A hairdresser, who has lost her hair to cancer, finds out her husband is having an affair, travels to Italy for her daughter's wedding, and meets a widower who still blames the world for the loss of his wife.
The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.
Director:
Susanne Bier
Stars:
Mikael Persbrandt,
Trine Dyrholm,
Markus Rygaard
How far would decent human beings be willing to go, when tragedy blurs the line between just and unjust? With "A Second Chance", Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen have crafted another ... See full summary »
Director:
Susanne Bier
Stars:
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau,
Roland Møller,
Nikolaj Lie Kaas
A Dogme film about an engaged couple that is torn apart after the man is paralyzed in an accident, and the woman falls in love with the husband of the woman who caused the accident.
Mona is a young woman, engaged to a man who never shows up. She relies strongly on her supportive friend, Anne. Mona suspects that Anne's psychologist, Dr. Lark, is acting funny towards her... See full summary »
Director:
Susanne Bier
Stars:
Sofie Gråbøl,
Ellen Hillingsø,
Sverre Anker Ousdal
A Danish woman, Ida (Trine Dyrholm), who has just finished her cancer treatments, walks in on her suffering husband in bed with his young co-worker. She travels alone to their daughter's wedding, which is to take place in Italy, but meets the father of the groom, Philip (Pierce Brosnan), and immediately makes a bad first impression. At the seaside villa where Philip once lived with his wife, conflicts arise not least between the soon-to-be newlyweds. But first impressions fade, and Ida may find her chance for another life.Written by
Peter Brandt Nielsen
When Philip tells Benedikte what he really thinks of her, two of his front-side shots show him standing with his left shoulder angled towards her, while in all other shots his right shoulder is in front. See more »
Quotes
Ida:
I really don't understand why anybody will work for you. When... when you're so awful and stupid and not nice.
Philip:
I pay him good money.
See more »
The brief preview I read of this film described it as an antidote to "shrill, soulless Hollywood romantic comedies" with the power to "restore your faith in the entire genre". I was unsure whether it would live up to such high praise, but decided to give it a go.
The film follows the story of Ida, a lovely lady recovering from chemotherapy and the antics of her unappreciative husband Leif. Separately we follow her daughter Astrid as she prepares to wed her fiancé Patrick in a beautiful secluded grove in Sorrento. But marriage is not portrayed in this film as a straightforward or predictable process, and hints of challenges soon begin to emerge, both for the engaged couple and for Ida herself.
My attention was gripped more than anything by the characters themselves. All confused to some degree, I found them likable to a person - even Leif, whose "activities" were less than admirable. Their hidden depths are revealed through their struggles. I'd like to give a special nod here to Pierce Brosnan's Philip. Emotionally constricted from the start, his defensiveness and wariness gradually ease to reveal a man of real depth and warmth.
The photography in this film is gorgeous, but there again, it's only important as the backdrop to the characters' personal development. It's also a very humorous film in places, and I found the two hours flew by. 10/10.
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The brief preview I read of this film described it as an antidote to "shrill, soulless Hollywood romantic comedies" with the power to "restore your faith in the entire genre". I was unsure whether it would live up to such high praise, but decided to give it a go.
The film follows the story of Ida, a lovely lady recovering from chemotherapy and the antics of her unappreciative husband Leif. Separately we follow her daughter Astrid as she prepares to wed her fiancé Patrick in a beautiful secluded grove in Sorrento. But marriage is not portrayed in this film as a straightforward or predictable process, and hints of challenges soon begin to emerge, both for the engaged couple and for Ida herself.
My attention was gripped more than anything by the characters themselves. All confused to some degree, I found them likable to a person - even Leif, whose "activities" were less than admirable. Their hidden depths are revealed through their struggles. I'd like to give a special nod here to Pierce Brosnan's Philip. Emotionally constricted from the start, his defensiveness and wariness gradually ease to reveal a man of real depth and warmth.
The photography in this film is gorgeous, but there again, it's only important as the backdrop to the characters' personal development. It's also a very humorous film in places, and I found the two hours flew by. 10/10.