Reviews and Comments:
IDIOTERNE/THE IDIOTS I was recently able to get ahold of this on video. I know they have shown this movie late nights on various movie stations but I don't have those movie packages. I have different movie packages and none of them play this one. When this movie was first released here in the States I ran all over town to get a copy not just because Anders was in it but because I've grown to have an odd appreciation for the works of Lars Von Trier who wrote and directed this film, number two in the Dogma series. However, no one would carry it because it was too controversial and had quote, "very explicit" sexual situations in it. This angered me a bit. I'm an adult. So, it's okay in this country to see movies in which people are killed and murdered in the most graphic and gory means possible often on prime time when children are watching but I, as an adult, cannot purchase a movie that has "very explicit sexual situations"? Somethings rotten, and not in the state of Denmark.
Okay, all soapboxing aside. After viewing this movie I can see why American audiences may have had a problem with some of the content. Politically correct it is not. The nudity is more than the usual Hollywood production, the censors won out by forcing the movie to add black boxes when male nudity was shown even on the video which to me almost made it seem worse than it would have been had they shown it but hey, I'm a liberal and even worse for this day and age? I'm happy to be that way. Anyway, I can rather see where some people would find it objectionable. I liked it a lot. I thought it was a fairly humourous, yet thought provoking work. The explicit scenes didn't bother me at all but as I said, I can see where some would find them objectionable. If you have a problem with stuff like that, it may not be a movie you would want to watch.
The movie focuses on a group of normal people that gather together in a sort of communal group and experiment with what it would be like to be mentally challenged both in private and in public. During the movie there are shots of each of them being interviewed after their experience telling what they thought of it and what they did. I don't think it is ever made clear why they were being interviewed.
Anders' part in this movie is a small one but large enough to not be considered a cameo. I'd say he's in the film for about ten minutes. He plays the character of Josephine's father (I think he said his name was Jeppe.I was trying to watch it without subtitles but had to resort to them once in a while). He comes along and chastises Josephine for being irresponsible and takes her away. It was actually a very good scene. Sitting in my apartment watching it I could still feel the tension and embarrassment that a young person would feel if his or her parent forced his way into their peer group and started chastising him or her. You know, that, "Oh my I'm really going to die of humiliation" feeling you get when you have been caught at something by your parents and you are stuck between playing cool with your friends and playing child with your parents? Yeh, that icky feeling.
Overall, I would say this film is definitely well made. Very well acted and written. If one doesn't have a problem with the concept or the sexually explicit scenes it is definitely worth seeing. Personally, I had no problem with it but since I am giving a review others may see, I will say I can see where there might be some questionable scenes.
My friends, Heidi and Pernille live in Denmark and were lucky enough to see Anders Hove in a stage play that he most recently did. Not only that, Heidi was kind enough to write and submit a review of the play which I am ever so grateful for. THANKS!!!!!!!!
LYDEN AF SKYER (THE SOUND OF CLOUDS):
The sound of clouds (Lyden af skyer)
A play by Juliane Preisler
In Danish theatres, Fall 2002
The sound of clouds is basically a play about great love that has turned grey and dusty. The main characters, the Man (Anders Hove) and the Woman (Bodil Jørgensen), live together in a painful and never-ending longing after the way they were 15 years ago, where magic and passion flourished. They still hold feelings for each other but they have not succeeded in transforming the original passion into more mature, calm and solid love.
At the same time another younger couple try to break through the emotional wall that nevertheless surrounds the Man and the Woman like a fortress. Their relationship in contrast is ordinary, down to earth and rather empty and like vampires they try to feed upon the love of the other couple. That they cannot, but through their intervention they do manage to break down the illusion that keep the elder couple together with fatal consequences.
So while the Woman in desperation tries to fulfil an intercourse with the younger man, the Man despairs more and more, painfully realizing that his relationship is but a shadow, a hollow echo of the past. And fulfilling the circle he finally kills the Woman in the same spot where their love once culminated. It is a sad play and one that seems to want to question the whole idea of that One Big Love: Such a thing cannot be captured and kept and the tragedy seems to be that the Man and the Woman do not acknowledge this fact.
On a whole I liked the play and found that it was melancholic in a sweet and mellow way. The actors did their best with the parts; and especially Anders did a wonderful job as the hurt, confused and disillusioned Man, whereas Bodil Jørgensen seemed a bit to shrill for my taste as the Woman. But the play never really got to me even though I found the thematic a relevant and interesting one.
I have had difficulties identifying why I did not believe in the premises, the characters and their interactions and the only answer that occurred to me was that it all was just a little too much of an assertion, too much of a construct and therefore artificial.
Even though I sympathized with the four lost human beings presented on stage I did not feel anything which undoubtedly has to do with the text: Like the clouds in the title and the love postulated in the play, it seemed to me that the lyric text itself was too fluffy, passing and unsubstantial to ever leave a lasting impression.
