The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.
Hjulman
Martin Vinge, former notorious journalist, now successful headhunter with a complicated personal life, is in all confidentiality contacted by 85 year-old N.F. Sieger, S.E.O. of Denmark's largest shipping company and oil empire. Sieger hires Martin to find an alternative heir to the firm instead of his son, Daniel Sieger, who for a long time has been destined to take the company into the next era. Martin starts coming up with suitable names for the position, but discovers that he has actually been entangled in a larger impenetrable power game aimed at deciding what is really going to happen to the company; a brutal power struggle that puts an intense pressure on Martin and his private life and relationships.
A snapshot of the state of the Danish nation: in one of the stories, a woman enters a pole-sitting contest in a desperate bid to reinvent herself. Another is about Erik, whose wife has been lobbying a Better Homes and Gardens type magazine to do a spread on their perfect home. When the editors finally relent, she makes Erik sip his red wine in the laundry room lest he stain their cream-colored couches. Svend, the last remaining Marxist in Copenhagen, is the impassioned organizer of a political mass meeting where no one shows up. Finally, Jens, a pizza and porno connoisseur, connives his way to some booty by convincing Gry the model that he lives with his mentally challenged brother. Over the course of a week, their paths cross and nothing, and nobody, is ever quite the same again.
In his new film, an intriguing and delicately crafted drama, Malmros portrays the poignant story of a man, who grew up in very modest circumstances in the early years of the 20th century, but whose diligence, intelligence and willingness to endure hardship helped him to become a leading brain surgeon. A success story on the face of it, but a story about a man - who is none other than the director's father - a man of powerful emotions. The film explores the nature and origin of the guilt that repeatedly deprived him of happiness.
Poul
Jacob is a young man used to getting everything he wants. For several years, he has been living in a happy homosexual partnership with Jørgen, and one night Jacob decides to pop the big question to Jørgen. Jørgen happily accepts Jacobs marriage proposal, but then something happens: Jacob falls in love with a girl, and not just any girl. The girl is Caroline, married to Jørgens younger brother Tom.
Købmand
Anja is a beautiful and very well proportioned high school senior... and still a virgin. She insists that she wants her first time to be with a guy, who knows what it's about. Her rich (and arrogant, pretentious and obnoxious) boyfriend Peter serves the purpose, and he's more than willing. In fact, he's pushing forward as much as he can, but Victor, a freshman who has a serious crush on Anja, has other plans. Her first time should definitely not be with this buffoon, and he's ready to take it VERY far!
Erling
An intent fast paced Danish dark comedy film about two separately motivated brothers who with their slightly psychopathic tendencies end up in a touchy situation. One brother gets in serious trouble after a bank robbery and begs the other brother for help.
Ernst
Based on director Lotte Svendsen's own memories of her childhood on the Baltic island of Bornholm, but though it is set in 1981 the conflicts portrayed do not seem far away. At the start of the film Lars Erik and his wife Sonja are doing well on the Baltic island of Bornholm. Lars Erik is a successful fisherman, Sonja is a traditional housewife, proud of their new house bulging with consumer goods. Their love for each other is the sturdy footing on which their home is founded. Lars Erik employs three men on his trawler, and spends as fast as he earns, so when fishing quotas are cut he faces a crisis. One by one his men leave the boat, but he refuses to give up. Being a fisherman is like being a farmer - you depend on the wealth of mother nature herself. However, mother nature is like romance, highly capricious!
Toves far
Max is a programmer, Nicoline is a chef, and they are both young, in love, and ambitious. Then lightning strikes: they have a baby. From that day on, nothing is ever the same again. Max, who has just been promoted, is certain he has everything well in hand. He has just invented the LifeOrganizer interactive personal scheduler designed to make life easier. But having to endure a baby with colic, piled-up washing and missed deadlines, Max and Nicoline's bachelor lifestyle is put to the test. There are only 24 hours in a day, or are there? With many wacky smiles and lashings of gallows-humour Peter Gren Larsen depicts the stressed out situation young couples face when baby throws a spanner in your career. Max and Nicoline go through an awful lot, including a trial separation, before they accept that kids change your life.
A family is held prisoner in their own house, when a summit conference is to be held in Nærum. The terrorist group has the plan of preventing this meeting and therefor capturing a family, and their house until the conference is held. Frederik, the main character, wants to stop them and with a little help from his friends, they try.
Bagmand
This trucker road movie tells the story of four men driving 30-ton meat-carriers in shuttle service between Denmark and Italy. Against their will, the truckers get involved in criminal activities that flourish as a result of European custom service bureaucracy. Their bonding as friends and their strongly rooted family life help them through.
Heavily influenced by the French stage sensation La Cage Aux Folles (which was filmed the very same year) this trite drag-queen comedy about a group of homosexuals sharing an apartment with a naive but straight country boy did not live up to expectations. The lead characters lead boring lives during the day and, as depicted here, downright pathetic existences at night, all decked out in peacock plumes and high heels and with nowhere to go. Several of the performances -- especially Fritz Helmuth as the love-starved, aptly named Bent -- manage to reach a little beyond the stereotypes, but Bodil Kjær, of all people, delivers a simply dreadful (and one-note) parody of a once-glamorous movie star.
Eskebjerg
Efter et sanatorieophold pga. voldelig opførsel under en arrestation, bliver kriminalassistent Karl Jørgensen overført til bedrageriafdelingen. Her opdager Karl en sag, hvor hans ekskone og hendes nye mand er indblandet. Da Karl begynder at undersøge sagen, bliver han stoppet af politimesteren. Karl slår sig sammen med journalisten John Bullnes. De kommer efterhånden tættere på sandheden, men stoppes da en mistænkt begår selvmord. Karl bliver suspenderet og Bullnes sendes til Berlin på en opgave. Karl tager herefter sagen i egen hånd og anholder byens borgmester og en stor entreprenør. © Copyright 1997-2012, Lone Hansen & Per Kjær Fredborg
The last part of the trilogy about the Vesterbro Root Per, which differs from "The Flight" (1973) and "Per" (1975) by being more comedy. Per has become socially adapted, he gets married and gets permanent work. In his rise live two originals, Kasper and his blind friend Holger, who are busy revealing housing fraud in the neighborhood.
Ib Schønberg is again the kindly father - and now he is crowned "the ideal driver". This means that he can take all his four children to winter holiday in Norway.
