In the media

Leading French critics on the French release 10 March 2010:

"'Valhalla Rising' is a shock, an extraordinary film. Without exaggerating, one could say that what 'A Space Odyssey' did for science fiction, Refn does the same for the viking film. It's more than just a question of style. He reinvents the genre, turning the film into af psychedelic trip and a metaphysical adventure."– Positif

"Refn succeeds in embodying an era when ideas were vague, a place between superstition and religion, barbaric impulses and a mind driven wild." – Cahiers du Cinema  

"The film, divided into six chapters, is a poetic odyssey into the unknown by one of the most fascinating directors in current cinema, a quest driven by nihilism in search of a metaphysic that never quite unveils itself." – Le Monde 

"A haunting nightmare whose visual style and brutality is both entrancing and startling." – French Rolling Stone 

"Refn tears down the trappings of mythological narratives such as Conan the Barbarian in order to create an investigation into the existential." – Premiere

In his coverage of Palm Springs International Film Festival, Graham Flashner from Filmmaker Magazine writes on Henrik Rubin Genz' "Terribly Happy", the Danish contender for the 2010 Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film:

"Later on, my critic friend rejoined me for the Danish film Terribly Happy. Five minutes into the film, he bolted up in his seat. ”œI’ve seen this,” he muttered. ”œI saw it at AFI. You’ll like it,” he said, as he made his way out. ”œIt’s quirky, like the Coen Brothers.” And indeed - it is. The premise is reminiscent of the British film Hot Fuzz, where a cop from the big city (in this case, Copenhagen) is given ”œpunishment” duty in an undesirable province. The similarities end there, however: the Danish town is full of secrets, and outsiders who can’t adapt often disappear, with a nearby bog as evidence. Director Henrik Rubin Genz fashions a nourish dark comedy with overtones of Blood Simple, as the poor cop – who’s hiding a secret of his own – gets inextricably caught up in the town’s corruption and deceit."

Read the entire article in Filmmaker Magazine

DFI Factsheet: Terribly Happy

The CNN programme The Screening Room took note of the overwhelming exposure given Danish films worldwide in 2009. An excerpt from their run on Scandinavian cinema is found on Neil Curry's write-up Danish Film: Four to Watch, posted 23 December.

Lars von Trier's "Antichrist" won a global audience in 2009 after its initial screening in Cannes, report CNN, and name four other films to watch for: Henrik Ruben Genz' "Terribly Happy", the Danish entry running for an Oscar nomination, Anders Østergaard's "Burma VJ", shortlisted for an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary, Nicolo Donatos winner at Rome "Brotherhood" and Martin Zandvliet's "Applause" with Paprika Steen in the lead.

Read more Danish Film: Four to Watch

In his write-up about the Foreign Language contestants for the upcoming Academy Award nominations, Sam Adams of the Los Angeles Times has Henrik Ruben Genz' film "Terribly Happy" right up front. Of the 65 entrants, he says, "a number take the form of crime thrillers and mystery stories. including several favourites for the final five. Denmark's "Terribly Happy" follows a disgraced Copenhagen cop exiled to a small town where secrets, and a few bodies, are buried in the local bogs, and ...".

Read article here "Mysterious Imports" from Los Angeles Times/The Envelope

""Brothers" is that rare animal, a US remake of a fine foreign language film which works on both a creative and thematic level in its conversion to an American setting. Susanne Bier's explosive 2004 film is effectively re-imagined by writer David Benioff  and director Jim Sheridan, and their Brothers is tight, tense and emotional, addressing the issue of soldiers returning from the war in Afghanistan in the context of an expertly told melodrama."

Read Mike Goodridge' review of Jim Sheridan's "Brothers".

Brotherhood, a feature film debut by Nicolo Donato, swept away Rome's top award. In his review, Jay Weissberg of Variety writes: Though Nicolo Donato's impressive debut, "Brotherhood," inevitably will be called "the gay neo-Nazi movie," such a reductive description does the film a disservice. While the film does track the unlikely sexual relationship between two members of a violent racist organization, it's Donato's assured direction, plus the superb thesping on display, that sets "Brotherhood" above what could have been either fetishistic or far-fetched. The winner of Rome's top prize, the pic could see strong Euro and bicoastal arthouse play, though some auds may be uncomfortable with the theme and the palpable passion.  

Read the entire review
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941456.html?categoryid=3779&cs=1&query=Nicolo+Donato

Read Variety write-up on Rome awards
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118010342.html?categoryid=3282&cs=1&query=Nicolo+Donato

Read DFI newsbrief: Brotherhood gains ground at Rome
http://www.dfi.dk/English/News/Brotherhood-gains-ground-at-Rome.aspx

"Steen gives a crushing performance as a woman who longs for love but can’t handle responsibility, who pushes for more time with her children but doesn’t know what to do with it when she has it. She has a mother’s love but not a mother’s instinct – and Steen’s expressive ice-blue eyes show how it’s tearing her apart. This is one of the most revealing family dramas of its type since "A Woman Under the Influence" – and Steen's work needs to be seen by American audiences".

An excerpt from US critic Marshall Fine's write-up "Live from Toronto Film Festival: Day 4' on his page Hollywood and Fineblog. Read his entire piece:
http://hollywoodandfine.com/fineblog/?p=366

"One of the most daring and audacious directors in Europe, Nicolas Winding Refn is probably best known for the epochal Pusher trilogy, which transplanted the gangster film to Copenhagen and gave it a tragic import and epic scale. (It may be the only gangster series that evokes not only Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma but also Shakespeare's Henry IV plays.) His most recent effort, Valhalla Rising, is possibly even more ambitious, since it tackles one of the tawdriest genres in cinematic history – the viking movie – and elevates it so significantly that the film bears almost no relationship to its forebears".

An excerpt from Steve Gravestock's Toronto writeup on Nicolas Winding Refn's "Valhalla". Read more

"... the globe’s leading provocateur is back on form and slapping his latest film with a title sure to rile elements of the religious right is merely the first and least of Lars Von Trier's provocations in Antichrist."

Excerpt from Todd Brown  review in Twitch: Read more at http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2009/09/cannes-09-antichrist-review.php