Denmark's Ole Bornedal is on a bit of a hot streak. Best known on these shores for his taut thriller Nightwatch - and it's inferior English remake with Ewan MacGregor - Bornedal turned out two of Denmark's strongest films last year, the youth oriented scifi picture Vikaren and the very impressive neo-noir Just Another Love Story So I'm more than a little curious to see what he does next and if it lives up to billing it should be exceptional. Titled Fri os fra det onde - no English title just yet - it's very timely look at xenophobia in a country still dealing with the after effects of those political cartoons not so long back. Here's the synopsis from the DFI:
Frederik, his wife Pernille and their two children move to Frederik's hometown to fulfill their dream of a peaceful, idyllic life in the country. When Frederik's drunken brother Lars accidently runs over the vicar's wife and plants false evidence pointing at the town's only emigrant, Alain, the family's dream suddenly becomes a living nightmare of fanatism, fear and xenophobia.
Fri os fra det onde means something like "Deliver us from evil"
i had absolutely no idea the Ewan McGregor Nightwatch was a remake! wow!
this. means. must. get. original. on. dvd.
I liked the remake but the omission of a key scene kind of ruins the whole story. I'm guessing they cut the scene because it involves love making and a morgue. But because they took it out the ending doesn't make any sense.
Visitor,
good.luck.trying.to.find.a.version.with.english.subs.
But do try! The original is a stunningly good film, and I've been "on the hunt" for quite some time myself. Meaning if you find a version, please alert me...
The old Anchor Bay disc had english subs, and is OOP. Here's one on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Nightwatch-2001-DVD_W0QQitemZ300198601672QQihZ020QQcategoryZ617QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I own it myself, and was just thinking of unloading it for some much needed cash, but I think I'll give it another spin. I, too, enjoyed the remake. McGregor's forced American accent wasn't all that great, but I liked the production design alot more and Josh Brolin was way more engaging than the Danish actor that played the role in the original, who I found rather annoying. Too bad all we have here in the States is a shitty non-anamorphic dvd from Miramax.