Saturday, December 15, 2012

Den skaldede frisør / Love Is All You Need

DK © 2012 [seven companies]. PC: Zentropa Entertainments29 Aps. In co-production with: Lumiere & Co., Slotmachine, Zentropa International France, Film I Väst, Zentropa Entertainments Berlin, Zentropa International Sweden, DR, Sveriges Television, Arte France Cinéma, Network Movie, ZDF, Arte and Longride with support from The Danish Film Institute, 60/40, The Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Nordic Film & TV Fund, Canal+, Cine+. P: Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Vibeke Windeløv. D: Susanne Bier. SC: Anders Thomas Jensen - story: Susanne Bier, Anders Thomas Jensen. DP: Morten Søborg - filmed on ARRI Alexa - Codex - 2,35:1. Digital colorist: Peter Hjorth. PD: Peter Grant. Cost: Signe Sejlund. Make-up: Daniel Parker. VFX supervisor: Lars Werner Nielsen Lalo. M: Johan Söderqvist. Theme song: "That's Amore" by Dean Martin and others. S: Eddie Simonsen, Anne Jensen. ED: Pernille Bech Christensen, Morten Egholm. C: Pierce Brosnan (Philip), Trine Dyrholm (Ida), Molly Blixt Egelind (Astrid), Sebastian Jessen (Patrick), Paprika Steen (Benedikte), Kim Bodnia (Leif), Christiane Schaumburg-Müller (Tilde), Micky Skeel Hansen (Kenneth). Loc: Sorrento (Naples, Campania), Sant'Angelo (Salerno, Campania), Herlev (Copenhagen). Original in Danish and English. 112 min. Released by Atlantic Film with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Maria Wiren-Malo. 2K DCP viewed at Kinopalatsi 9, Helsinki, 15 Dec 2012.

The official presentation: "Love Is All You Need is a warm, funny, life-affirming meditation on the birth pangs of starting a new life. Set at a wedding in the fantastically beautiful surroundings of Sorrento, Italy, Love Is All You Need stars Golden Globe nominee Pierce Brosnan as Philip, father of the groom, and Trine Dyrholm as Ida, mother of the bride. As the union of their respective children bumpily approaches, the clashes, collisions and pratfalls among the wedding guests force Philip and Ida to reconsider the true significance of family, love and happiness."

"The Academy Award and Golden Globe winning team of director Susanne Bier and writer Anders Thomas Jensen has delivered yet another triumph with a masterly blend of humour, sensitivity and sincerity. Love Is All You Need is the fifth entry in their unfailingly successful collaboration, following ‘Open Hearts’ (Elsker dig forevigt - 2002), ‘Brothers’ (Brødre -2004), Academy Award nominee ‘After the Wedding’ (Efter brylluppet - 2007) and the Academy Award and Golden Globe® winning ‘In A Better World’ (2010). Love Is All You Need marks Bier and Jensen’s return to their respective roots in the comedic tradition, but with the tempered and profound approach that has become the trademark of these two masters of the emotional drama."

A feelgood entertainment movie in the tradition of Avanti!, Under the Tuscan Sun, Mamma Mia! and so on, with explicit tributes to the models and predecessors. Robert Altman's A Wedding may also belong to the models.

The new twist in this life-affirming entertainment film is the fact that the female protagonist Ida (Trine Dyrholm) is battling against a malignant cancer. In the beginning she is bald (the Danish title means: The Bald Hairdresser) and she has lost one of her breasts.  But life goes on and in Italy there is the wedding of her daughter. The father of the groom is Philip (Pierce Brosnan) who is also rethinking his life.

Love Is All You Need is yet another example of the cinema's obsession with the cancelled wedding. The wedding is cancelled at the last moment because it turns out that the groom is gay. (Like in A Wedding.)

It does not bother me that much of the material is recycled. But I'm not totally confident that the film-makers themselves find the story irresistible.

The Sorrento landscapes would offer rich possibilities for enchanting cinematography. There is, however, a low definition video approach in the visual quality. Surprisingly, even in close-ups the definition is low. The nature looks unnatural, the eyes are too electric blue, and the sweetening button has been used too much in the digital colour manipulation.

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