Change Your Image
themainmoon
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Copenhagen (2014)
Normalising a creepy and inappropriate relationship
Frederikke Dahl Hansen gives any excellent performance as Effy and the story of an American man seeking closure on his complicated family history in Europe interesting. But there's no getting away from the fact that this film normalises and attempts to make us sympathise with a 28 year old man allowing an intimate relationship to develop with a 14 year old girl after he knows her age. This is creepy and revolting in the context of a film where he is portrayed so uncritically. The moments of his uncertainty are presented as if we all might understand his dilemma. I disagree wholeheartedly with other reviewers who say that the film being uncomfortable was some sort of clever device to make us reflect on this issue. It very much presents this issue as if the fact that Effy is mature and doesn't obviously look 14 excuses the behaviour of this 28 year old man. It is reminiscent of Woody Allen films with an older man creeping on much younger women. There is no novel or modern context to make this film any different from them.
Paint Dry (2017)
Needs a re-edit
It's an impressive achievement for the main guy's first film considering how much of it he did himself (which I noticed from the credits) but think getting in an editor could make all the difference - I think there's probably a fun film somewhere in here but I found the way it was put together so odd that it was uncomfortable to watch. There are some amusing / interesting moments in the dialogue and some of the participants (comedians) definitely could have raised a proper laugh if it wasn't so awkwardly edited. I'd like to have seen much more of beardy guy! He was actually funny and had charisma, which is what I guess the film was aiming for.