I went to see the new Danish movie “Rene Hjerter” Sunday, and it’s extremely rare that I go see Danish movies, I think that the new Danish movies are rather overrated, but this time two factors came into play.
First it stars Anders “Anden” Matthesen, second it’s partly set in a closed wing of a, clinical, psychiatric ward.
“Anden” is the Danish answer to Jim Carrey – this man can do basically whatever in creative arts he want’s to do, and do BETTER than get a way with it, and “Rene Hjerter” is no exception.
As an actor “Anden” does a pretty good job, and you can’t really recognise anything from any of his previous aliases, his character Kriss seems to have been invented for this. He also looks very different, and he seems to be credible cast as a clinical psychology patient.
I was a bit disappointed about the the scenes that were set in the psychiatric ward, what no smokers? Then again I’ve never seen the inside of a clinical ward, so what do I know. The passive TV looking is right on, as are the doctors and the nurses, and the old man that knows details about movies and other nerdy subjects.
The format of the movie is quite fresh, the title comes from an old black and white movie from the 30ies staring a female actor that the main character Kriss is obsessing on. There are constantly parallels drawn between the reality that Kriss is living in and the fictive world of the movie, so that the things that happen in the real world fits into the fictive. This is very credible, being in a closed psychiatric ward can make you feel like you’re in a a twilight zone.
All in all it’s a good movie, but I think I’d prefer to see the full black and white movie “Rene Hjerter” instead…