Copenhagen (2014)

When the girl of your dreams is half your age, it's time to grow up.

Director:

Mark Raso

Writer:

Mark Raso

Stars:

Gethin Anthony, Frederikke Dahl Hansen, Sebastian Armesto

6 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gethin Anthony	...	William
Frederikke Dahl Hansen	...	Effy
Sebastian Armesto	...	Jeremy
Olivia Grant	...	Jennifer
Baard Owe	...	Uncle Mads
Mille Dinesen	...	Effy's Mother
Martin Hestbæk	...	Henrik
Tamzin Merchant	...	Sandra
Preben Ravn	...	Thomas Vinter
Sebastian Bull Sarning	...	Albert
Gordon Kennedy	...	Uncle Peter
Sune Kofoed	...	Receptionist Madsen
Silja Eriksen Jensen	...	Signe
Julie Christiansen	...	Berlin girl
Asbjørn Krogh Nissen	...	Ivan

Storyline

After weeks of traveling through Europe the immature William finds himself at a crossroads in Copenhagen. Not just another European city, Copenhagen is also the birthplace of his father. When the youthful Effy befriends the older William they set off on an adventure to find William's grandfather. Effy's mix of youthful exuberance and wisdom challenges William unlike any woman ever has. As the attraction builds and William truly connects with someone for the first time in his life, he must come to grips with destabilizing elements of his family's sordid past.

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Plot Keywords:

danish culture | canadian abroad | lying about age | scandinavian culture | copenhagen denmark | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

When he is using the pay phone at the beginning of the film he is 5 minute walk away from the apartment his is searching for.

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Goofs

When we first see Will sitting outside a store in Berlin, Germany, there is a sticker on the window behind him with the DanKort logo. The non-Visa variant of this debit card is only accepted in Denmark.

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Quotes

Effy: I wanna tell you a story. Its about...
William: Whats going on?
Effy: Telling him a story about Skagen. It's in the north of the country where the two oceans meet.
Jeremy: I heard of this place.
William: I went there once with my mother.She was sad because her boyfriend left.And I was sad because I had a fight with my best friend.So she brought me to the end of the beach, and then she pointed to the right where the Baltic Sea is.
Jeremy: I knew that
William: Yeah, from Risk
Effy: So it's a very beautiful and very blue sea.The waves travel west.
William: Current
Effy: What?
[...]

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Soundtracks

Kom Med Mig
Written by Stine Kinck, Andreas Kellgaard, Seren Schou & Rasmus Allin
performed by Stine Kinck
Courtesy of Crunchy Tunes DK

User Reviews

15 is Age of Consent

The age of sexual consent in Denmark is 15. That's why the main female character kept mentioning her upcoming birthday. I had been wondering like other reviewers, why they would make the character 14, thereby adding a sort of pedophile angle to an otherwise interesting film.

Why not just have her be 17? But they had to make her 14,because at 15 the whole underage conflict would no longer exist as a legal question. Although it still would as a moral issue. Enough on that.

I don't know why they chose English actors to play Americans, but this male lead was totally natural and believable. I consider him the star of this movie. The other reviewers are "gaga" over the girl.

But remember that we are viewing her as non-Danish people. We are sucked in by her accent and the scenery. But if we were Danish ourselves, we might just think she is an appealing young thing, without being in awe of her.

Having said that, of course she did a nice job of portraying a precocious girl from a broken home with just the right amount of worldly wisdom and sincere innocence.

Other reviewers have skillfully pinpointed the fact that these guys were emotionally immature while the underage girl is emotionally advanced. Because of that, it makes perfect sense why they would be drawn to her.

The movie highlights a certain prolonged adolescence prevalent in many Western men. It takes some a long time to grow up.

Essentially the movie features a substantial character arc. A selfish, boorish guy learns what it means to truly care about another person, both in terms of his father and his new female friend.

I really wanted to know what he did for a living back home. I didn't need a long description of it, but it would give some much-needed context. I also needed to know about his mom. This background information could have been satisfied in a few brief remarks or one conversation.

Copenhagen looks nice. I don't know enough about Cinematography to judge it here, but there were definitely some nicely framed shots of water and colorful homes.

The music was a key factor for me. There is a scene where our male lead is walking on a beach or something, and there is a dramatic electronic beat steadily gaining volume and steam. I loved that.

Check it out. It's worth watching, despite the creepiness of the age-related sexual tension.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Canada USA Denmark

Language:

English Danish

Release Date:

3 October 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

In Copenhagen

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fidelio, Heretic Films, Scorched Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1