Terribly Happy: movie review
As the first word in the title 鈥淭erribly Happy鈥� suggests, the second word is only appropriate in an ironic sense. Henrik Ruben Genz鈥檚 film is, after all, a Danish production 鈥� nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, in fact. And, if we can generalize based on the occasional Danish films that show up in the United States, those folks don鈥檛 do 鈥渉appy.鈥� Hamlet was not the only melancholy Dane: Nobody would classify Carl Theodor Dreyer and Lars von Trier as sunshine boys, either.
In Genz鈥檚 noirish movie, Copenhagen cop Robert Hansen (Jakob Cedergren) takes up an assignment as the sole officer in a small town out in the boondocks. Having just emerged from treatment for some sort of breakdown, he鈥檚 been sent into rural exile either as punishment or rehabilitation; the new posting is supposed to offer him a chance to regain his sea legs. Or, more accurately, his bog legs, since the town鈥檚 character seems inextricably bound up with its bog, which, among other things, is valued by the locals as a good place to dump bodies.
No wonder, then, that they鈥檙e distrustful of all meddling outsiders. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the way we do things here,鈥� they helpfully advise Robert at every turn. The town is downright creepy 鈥� a single dysfunctional organism that either assimilates you or crushes you. (Ominously, we are never told exactly what became of his predecessor.)
IN PICTURES: Academy Award for Best Picture nominees
Robert鈥檚 professionalism is immediately tested by Ingelise (Lene Maria Christensen), a slightly shopworn blonde, who, while reporting that her brutish husband, J酶rgen (Kim Bodnia), beats her, unmistakably puts the moves on him. When he doesn鈥檛 respond, she withdraws her complaint and leaves in a huff.
Still, in the manner of innumerable film noir heroes, Robert is soon more embroiled in the couple鈥檚 private issues than any sane person would want to be, and since his standard peacekeeping techniques seem meaningless here, he begins adopting the local behavior. Is the violence and misogyny contagious? Or does Robert already harbor an ugly, more primal self that the town is merely awakening? Plot twists and increasingly complex moral quandaries ensue.
Let me be far from the first to suggest that 鈥淭erribly Happy鈥� is most reminiscent of the Coen Brothers鈥� work, particularly 鈥淭he Man Who Wasn鈥檛 There鈥� 鈥� though 鈥�The Wicker Man,鈥� 鈥淩ed Rock West,鈥� and 鈥淯 Turn鈥� wouldn鈥檛 be far off the mark either. Cosmic irony is the dominant tone: every step Robert takes to extricate himself only sucks him in deeper. Morally, the entire town is a bog.
One can speculate about a political subtext here. Genz and Erling Jepsen (upon whose novel the film is based) both acknowledge that the setting is based on the town where they grew up together. In 2007, Denmark consolidated numerous such municipalities into fewer, larger administrative districts. It鈥檚 easy to imagine that already clannish residents would stew with resentment over their autonomy being usurped by a more centralized authority. In the film, the natives鈥� immediate reaction to a problem is always 鈥淟et鈥檚 not bother Tonder with this鈥� (referring to the provincial headquarters).
But embracing (or even considering) this bonus layer of possible meaning isn鈥檛 necessary to enjoy 鈥淭erribly Happy.鈥� Genz and Erling have constructed a story so clever that the pleasure of following its twists is enough in itself. Grade: B (Unrated.)
Peter Rainer, the Monitor鈥檚 film critic, is on vacation this week.
