Mifune (1999)

Kresten's dad dies and he returns to the farm on Lolland to take care of things incl. his retarded brother. He employs a hooker as maid. He loses wife and job due to lies. The maid's kid brother moves in and they're a family of 4.

Director:

Søren Kragh-Jacobsen (uncredited)

Writers:

Anders Thomas Jensen, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen

Stars:

Iben Hjejle, Anders W. Berthelsen, Jesper Asholt

10 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Iben Hjejle	...	Liva Psilander
Anders W. Berthelsen	...	Kresten
Jesper Asholt	...	Rud
Emil Tarding	...	Bjarke Psilander
Anders Hove	...	Gerner
Sofie Gråbøl	...	Claire
Paprika Steen	...	Pernille
Mette Bratlann	...	Nina
Susanne Storm	...	Hanne
Ellen Hillingsø	...	Lykke
Sidse Babett Knudsen	...	Bibbi
Søren Fauli	...	Stemmen (voice)
Søren Malling	...	Palle Alfons
Kjeld Nørgaard	...	Claires far (as Keld Nørgaard)
Kirsten Vaupel	...	Claires mor

Storyline

Kresten has moved from his parents farm on a small Danish island to Copenhagen in order to pursue his working career. When his father dies he has to move back to the farm, where nothing much has happened since he left. He places an ad in the local newspaper to get help running the farm and taking care of his mentally disabled brother. A prostitute named Liva, who is running away from annoying telephone calls, answers it. But running away from your past isn't easy.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | bride | loud sex | sex while wearing a bra | female orgasm | 

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Genres:

Romance | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexuality and language, and for some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

After the movie's completion, director Søren Kragh-Jacobsen made the following statement: "As one of the DOGME 95 brethren and co-signatory of the Vow of Chastity I feel moved to confess to the following transgressions of the aforesaid Vow during the production of Dogme 3 - Mifune. Please note that the film has been approved as a Dogme work, as only one genuine breach of the rules has actually taken place. The rest may be regarded as moral breaches.

-I confess to having made one take with a black drape covering a window. This is not only the addition of a property, but must also be regarded as a kind of lighting arrangement. -I confess to moving furniture and fittings around the house. -I confess to having taken with me a number of albums of my favorite comic book series as a youth, Linda & Valentin (Valérian and Laureline). -I confess to helping to chase the neighbor's free-range hens across our location and including them in the film. -I confess that I brought a photographic image from an old lady from the area and hung it in a prominent position in one scene: not as part of the plot, but more as a selfish, spontaneous, pleasurable whim. -I confess to borrowing a hydraulic platform from a painter, which we used for the only two bird's-eye overview shots in the film. -I do solemnly declare that in my presence the remainder of Dogme 3 - Mifune was produced in accordance with the vow of chastity. -I also point out that the film has been approved by DOGME 95 as a Dogme film, as in real terms no more than a single breach of the rules has been committed. The rest may be regarded as moral transgressions."

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Quotes

Liva Psilander: Livet er en lang lort, som man skal tage en kæmpe bid af hver dag!

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Connections

Referenced in Bag kameraet: Mifunes sidste sang (1999)

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Soundtracks

Nocturne No 9 Opus 2
by Frédéric Chopin
Performed by Nulle & Verdensorkestret

User Reviews

Only for the real fans of European cinema

I've always been a fan of European cinema, mostly because it has something more to offer than Hollywood's mass production. Don't think that I hate every movie that comes from Hollywood or that I love all European films. As well in Europe as in America, they have made some excellent movies as well as awful ones.

If it isn't a better story or more profound characters, than it is the style of filming that makes European cinema a little different from the American. And this movie has it all. The story is very good and original and the characters are very recognizable. I really got the feeling that I got to know them better, even though their lives are sometimes completely different from mine. But most important is the way everything is shot. For those who aren't familiar with the rules made up by Dogma yet, I'll give a small explanation: the director promises not to use extra light, special effects, extra sound effects... They want to make the story speak for itself and show everything in a natural and realistic way. To some this may seem like the most boring concept ever. I guess many people who like movies like The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Spiderman,... movies that are full of special effects, huge scenes and nice visual effects, may not be blown away by this movie. I know that many people may hate the concept, that many people don't want to see this kind of movies, but personally I find this a very welcome concept in a world where everybody seems to feel the need to copy what works, without being original.

Kresten has moved from a small Danish island, where his parents farm is, to Copenhagen in order to pursue an excellent career and unconcerned life. He marries his boss's daughter and is sure that he'll become the new boss as soon as his father-in-law decides to retire. But on his honeymoon he gets a phone call that his father died and that he'll have to return home. The only problem is that he has never told his wife that he had a father and a retarded brother, living together on the family farm. Once he arrives at the farm, he sees that much hasn't changed or been done since he left and he decides that they will need a housekeeper to clean up the mess. He sends an advertisement to a local newspaper and he immediately gets a reaction from Liva Psilander. Liva is a prostitute who wants to start a new life. She wants to escape from an anonymous psychopath who harasses her by phone and needs a lot of money to pay her brother Bjarke's school tuition. When Kresten's wife discovers the truth, or at least what she thinks the truth is, she breaks off the marriage and makes sure that Kresten will lose his job at her father's company and that he'll never get it back. Now Kresten will have to live together with his brother, with Livia and her little brother in the old farm on the island...

I can assure you that you'll have to get used to the way of filming at first. Perhaps you'll need two viewings to fully appreciate this movie, but once you can see past the style of filming, you'll see that this movie has a very beautiful and hearth warming subject. Personally I really liked it and that's why I give this movie at least an 8/10, even an 8.5/10.

Details

Official Sites:

From the dogme 95 official site Sony Pictures Classics

Country:

Denmark Sweden

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

12 March 1999 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Mifune

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Box Office

Gross USA:

$512,434

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$512,434

Company Credits

Production Co:

Danmarks Radio (DR), Nimbus Film Productions, SVT Drama

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1