Reconstruction (2003)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Christoffer Boe

Writers:

Christoffer Boe (writer)
Mogens Rukov (writer)

Release Date:

26 September 2003 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A young man who thought himself already in love with a nice girl is drawn into a literary drama when he is captured by a deep and stimulating love affair.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Love Affair | Writer | Author | Hotel

Awards:

10 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Klaus Mulbjerg	...	Tryllekunstner
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Alex David
Maria Bonnevie	...	Simone / Aimee
Krister Henriksson	...	August Holm
Nicolas Bro	...	Leo Sand
Peter Steen	...	Mel David
Ida Dwinger	...	Monica
Malene Schwartz	...	Fru Banum (Mrs. Banum)
Helle Fagralid	...	Nan Sand
Mercedes Claro Schelin	...	Mercedes Sand
Jens Blegaa	...	Waiter
Isabella Miehe-Renard	...	Journalist
Katrin Muth	...	Bartender
David Dencik	...	Bartender

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and brief strong language.

Runtime:

France:91 min (Cannes Film Festival) | Germany:89 min (Filmfest Hamburg) | Argentina:91 min | USA:90 min

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Hungary:14 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Chile:TE | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, Amager, Denmark

Company:

Director's Cut

Quotes:

Alex David: Do you want to go to Rome?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Året der gik 2003 (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Night & Day

Exquisite film-making in Copenhagen love drama

"Reconstruction" is overt about its style from the first minute when a deep-voiced narrator cautiously introduces the audience to the story and the narrative form. From then on, and until the narrator returns at the very end, we are cast into a complex and difficult drama set in a big city environment filmed in stunning craft and style. Copenhagen has rarely been seen as interesting, and in an odd sense charming, as here.

This is not an expensive film - the Director's Cut entity behind the film was designed specifically to produce good films on even lower budgets than are the norm in Denmark - but its appearance is delightful and intriguing with its sometimes bright, sometimes dark and often grainy cinematography, additional effects of occasional written identifications of characters and locations, and classic-style title design.

The story sees a young man captured by the meeting with a woman different than, but resembling his usual girlfriend, and struck by existential doubt when he finds himself a stranger to those he thought he knew. The plot is impossible to grasp completely, at least at first sight, but sufficiently immediate for the beholder to like it and be taken in by it. To me, the lack of answers is a bit over the top and causes me to cut my IMDb rating for the film to 8, but with the strong support for David Lynch films and other similar works in recent years I am probably in the minority on that point.

Danish Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Swedish-Norwegian Maria Bonnevie are both extraordinary, Kaas in the antagonist role of Alex and Bonnevie in a rare double part as the different, but similar Aimee and Simone. A repeated scene in a bar in which Aimee and Alex meet is a particularly fine example of the precise and strong performances. The fine Danish actors Nicolas Bro and Malene Schwartz are the most noteworthy of the additional cast.

Ambition is Christoffer Boe's middle name, but he lives up to any and all expectations Danish experts may have had to him since he graduated from the National Danish Film School in 2001. He has already been compared to another renewer of Danish film, Lars von Trier, and while I am reluctant to compare this first-time feature director to an established international star, I do think "Reconstruction" bears a stronger sense of place through its use of locations and the plot's connection to them, a superior depiction of relationships between people, and sometimes simply a more profound joy of storytelling than in any of Trier's work.