re:mote voices

Title:Dark Horse [Voksne Mennesker]
Cast: Jakob Cedergren, Nicolas Bro, Tilly Scott Pedersen
Director:Dagur Kári

Daniel is something of a slacker. The film opens with him being interviewed for not having paid enough taxes, which seems to be down to the fact that he just hasn’t earned anything, least not legally. Leaving there he is pulled over by the police, but is so intent on listening to the end of the track on his headphones, that they are forced to block his car, and drag him out of it - the track just finishes before they slap the handcuffs on him, and he pulls the headphones of him and asks them what the problem is.

Most of Daniel’s time is spent hanging out with his friend Grampa, and taking money to spray paint romantic graffiti for men who want to impress women. Grampa dreams of being a football referee, and wears his uniform all the time. He is in love with the girl in the bakery, but is freaked out one day when she acts weird. This is how Daniel meets Franc, and of course when Daniel and Franc get together Grampa is less than pleased. But life is good for Daniel, until things get too complicated with Franc, and he is thrown out of his crappy little flat for not paying his rent.

Dark Horse is a black and white film from Denmark, by the Icelandic director Dagur Kári. It is quite a change from the Icelandic film Noi The Albino, which did the world cinema circuit. The Icelandic director actually studied at a film school in Denmark, and of course Denmark and Iceland have strong links, so the shift from one to the other is not a big surprise. The film is episodic, each segment presented with a chapter heading that defines the incidents which will happen here. The film is funny, the attitudes of the characters to life gets them into strange situations, and Kári adds little elements of surrealism that make you wonder what is going on. A film that I thoroughly enjoyed.