The Art of Crying (2006)
"Kunsten at græde i kor" (original title)

Follows a precocious, eleven-year-old Allan, who tries desperately to keep his dysfunctional, rural family together during the social upheavals of the early seventies. Allan reveres his ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Schønau Fog

Writers:

Bo Hr. Hansen (screenplay), Erling Jepsen (novel)

Stars:

Jannik Lorenzen, Jesper Asholt, Julie Kolbech

27 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jannik Lorenzen	...	Allan
Jesper Asholt	...	Far
Julie Kolbech	...	Sanne (as Julie Kolbeck)
Hanne Hedelund	...	Mor
Thomas Knuth-Winterfeldt	...	Asger
Gitte Siem	...	Faster Didde
Rita Angela	...	Farmor
Bjarne Henriksen	...	Neighbor Budde
Laura Kamis Wrang	...	Fru Budde
Tue Frisk Petersen	...	Nis Budde
Sune Thomsen	...	Per
Jacob Tranæs	...	Sole
Bodil Lassen	...	Frk. Port
Helle Jensen	...	Fru Simonsen
Rolf Hansen	...	Priest

Storyline

Follows a precocious, eleven-year-old Allan, who tries desperately to keep his dysfunctional, rural family together during the social upheavals of the early seventies. Allan reveres his father, Henry, the local milkman, and can't understand why others don't feel the same way. His family life is so twisted he thinks it's perfectly normal to stay awake all night dealing with his father's hysterics and suicidal threats. Allan's older brother left town several years ago, and his mother gave up long before that, relying on sleeping pills to escape Henry's tantrums. Allan then becomes obsessed with a rival family, whom he considers foolish white trash until they start taking away Henry's customers. He is frustrated that his mother doesn't take his father's complaints seriously, and is perplexed by the increasingly rebellious and bizarre behavior of his sister, Sanne. Incapable of understanding what's going on and heavily influenced by his father, Allan commits appalling acts, unaware of ...

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Plot Keywords:

crime against child | teenage girl | little boy | village | burning building | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Offficial site

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

27 April 2007 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

The Art of Crying

Company Credits

Production Co:

Final Cut Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first and only debut film to receive The Nordic Council's Film Prize.

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Connections

References Loves of a Blonde (1965)

User Reviews

How can you laugh of child abuse?

You cannot. Of course not. Still what I find brilliant and special with this film, is that all though child abuse is a main theme, it is still a film where you laugh. That Schønau Fog can make a film about such a horrific subject and still make you laugh. Not that this is a comedy, but because the situation is grotesque. In a child's view the situation in HIS family is normal, and that's (obviously) the point of view from which he (Allan, who's narration makes quite a lot of the "dialogue") tell us what happens: "Sanne makes Dad happy"...

And is the only child abuse in the film what the father does with Sanne, or is Allan a victim as well? That the mother is abusing him by her escapistic use of sleeping pills? She actually leave the responsibility for the family's functionality with Allan, who then tries to "make Dad happy", whether it's by acting as a pimp ("Sanne, Dad is crying! You must go downstairs to him!") or by "pushing coincidence"! By... No, you must see this film!