemic (1987). His strange, innovative ideas were fiercely resisted by Det Danske Filminstitut and drew very small local audiences, but were embraced by the Cannes Film Festival, where his films were included in the official selections and took home awards.

The Danish film industry got a major boost in the late 1980s when the movie Babettes Gstebud (Babette's Feast), directed by Gabriel Axel, won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1987, and next year the Best Foreign Film award went to Pelle Erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror), directed by Bille August.

Also in the late 1980s, Danish cinematographer Mikael Salomon ended a long career in Danish cinema to become one of Hollywood's most celebrated DPs, later establishing himself as a successful, Emmy Award-winning television director.

The Dogme 95 Collective caught the attention of the international film world with its strict "vows of chastity" or rules for filmmakers that force filmmakers to concentrate on purity of story and the actors' performances rather than special effects and other cinematic devices.

The first Dogme 95 film, The Celebration (Festen), directed by Thomas Vinterberg, received many awards on the international film festival circuit and was named by both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle as the best foreign-language film of the year.

The members of the Dogme 95 Collective were von Trier, Vinterberg, Kristian Levring, and Sren Kragh-Jacobsen. Although the Dogme 95 movement originated in Denmark, filmmakers around the world soon experimented with the rigid guidelines and sought certification for their films as Dogme. Furthermore, Lars von Trier's own Dogme-film Idioterne (1998) started a separate wave of arthouse mainstream films with unsimulated sex.

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