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

Directed by
Christoffer Boe

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Christoffer Boe		writer
Mogens Rukov		writer

Produced by
Lars Kjeldgård	....	co-producer
Tine Grew Pfeiffer	....	producer
Åke Sandgren	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Thomas Knak

Cinematography by
Manuel Alberto Claro

Film Editing by
Peter Brandt
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

Casting by
Anja Philip

Production Design by
Martin de Thurah

Costume Design by
Gabi Humnicki

Makeup Department
Henrik Steen	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Johnny Andersen	....	production manager

Art Department
Torben Stig Nielsen	....	property master
Hans Erik Olsen	....	painter

Sound Department
Morten Green	....	sound
Nino Jacobsen	....	sound re-recording mixer
Camilla Mauritzson	....	dialogue editor
Julien Naudin	....	foley artist
John Nielsen	....	boom operator
Mark Kenna	....	consultant: Dolby film sound (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Lars Bjørn Hansen	....	digital effects
René Rask	....	matte painter

Stunts
Stig Günther	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Jakob Bonfils	....	Steadicam operator
Niels A. Hansen	....	clapper loader (as Niels Hansen)
Tobias Juhl	....	lighting assistant
Andreas Kragh-Jacobsen	....	additional lighting assistant
Sune Lolk	....	gaffer
Linn Sandholm	....	still photographer
Søren Sielemann	....	additional lighting assistant
Peter Topsøe-Jensen	....	first assistant camera

Editorial Department
Ejvind Bording	....	color timer
Jan Degn	....	colorist
Jonas Drehn	....	colorist
Christina Isabel Emdrup	....	post-production assistant
Michael Jørgensen	....	assistant editor
Tove Jystrup	....	post-production coordinator
Adam Nielsen	....	trailer editor
Glennie Pettersson	....	post-production assistant
Kaspar Astrup Schröder	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Ada Kaalund	....	accountant
Jorunn Keller	....	script supervisor
Sophus Kirkeby	....	production runner (as Sophus Kirkeby Windeløv)
Bibi Malby	....	production assistant (as Bibi Husted Malby)
Hanne Merkx	....	accountant
Gitte Nielsen	....	accountant
Lone Sloth	....	accountant
Carsten Sparwath	....	location manager
Jeppe Tolstrup-Møller	....	location scout
Henrik Zein	....	accountant

Production Companies

• Director's Cut
• HR. Boe & Co.
• Nordisk Film
• TV2 Danmark

Distributors

• Nordisk Film Biografdistribution (2003) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• 1More Film (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (Argentina) (theatrical)
• AmaFilms (Greece) (theatrical)
• Artist Films Co. Ltd. (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Bir Film (2004) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Bitters End (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• CinemArt (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Lady Film (Italy) (theatrical)
• MFA Filmdistribution (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Palm Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Providence Films (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Soda Pictures (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Swift Distribution (France) (theatrical)
• Xenix Filmdistribution (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• EuroVideo (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Impuls Home Entertainment (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Lume Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Duckling A/S  color grading
• FilmTeknik A/S  film lab
• Kameraudlejningen  camera equipment
• Nordisk Film Lyden  sound and mix studio
• Post House  editing facilities

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:

Narrator: That's how it always ends. A bit of magic, a bit of smoke. Something floating
Narrator: But it doesn't work without the necessary push. A bit of laughter,a man... a beautiful woman and love. Let's start over. At the beginning,it was man alone.
Narrator: No,he's not alone. Yet.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Adagio for Strings

Reconstruction: Life can be confusing, especially relationships with people we think we know.

Is this a true, fictional narrative, or is it the figment of the fictional writer's imagination? If that sounds contradictory, then it gives you some inkling about the substance – or lack thereof – of this most confusing and yet most intriguing film.

Is this a film about filming a narrative? Is it a film about two narratives – one real fiction, one imaginary fiction? Or, is it simply a film designed to act as a metaphor for the total uncertainty about human relationships? Perhaps, it's all three... or simply an illusion?

As it unfolds, we meet a very confused young man, Alex (Nikolaj Lei Kaas) who seems to be in love with the same woman who exists in two different realities and, yet, who co-exist in the same city. On the one hand, Alex is associated with Simone (Maria Bonnevie) definitely and yet, he meets another woman, Aimee (again, Maria Bonnevie), who looks exactly like Simone, in another part of town.

Whereas Simone is definitely single, Aimee is apparently married to August, a writer who is in town to give some lectures on the art of writing. At the same time, August is also trying to finish his novel that is a love story, but he's having trouble trying to decide what "the young man" of his story should do – and he tells Aimee about his dilemma while they sit in their hotel room.

So, while August is discussing the progress of his narrative with his publisher, Monica (Ida Dwinger), young Alex is roaming all over the city trying to understand how it is that both women appear to know him for some of the time, and at other times, he appears to be a stranger to them. Frantically, he rushes from café, to a bar, to a restaurant, to another bar, desperately trying to come to grips with his concept of his reality – which, oddly enough, doesn't appear to jive with the reality of anybody that Alex thinks he knows...

Totally confused now? Well, you should be, because I think Reconstruction is an experimental film that tries to show just how confusing every person's sense of their own reality must be – not only for each person, but to others around them also.

You think you really, really know your girlfriend, your wife, your boyfriend, your husband, your lover? This film, I think, forces you to reflect (no pun intended) upon that existential problem, a very real problem for every living person, whether or not we know it. The camera work is also experimental, and some of it is quite original in its construction. You'll know what I mean when you see it – that is, if you're prepared to watch it.

Definitely not a film for action fans or the 'braindead'.