Review: Dansen (2008)

[Steve Rhodes]

DANCERS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

A touching tale, Pernille Fischer Christensen's DANCERS (DANSEN) is like a 
lovingly executed short story, although I have no idea what the inspiration 
for the narrative was.  DANCERS follows Annika (Trine Dyrholm) and Lasse 
(Anders W. Berthelsen), two most unlikely lovers who are probably in their 
late thirties.  Both actors give completely genuine performances, sure to 
touch your hearts in subtle ways.

Complete opposites, Annika and Lasse get together after she refuses to leave 
him alone.  Annika is a gregarious dance teacher whose face is in an almost 
continuous smile.  She teaches everyone from little girls, who like nothing 
better than following her like a train with her as the engine, to adults, 
who are deadly serious, lest they not learn every dance step properly.

Annika, who works in her mother's dance studio, which was started in 1944 by 
her grandfather, does everything from teaching pupils to cleaning the 
bathrooms.  When the power goes out, Annika has to call an electrician, 
which is how she meets Lasse, a taciturn electrician who almost refuses to 
make eye contact with her or anyone for that matter.  As he stares at the 
floors and the walls one day, she finally gets him to explain the mystery 
behind his reluctance to make human contact.

It seems that Lasse just got out of spending a little over a year in prison. 
His offense -- he says, as he quickly exits -- was fraud.  Later he amends 
his statement, claiming that he was in for rape, which he doesn't remember 
since he and the woman in question were both very drunk.

The rest of the story has Annika falling more and more for Lasse, while she 
tries her best to uncover the full truth behind his imprisonment.  The 
script is particularly smart in the way that it doesn't feel the need to 
fall back on the cliché of some huge, off-the-wall surprise or big tragic 
ending to close off the story.  There are twists, but they remain firmly in 
the realm of believability.

DANCERS runs 1:30.  The film is in Danish with English subtitles.

The film is being shown as part of San Jose's Cinequest Film Festival 
(www.Cinequest.org), which runs February 25 to March 8, 2009.

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