This is not the most disturbing film I've ever seen but it ranks right up there, both for the subject matter and the filming style of the cinematographer. I think the point of the jarring jumps and distorted filming angles lends credence to the emotional story of a dysfunctional family coming to terms with events in the past that threaten to bring it down disgracefully. What surprised me was how none of the extended family seemed to be upset by the purported abuse revealed by Christian (Ulrich Thomsen) at his father's sixtieth birthday celebration. You would think some of them would be repulsed, if not by the revelations, then by the sheer insanity of the immediate family in dealing with each other. I mean really, how do you recover from Christian's opening remarks to the gathered guests - "Here's to the man who killed my sister..., a murderer." Talk about being a party pooper.
A couple of curiosities in the story. First, Christian's request to his father to select the green or the yellow note. Since it seemed Christian was resolved to deliver the shocking news in any event, my own reaction is that he would have given the same speech either way. Then there was the mysterious posture of the head kitchen chef Kim (Bjarne Henriksen). I felt he was in league with Christian to some extent, but nothing he personally did in the story really bore that out, unless you want to consider his involvement in hiding everyone's keys so they couldn't beat a hasty retreat. To a certain degree, I also thought the waitress staff knew about the Klingenfeldt dirty laundry, and wouldn't be too upset if the truth came out.
Aside from the father Helge (Henning Moritzen), the most despicable character here was Christian's brother Michael (Thomas Bo Larsen), who seemed to treat anyone in his orbit with equal disdain and contempt. His forced relations with wife Mette (Helle Dolleris) bordered on violent rape, and in that regard, I had to consider that even if he had been away at college during his father's abusive period with Christian and sister Linda, the suicide victim, his aggression appeared to mask his own abusive past by a father who didn't give much of a damn. It's no wonder that sister Helene (Paprika Steen) gave voice to all of those fears and resentments by stating at one point - "They've always been ghosts in this house."
A couple of curiosities in the story. First, Christian's request to his father to select the green or the yellow note. Since it seemed Christian was resolved to deliver the shocking news in any event, my own reaction is that he would have given the same speech either way. Then there was the mysterious posture of the head kitchen chef Kim (Bjarne Henriksen). I felt he was in league with Christian to some extent, but nothing he personally did in the story really bore that out, unless you want to consider his involvement in hiding everyone's keys so they couldn't beat a hasty retreat. To a certain degree, I also thought the waitress staff knew about the Klingenfeldt dirty laundry, and wouldn't be too upset if the truth came out.
Aside from the father Helge (Henning Moritzen), the most despicable character here was Christian's brother Michael (Thomas Bo Larsen), who seemed to treat anyone in his orbit with equal disdain and contempt. His forced relations with wife Mette (Helle Dolleris) bordered on violent rape, and in that regard, I had to consider that even if he had been away at college during his father's abusive period with Christian and sister Linda, the suicide victim, his aggression appeared to mask his own abusive past by a father who didn't give much of a damn. It's no wonder that sister Helene (Paprika Steen) gave voice to all of those fears and resentments by stating at one point - "They've always been ghosts in this house."