Reconstruction (2003)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Christoffer Boe

Writers:

Christoffer Boe (writer)
Mogens Rukov (writer)

Release Date:

26 September 2003 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A young man who thought himself already in love with a nice girl is drawn into a literary drama when he is captured by a deep and stimulating love affair.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Love Affair | Writer | Author | Hotel

Awards:

10 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Klaus Mulbjerg	...	Tryllekunstner
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Alex David
Maria Bonnevie	...	Simone / Aimee
Krister Henriksson	...	August Holm
Nicolas Bro	...	Leo Sand
Peter Steen	...	Mel David
Ida Dwinger	...	Monica
Malene Schwartz	...	Fru Banum (Mrs. Banum)
Helle Fagralid	...	Nan Sand
Mercedes Claro Schelin	...	Mercedes Sand
Jens Blegaa	...	Waiter
Isabella Miehe-Renard	...	Journalist
Katrin Muth	...	Bartender
David Dencik	...	Bartender

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and brief strong language.

Runtime:

France:91 min (Cannes Film Festival) | Germany:89 min (Filmfest Hamburg) | Argentina:91 min | USA:90 min

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Hungary:14 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Chile:TE | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, Amager, Denmark

Company:

Director's Cut

Quotes:

Alex David: If you are my dream then I am yours.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Året der gik 2003 (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Adagio for Strings

Shallow Gimmickry

Essentially the story of a novelist who imagines a young man, named Alex, as the protagonist of his rather existentialist novel, Reconstruction blends the joins between two separate realities (the novelist's imaginary context makes up the third). Director Christoffer Boe basically omits any detail that would add distinction to his construct, instead keeping everything vague and non-committal enough to string the audience along. The glue that holds his construction together is Maria Bonnevie, cast as Everywoman in the men's imaginations (Aimee the wife and muse of the Phillip Roth style novelist; Simone, the young protagonist's girlfriend). Ms. Bonnevie displays a subtle sense of the difference between playing a woman and playing a romanticised view of a woman. As the wife she is mostly quietly dissatisfied, as the romanticised object of affection she is often lost, promiscuous and dependent on men; her Simone is somewhat less clearly drawn but is also a bit of a red herring to the main narrative. She has a beautiful, strong featured, cinematic face that she uses to great effect with accomplished neutrality that works particularly well in this context.

While Reconstruction has some clever, sometimes startling imagery-particularly in the shadowy motif of a figure in freefall-none of the characters emerge much beyond stick figures or chess pieces in Boe's elaborate yet superficial exploration of what, one presumes, are matters of the heart. Nicolaj Lee Kaas, as Alex, makes a rather charmless protagonist; unlike Bonnevie, Kaas seems inexplicably aware of his personal reality in the context of the novelist's imagination, thus it would seem that in Boe's world view there are no romanticised notions of maleness. Kaas is compulsive and promiscuous but is never given the opportunity to explore his predicament much beyond the director's shallow concept. Boe's attempts to play the humour of his Kafkaesque, ‘Alex in Wonderland' scenario fall flat, revealing the shaky foundation of the entire enterprise-it isn't sufficiently compelling to engage us in Alex's fate. Nor anyone else's, for that matter.

Reconstruction is most likely to appeal to younger, less experienced filmgoers for whom the bait and switch narrative techniques will seem more substantial; otherwise the film plays out with the opaqueness of an extended, overlong perfume advert. For all its elegance, the inclusion and reliance on Barber's overused Adagio feels like a major cheat; better that the narrative itself provoked an emotional response instead of the orchestra. Boe is a young filmmaker who may be one to watch but a certain maturity of purpose is in order. That said, Reconstruction is a major winner for the Copenhagen Board of Tourism.