Drømmen (2006)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Niels Arden Oplev

Writers:

Steen Bille (writer)
Niels Arden Oplev (writer)

Release Date:

24 March 2006 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A drama about a boy who's inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and challenges repressive school authority in 1969 Denmark. |

Plot Keywords:

Principal | Blood | Classroom | Abusive Teacher | Teacher Student Relationship

Awards:

16 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Bent Mejding	...	Lindum-Svendsen
Anders W. Berthelsen	...	Freddie Svale
Jens Jørn Spottag	...	Peder
Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis	...	Stine
Peter Hesse Overgaard	...	Erling
Sarah Juel Werner	...	Iben
Janus Dissing Rathke	...	Frits
Elin Reimer	...	Grandmother
Gyrd Løfquist	...	Grandfather
Lasse Borg	...	Søren
Daniel Ørum	...	Troels
Kurt Ravn	...	Doctor
Steen Stig Lommer	...	Teacher Olsen
Joy-Maria Frederiksen	...	Iben's mum
Peter Schrøder	...	Church Singer

Also Known As:

Martin Luther King & mig (Denmark) (working title)
We Shall Overcome (International: English title)

Runtime:

UK:109 min | Germany:105 min (Berlin International Film Festival)

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:12A | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Ærø, Denmark

Company:

Zentropa Entertainments

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the parents are driving to the School Board hearing, they drive by a house with a large satellite dish on the side.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Drømmen - en instruktørs rejse (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I alle de riger og lande

A rousing family film with its nose right on the money.

Insisting that Martin Luther King's inspirational spirit resides not just in American civil liberties but inside the hearts and minds of people everywhere, Danish helmer Niels Arden Oplev transplants this belief to a 1969 Danish middle school. More specifically, it works its way into the crusade of a young boy named Frits (Janus Dissing Rathke) against his oppressively rigid and churlishly abusive headmaster Svendsen (Bent Mejding). Adapted from a true story, the performances are executed with certain aplomb and a refreshing command over its varied characters keeps it involving. A battle of ideologies between a 13 year-old and a demented disciplinarian gives way to inherent humour but awkward shifts in mood disorients despite keeping it shrewdly cynical in the same vein as a "Dead Poets Society" more than a "Matilda". It treads a familiar path but a continued and precise service to its young protagonist including a personal subplot that rounds off Frits as a young boy becoming a young man, manages to raise the film into a rousing family film with its nose right on the money.