Very hard to comment on topics like this one.
Movie itself its ok, it's bit slow.
Not sure how realistic it is.
Perhaps danish are calm and forgiving, not sure if in other countries she wouldn't serve jail sentence and not sure if I were so forgiving for murdered child.
4 Reviews
A tale of amazing forgiveness
euroGary16 July 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Before the showing of Danish film 'Sorrow and Joy' at the 2014 Edinburgh International Film Festival, director Nils Malmros explained that the majority of his films have been based on his own personal experiences, and this one was no exception. Which is going to make it difficult to review and not seem insensitive in so doing, but I'll give it a go: Film director Johannes arrives home one evening to find his parents-in-law waiting for him. They explain that his wife Signe, a manic-depressive, has slit the throat of her and Johannes' baby daughter. As the trial date comes closer, Johannes and Signe rebuild their relationship, and he tells their story to her psychiatrist.
The beginning of the film, which is the immediate aftermath of the killing, seemed a little unreal to me: if I were told my child had been killed my immediate reaction would be to run to her bedroom in order to prove that no, she was still alive; Johannes merely sits down and calmly talks to his mother-in-law. And the treatment of Signe, both by the police and the medical profession, is devoid of any unsympathetic attitudes - indeed, even the parents of the small children she teaches get up a petition for her reinstatement! Laudable, but even if she were ill at the time it's hard to believe no-one would make a judgmental comment about a woman who has killed her own child. Even Johannes himself is shown as being far more concerned with Signe than with mourning their baby - which is itself ironic, as prior to the killing he was usually careless of her feelings. But this is based on real life and I suppose in real life people do illogical things.
One perhaps inappropriately light-hearted moment for me came when I realised Signe's advocate is played by Søren Pilmark, co-host of the Copenhagen 2001 Eurovision Song Contest - and famously labelled by BBC commentator Terry Wogan as 'Dr Death'. At least in this he wasn't speaking in rhyming couplets...
The beginning of the film, which is the immediate aftermath of the killing, seemed a little unreal to me: if I were told my child had been killed my immediate reaction would be to run to her bedroom in order to prove that no, she was still alive; Johannes merely sits down and calmly talks to his mother-in-law. And the treatment of Signe, both by the police and the medical profession, is devoid of any unsympathetic attitudes - indeed, even the parents of the small children she teaches get up a petition for her reinstatement! Laudable, but even if she were ill at the time it's hard to believe no-one would make a judgmental comment about a woman who has killed her own child. Even Johannes himself is shown as being far more concerned with Signe than with mourning their baby - which is itself ironic, as prior to the killing he was usually careless of her feelings. But this is based on real life and I suppose in real life people do illogical things.
One perhaps inappropriately light-hearted moment for me came when I realised Signe's advocate is played by Søren Pilmark, co-host of the Copenhagen 2001 Eurovision Song Contest - and famously labelled by BBC commentator Terry Wogan as 'Dr Death'. At least in this he wasn't speaking in rhyming couplets...
you'll never know what life will serve you
mmunier26 February 2018
I just finished to watched this film. I found interesting that it's based on real event. And I found that this is very realistic film. I'm surprised, not too surprised there is only one review before mine. But if this film is called Sorrow and Joy, there isn't much joy. Again this would depend on the viewer attitude as i believe we all perceive things in our own way, I'm not one to know much about directors and other factors involved with films. I watch I feel and think about it and want to share this.
I have been involved with mental health and do believe the film remain true to the situation .
Perhaps there was areas one could see inappropriate responses, reaction or behaviour to what one would expect it to be. I think life in general does not always follow ordinary guideline and if you add mental dysfunction you can expect the unexpected from all concerned.
I think if you can deal with an honest but not so pleasant story you will find Sorrow and Joy rewarding.
I have been involved with mental health and do believe the film remain true to the situation .
Perhaps there was areas one could see inappropriate responses, reaction or behaviour to what one would expect it to be. I think life in general does not always follow ordinary guideline and if you add mental dysfunction you can expect the unexpected from all concerned.
I think if you can deal with an honest but not so pleasant story you will find Sorrow and Joy rewarding.
A movie about love?
gilbert-54-2186436 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Having seen this multiple times, I still don't know how to rate this.
The films doesn't feel like any of Malmros other works. I believe this is because most of the main cast are famous actors, not amateurs from Aarhus. This decision, I attribute to TV2 involvement in the film.
Meanwhile, the story is heart-wrenching and told slightly out of order. The most pivotal scene is placed as the movies last. The second act is spent on the Johannas (Malmros, played by Jakob Cedergren) relationship with his girlfriend and how it led to the death fo their child. This is all told, while Johannes is directing both "Tree of Knowledge" and "Beauty and the Beast." It is how these stories are intertwined, that has me questioning everything Malmros has directed.
In the section just before the pivotal scene mentioned, his girlfriend dares him to make a movie about love - that's to say, why she decides to stay with him all those years (This scene is set 26 years in the future). Previously, she (because of some psychiatric diagnosis, that leads to the premise of the film) can't stop thinking about his potential loves in his movies. Whether Johannes actually is in love with his main characters are never answered, but some of the scenes from his previous movies, shows Johannas in a rather dubious light.
The self-directing of Johannes, his doubt and how Malmros decided to direct Jakob Cedergren in the scenes of his previous work, combined with the fact, that he argues, this movie is about love, raised some serious doubt in me, about him as a director. That's why, I still can't figure out, how to rate or feel about this movie.
The story about Johannes and his girlfriend works, the "Copenhagen" dialect is only mildly distracting and it leaves us at the right time. I really don't know whether this could be read as confession from Malmros previous works or something else entirely.
The films doesn't feel like any of Malmros other works. I believe this is because most of the main cast are famous actors, not amateurs from Aarhus. This decision, I attribute to TV2 involvement in the film.
Meanwhile, the story is heart-wrenching and told slightly out of order. The most pivotal scene is placed as the movies last. The second act is spent on the Johannas (Malmros, played by Jakob Cedergren) relationship with his girlfriend and how it led to the death fo their child. This is all told, while Johannes is directing both "Tree of Knowledge" and "Beauty and the Beast." It is how these stories are intertwined, that has me questioning everything Malmros has directed.
In the section just before the pivotal scene mentioned, his girlfriend dares him to make a movie about love - that's to say, why she decides to stay with him all those years (This scene is set 26 years in the future). Previously, she (because of some psychiatric diagnosis, that leads to the premise of the film) can't stop thinking about his potential loves in his movies. Whether Johannes actually is in love with his main characters are never answered, but some of the scenes from his previous movies, shows Johannas in a rather dubious light.
The self-directing of Johannes, his doubt and how Malmros decided to direct Jakob Cedergren in the scenes of his previous work, combined with the fact, that he argues, this movie is about love, raised some serious doubt in me, about him as a director. That's why, I still can't figure out, how to rate or feel about this movie.
The story about Johannes and his girlfriend works, the "Copenhagen" dialect is only mildly distracting and it leaves us at the right time. I really don't know whether this could be read as confession from Malmros previous works or something else entirely.
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