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The Films of Lone Scherfig

Kaj's fødselsdag

Når mor kommer hjem...

Italian for Beginners

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

Just Like Home

An Education

Click here for review.

One Day (August 17/11)

The most entertaining and engrossing romantic film to hit theaters in ages, One Day details the comings and goings of platonic friends Emma Morley (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess) over a period of about two decades - with the movie catching up with the pair on the same day once a year. It's a decidedly unusual premise that's employed to consistently enthralling effect by filmmaker Lone Scherfig, as the director, working from David Nicholls' script, deftly transforms Emma and Dexter into likable, engaging figures right from the get-go - which, in effect, does force the viewer to immediately sympathize with and root for the would-be couple's ongoing exploits. The palpable chemistry between Hathaway and Sturgess undoubtedly plays a pivotal role in the movie's success, and there's little doubt that the episodic nature of the narrative, which admittedly does take some getting used to, ultimately proves instrumental in cultivating a remarkably complete picture of the ups and downs in the protagonists' lives. By the time the unabashedly tear-jerking finale rolls around, One Day has certainly established itself as an uncommonly captivating, thoroughly moving romance that stands among the best that the genre has to offer.

out of

The Riot Club

Click here for review.

Their Finest (April 22/17)

Based on a novel by Lissa Evans, Their Finest follows several WWII-era filmmakers as they attempt produce a morale-booasting propaganda picture - with their efforts consistently (and predictably) confounded by a series of frustrating complications. It's immediately clear that filmmaker Lone Scherfig, along with scripter Gaby Chiappe, isn't looking to cultivate an atmosphere of subtlety here, as Their Finest, from its opening minutes, has been suffused with an overly polished feel that's been geared towards the lowest common denominator - with Scherfig's increasingly desperate efforts at cultivating a feel-good vibe growing more and more unpleasant (and distracting) as time progresses. There's little doubt, too, that the movie's wholly uninvolving nature is compounded by a series of bland lead performances, with, especially, Gemma Arterton and Sam Claflin unable to infuse their respectively one-dimensional characters with anything even resembling energy or charisma. (It's a situation that's compounded by a third-act emphasis on the pair's almost hilariously lifeless romance.) And while some of the behind-the-scenes stuff on the film shoot is admittedly interesting, Their Finest's total lack of momentum results in a narrative that lurches from one dull, padded-out set-piece to the next - which ensures that Scherfig's eventual efforts at transforming the movie into a full-fledged tearjerker fall hopelessly flat. It's ultimately difficult to envision a less effective treatment of somewhat promising material, with Scherfig's slick, by-the-numbers approach inevitably rendering the movie's few positive attributes utterly moot (eg a typically charismatic performance by Bill Nighy).

out of

© David Nusair