Roger Burke
Terribly Happy - a purposely reflexive and ironic title - begins by drawing the viewer into the world of Robert (Jacob Cedergren), the young constable who has been transferred to a tiny town in a remote part of Denmark. He is guilty of ... something. "So - you snapped, eh!" remarks his superior officer. Hence Robert's transfer is implicitly a punishment of sorts....The town - situated on a bleak, boggy, barren plain - is peopled with a community who quickly show Robert he must adjust to their way of handling troublesome situations: help for a local domestic violence plight of a woman, Ingelise (Lene Christensen), in fear of her husband, Jorgen (Kim Bodnia) and who doubles as the town bully; Robert slaps a young shoplifter to the ground at the urging of the shopkeeper, instead of charging the young offender; he is forced to accept the cat left behind by the previous constable who apparently disappeared - as did the owner of the bicycle shop where Robert goes to have his flat tire repaired. Moreover, washed clothes must hung out only in a certain way.Such confusion just gets worse when the apparently beaten wife seems to want an affair with Robert. He tries to resist, but an unaccountable drive spurs him on to an illicit relationship. Add to that the little girl dressed in red who, every evening, walks her dolls in a squeaky pram up and down the main street. And while the customers at the local bar seem to regard him with reserve, even disdain, a local trio of card players urge Robert to join in to their almost perpetual card playing.Throughout all of this, Robert also attempts to solve the mystery of those who disappear into the local bogs ... or somewhere. A murder, although accidental - or was it? - occurs; and finally Robert tries to protect Jorgen, who is absolutely innocent of the crime, from community retribution.... So, what sort of a community would resort to such a litany of oddball actions? Where, exactly, is this troubling town anyway? And, why does Robert comply - so readily, it seems?The bizarrely confused nature of Robert's situation strongly implies more than simply a lone copper up against a bunch of feral farmers. Exactly what that is, I leave up to each viewer to decide. For inspiration, I'd suggest thinking of Psycho (1960), Spellbound (1945), particularly Lost Highway (1997), Bug (2006) and Shutter Island (2010), all of which center upon a character in the grip of a psychological nightmare.The acting is adequate, as is the production. Kim Bodnia is always effective in creepy roles - or any role, in fact. The structure and direction are suitable for the development of occasional suspense and muted terror. Only the ending lacks real punch, but does provide adequate resolution for me.While I'm not terribly happy about this outing, I still recommend it for those who like, as I do, Danish drama. Give it six out of ten.September 6, 2014
museumofdave
Things are seldom what they seem; when a cop has some problems on a city beat, he is put into what might seem to be a less stressful environment, a little place in the middle of nowhere with little more than some largely barren land and a little town where the big event seems to be a young girl in red who wheels her baby carriage around after hours; a local wife appears to have beaten by her husband, and seeks solace from the new cop; the locals watch warily to see what happens. And the viewer is sucked into a dark swamp of a plot which offers a few out-of-your-seat surprises and plenty of plot twists. Terribly Happy is a dark, unconventional thriller peopled with folks who have some very odd agendas, and I had a riveting good time with it
elivbg1
This movie definitely has some intrigue in the beginning; a policeman is relocated to a small village because of a serious misdemeanor. There is an intriguing story in the background as he makes it into the village- a metaphoric story, which hints at the modus operandi of the village people. There is a missing person, an intriguing woman with an abusive husband, and several other characters that each has its own peculiar secret. So far, so good.I stopped watching the movie when the weakness of the characters and bad luck took over the movie plot-line or rather- was it the plot that took over the "empty" characters? The characters started feeling/looking like puppets in the hands of their bad luck. I lost connection with the characters at this point and that left me feeling like an outsider.At this point, I did not think that the movie would be intriguing but rather thought it is just trying to make a point for which the characters are only a vehicle. The message to me was that in the end weakness transcends all other values, that the social collective reinforces each person's individual weakness. True? Unfortunately, it is perhaps a brilliantly realistic point. Inspiring for a movie? Uplifting in any way? Not really. The movie had a point and made it.
johno-21
I recently saw this at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival. from writer/director Henrik Ruben Genze based on the novel by Erling Jepsen is a dark and quirky crime story set in a small rural Danish village where everybody knows everything about everyone and they live and die by their own unique code of justice. Robert (Jakob Cedergren) is a cop from the city who has been reassigned as the town marshall because of a mental breakdown he suffered and he has to stay in the demotion until he can work his way back onto the force back in the the city. He immediately discovers the odd and unwelcome clannish ways of border town community and meets Ingerlise (Lena Maria Christiansen), the abused wife of the town bully Jorgen (Kim Bodnia). This is a psychological thriller with suspense and dark comedy woven together in a story that is almost Stephen King-like. The moody cinematography from Jorgen Johansson is excellent and the film moves at a slow pace but never drags down and keeps your interest throughout. I would give this an 8.5 out of 10 and recommend it.
