The Green Butchers (2003)
"De grønne slagtere" (original title)

Svend and Bjarne work for a butcher in a small Danish town. Fed up with their boss' arrogance, they decide to start their own butcher shop. After dismal beginnings, an unfortunate accident ... See full summary »

Director:

Anders Thomas Jensen

Writer:

Anders Thomas Jensen

Stars:

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Mads Mikkelsen, Line Kruse

7 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Bjarne / Eigil
Mads Mikkelsen	...	Svend
Line Kruse	...	Astrid
Ole Thestrup	...	Holger
Bodil Jørgensen	...	Tina
Aksel Erhardtsen	...	Pastor Villumsen (as Aksel Erhardsen)
Lily Weiding	...	Fru Juhl
Nicolas Bro	...	Hus Hans
Camilla Bendix	...	Beate
Elsebeth Steentoft	...	Ingrid Grith
Kjeld Nørgaard	...	Leif Larsen (as Keld Nørgaard)
Peter Reichhardt	...	Levnedsmiddelkontrollen
Kristian Halken	...	Levnedsmiddelkontrollen
Lars Ranthe	...	Levnedsmiddelkontrollen
Mikkel Vadsholt	...	Elektriker

Storyline

Svend and Bjarne work for a butcher in a small Danish town. Fed up with their boss' arrogance, they decide to start their own butcher shop. After dismal beginnings, an unfortunate accident happens which coincides with a large order of meat. One hasty decision leads to another and soon the business thrives. In the meantime, Bjarne has to deal with his twin brother who has been in coma for years following a gruesome car accident.

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Plot Keywords:

butcher | stock broker | friendship | brother brother relationship | brain damage | 

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Taglines:

Pick Your Cut!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, disturbing images and drug use

Details

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

21 March 2003 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Les bouchers verts

Filming Locations:

Det Danske Filmstudie, Lyngby, Sjælland, Denmark

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$2,483 (USA) (10 December 2004)

Gross:

$2,483 (USA) (10 December 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

M&M Productions, TV2 Danmark

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 95 min (Ontario)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Svend: Tina dammit... My parents died when I was a baby.
Tina: Stop with the parents already!

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Connections

Referenced in De grønne slagtere - en virkelig god marinade (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Ewig war ich"
from "Siegfried"
Written by Richard Wagner (as Ricard Wagner)
Sonoton Music GmbH

User Reviews

Funny, well written, directed, acted and full of charm

If you don't mind subtitles, you like comedy and truly interesting characters, along with a taste of something different from mainstream American cinema, then take a chance and rent this film.

Two contrasting friends, (one very neurotic sweater, the other the strong quiet loner type) working for a jerk butcher in a smaller danish town, decide to strike out on they're own together and open a butcher shop themselves. Not successful at first they incorporate something new to they're recipe and become an instant hit with the village.

That being an interesting story in itself, this smartly humorous film is laced with even more, (friendship, romance, crime, death, personal tragedy) that makes this film so funny yet riddled with numerous subtle interests that make it so interestingly funny yet warm and fuzzy.

A must mention is the characters created and the actors making them believable. You can have the best script yet if the characters aren't believable it can sink a film and with this, the directing, acting, character believability and story all mesh so well they make this a very entertaining film.

So, if your in the mood to stretch a lil, want to see something very good yet done a bit differently, then I suggest you rent this film while I'm on my way out to find more by director writer Anders Thomas Jensen.