„Terribly Happy”
directed by Henrik Ruben Genz, running time 90’, 2008.
Terribly Happy – for years Danish cinema has served as a quality benchmark, providing further evidence of the artistic impact of contemporary European film industry. Every year at least a few remarkable films released in Denmark are distributed internationally. In 2008 Henrik Ruben Genz’s “Terribly Happy” was one of such masterpieces. This original high-octane mixture of thriller and black comedy was one of the highlights of most of the film festivals, receiving among others the Karlovy Vary Festival Grand Prix.
Policeman Robert, the film’s central character, is professionally demoted, as it were. He leaves the metropolitan crime world behind, relocating to the country, where – as he initially believes – small-town boredom rules supreme. Soon, however, it transpires the that rural life he is about to experience is secretive, clandestine and ambiguous, with many dark mysteries, unsolved cases and spooky enigmas to keep him occupied.
Genz is masterfully in tune with the cinematic convention of his own choosing. Crime motifs are subtly juxtaposed with surreal gallows humour, frequently inspired by the output of the Coen brothers and some of the films of Roberto Rodriguez, whose presence is aesthetically felt on-screen.
We highly recommend a visit to this unusual small-town community in Denmark: please drop by and check whether the residents are indeed terribly happy or just plain terrible.
19 February 2014, 7 pm
Workshops of Culture (Warsztaty Kultury), 5a Grodzka Street, Lublin
Free admission