Unfiltered + Unflinching Scandinavian Films Worth a Watch
It has been an amazing week of films, both international and domestic, at the Seattle International Film Festival. While I have been enjoying many films from around the world, I must give an enthusiastic shout-out to three films that hail from the northern climes of Scandinavia—specifically, Denmark and Norway.
Eva (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Nikolas (Sebastian Bull) in Sons
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Sons (Denmark, Gustav Möller, writer/director)
Gustav Möller, the writer and director of 2018’s excellent The Guilty, has created another pulse-pounding psychological thriller that not only keeps you on the edge of your seat, but takes you into a morally gray tale of a mother’s quest for revenge set inside the walls of a maximum security prison.
Eva (powerfully played by Sidse Babett Knudsen) is a stoic and, at times, unlikely prison guard who goes about her daily rounds calling the hardened inmates by their first names, offering them some motherly guidance, and leading them in daily sessions of meditation and mindfulness.
Enter Nikolas (the unnerving Sebastian Bull), an uber-violent and troubled convict who has been transferred to Eva’s prison. Upon seeing him, Eva’s composed exterior begins to crumble as we learn of her past life as a mother and her tragic history with the vicious Nikolas. Eva requests a transfer to the wing of the prison where Nikolas is being held—the high-security wing reserved for the most dangerous convicts. Why? To exact revenge.
What ensues is a ruthless game of cat-and-mouse as the two antagonists battle for dominance in an environment so claustrophobic and unrelenting that you can hardly breathe at times. The question that powers this taut piece of filmmaking is, “Who will break first?” If you like your thrillers fast-paced, brutal, and tinged with ambiguous morality, you gotta see this.
Sofie (Jette Søndergaard) cares for an elder patient in Home Sweet Home
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Home Sweet Home (Denmark, Frelle Petersen, writer/director)
This beautiful and heart-wrenching drama hit very close to home for me, having spent the last couple of years (along with my siblings and my wife) caring for my aging mother. The multitude of challenges in caring for our elderly parents is tenderly explored in this unflinching gem of a film. Under the simple, yet deft, direction of Frelle Peterson, we follow the story of Sofie (heartbreakingly played by Jette Søndergaard) as she begins a new career as a provider of elder-care in a small Danish town.
Denmark has the honor of being ranked as the second happiest country in the world, and one feature that keeps Denmark at the top of the list is its excellent health care system. All senior citizens are eligible for at-home care, provided free-of-charge by the state. As one might expect, the system is not perfect, and Sofie has to deal with an overworked and understaffed bureaucracy. She also has to navigate the individual challenges that each elderly person presents to her as she visits them—bathing them, cooking for them, dealing with their bed sores, changing linens, and, oftentimes, just simply chatting with them and showing them that someone cares.
On top of all of this is the pressure of Sofie’s personal life as a recently divorced mom who shares custody of her child with her ex-husband. Her pre-teen daughter is beginning to resent the long hours that her mother has to work and feels neglected herself. When she starts preferring stays with her dad and his new family, Sofie starts to suffer from nagging doubts about her abilities to care for others—and, more tragically, to care for herself.
I used the word “unflinching” earlier when describing this film, and director Petersen’s view of elder care is just that. We see the fragility of naked aging bodies as Sofie helps them dress. We see the frustrations people experience as they learn to cope with their aging parents. We see the dire loneliness that can cripple the mental wellbeing of senior citizens. We see an overworked health system trying to manage its patients with dignity and care.
Yet, through all that, we witness the complex and sensitive life of Sophie, a woman who deeply cares for those who are often forgotten or abandoned, reminding us to care for those that we love…and care for ourselves.
Two characters converse in Spermageddon
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Spermageddon (Norway, Tommy Wirkola and Rasmus A. Sivertsen, directors)
Imagine a fusion of Pixar’s Inside Out with an action-packed sex-ed film (with occasional musical numbers) on how reproduction works and you will get this whacky and raunchy animated feature from Norway.
Meet Jens and Lisa, two awkward teens at summer camp who kiss for the first time during a game of Spin the Bottle. Jump cut to the inner workings of their brains and witness what happens during sexual arousal! Needless to say, this enthusiastic and erotically-charged duo start getting it on—and we have a front row seat to the activities both inside and outside of their bodies. As we jump cut between the hilarious antics of these sexually clumsy-yet-charming first-timers and their brains, we end up down in the super busy location of Jens’ testicles where his millions of sperm cells are preparing for their do-or-die mission of fertilizing Lisa’s egg.
While the lovemaking between Jens and Lisa is taking place, we also follow the journey of Simen, a bookish sperm cell, whose gentle curiosity over his existential plight enrages the militaristic (and down-right evil) leader Jizzmo, whose only goal is to “go nuclear” and unleash “Spermageddon!” We follow millions of sperm cells as they wiggle, sing and dance, and explore the human body on their way to complete their ultimate goal of fertilization.
This movie was a top pick by Colleen O’Holleran (a SIFF programmer) and she summed up this film beautifully:
“Beneath the laughs, Spermageddon touches on sexual health, consent, and relationships, making it unexpectedly meaningful while still being hilarious. The film combines dynamic animation with a fearless comedic edge, pushing boundaries in ways few animated features dare. Featuring an excellent Norwegian voice cast, Spermageddon is a bold, unapologetic ride into the world of sex education...if sex ed came with explosive action sequences and gonzo musical interludes. Crude, clever, and completely unfiltered, this is one cinematic climax you won’t forget.”