Heidi Bjørn Pedersen, December 2002
RIGET II/KINGDOM II-- I was able to watch/tape this one last night on IFC. It's a sort of Danish Miniseries. I'm not sure how to describe it to a person that isn't as twisted as I am. I found parts of it very funny. IFC described it as a Danish "General Hospital" on psychotropics (hallucinogen's) and I'm not sure they were too far off with that description. It's five hours long; Anders has a cameo and he isn't really all too visible because of the green haze effect they used for the scene. I really feel I need to describe the movie and I'm not sure that is easily done. Obviously, it revolves around a hospital and continues a saga done in the original "Riget/Kingdom" which can be found in most majour video stores in the foreign films section. Hollywood and Blockbuster both have it.
IMDB counts it as genre: Horror, Mystery, Drama, Comedy; so you know you have quite a mix. I think if you liked, "Twin Peaks," you might not think this one is so bad. Again, I thought it was quite funny in many parts, yet, my reaction every once in a while was, "This movie is on drugs," or "This movie is f---ed up,".
Onto Anders' role as the Celebranten. I wasn't exactly sure what a Celebranten was and mistakenly thought it was some kind of priest. I guess it wasn't so much a mistake; it is a priest in a sort of sense, just not a one that most of us would go for comfort. There is a scene with a group of Satan Worshippers. As at this point I was trying to write some notes on something I wasn't sure whether they really existed or whether it was the figment of some lady's imagination or whether it was that the lady could see it after her accident. I'd have to watch it again to find out. Anders plays the leader or priest of the Satanists in this show conducting some sort of ritual. Quite an interesting show altogether.
And Now for Something Completely Different: One of Anders' Danish fans was good enough to send in a review of a play he recently was in last autumn, "Postbudet Fra Arles". From H. Pedersen in Aarhus, Denmark:
The postman from Arles
A play by Ernst Bruun Olsen
In this play, taking place in 1888, the postman Roulin is the mouthpiece telling the unhappy story of Vincent van Gogh, hence the title. The kind and down-to-earth Roulin is the only person in the French village of Arles who understands and accepts the strange impressionistic painter and soon the two of them become close friends. But one evening the mentally weak van Gogh cracks and cuts of a part of his ear which leaves the people of the village alarmed and determined to commit van Gogh to a mental hospital. Roulin constantly tries to fight for his friend´s freedom and underrated talent but it is in vain. van Gogh is committed and only after his death are his paintings acknowledged as masterpieces.
Basically The postman from Arles is a moving and entertaining story about the strong friendship between two very different men: van Gogh and Roulin. But it is also a tale which tells what it is like to be a sensitive, fragile and artistic person surrounded by an ignorant and intolerant society. What we don´t understand we try to destroy or vanquish, seems to be the morale. And in this sense the play, though written in 1974, still has relevance as this remains to be the sad truth in far too many cases.
Vincent van Gogh is played with great intensity by Lars Mikkelsen, Søren Spanning makes a lovable Roulin and Anders Hove does well in a minor part as the hot-headed and stolid town butcher. The Postman from Arles was played at Danish Theatres during the autumn 2001.
HBP 23/1 2002
Anders Appearances in TV and Film:
MIFUNE--One of Anders appearances in a Danish-made Dogme film. This film won academy awards and although Anders plays a fairly secondary character he is in the film more than five minutes. ;) Anders plays Gerner, a rather sleazy rival from Kresten's (main character) past.
TO MAND I EN SOFA--This is another of Anders Danish-made films and one where he is (alack and alas) the main character. TO MAND is about a skirt-chasing man named Pierre (Anders) and his attempt at understanding his somewhat oddball friends and ultimately finding deeper meaning in his shallow world.
CRITTERS 4--Anders plays Captain Rick Butram on a ship that is invaded by killer furballs. A must see... ;)
SUBSPECIES--The first of a trilogy by Full Moon Entertainment. Anders plays Radu, the evil vampire, who battles his brother for the coveted bloodstone. I had my doubts at first but became desperately hooked!.
BLOODSTONE(Subspecies 2)--Anders returns as Radu (who, like Faison, was supposed to have been dead...). And what a performance he gives!!!
BLOODLUST(Subspecies 3)--Anders returns from the dead, yet *AGAIN*, to wrap up the series (note--he dies at the end of this one, too. Do we smell a part 4??? I certainly hope so, since I wrote one! Are you reading, Charlie Band???). I like this one much better than part 2. There is a lot of humor added to it, in the form of cops, CIA agents, and other vampire killers, and of course Anders is always fun to watch...
BLOODSTORM (Subspecies 4)--Anders returns from the dead, yet *AGAIN*... isn't that always how it goes? This one takes a slightly new direction, involving more characters, offing some old favorites (and not-so-favorites). A must see, especially if you want to prepare for the next segment!
SILENCER--This is a really awful movie. Anders appears for about five minutes in the last half hour of the film, and is absolutely hysterical as a director who is in the middle of a funeral scene. Some girl comes in and kills his main actor, and he doesn't realize it's not part of the scene...
TALES FROM THE CRYPT--Anders appears as a director again (a new calling??? ;) in the episode in which Kathy Ireland makes an appearance.
