Last film - Festen

Truly brilliant Danish film today - Festen (1998), made following dogme rules. It didn't feel restricted as a film even though it had to follow certain rules of filming - perhaps because the story was so cleverly told, the filming was so strong and you didn't see certain key twists coming.

I also liked the Hitchcock references as in the bathroom scene and when one of the actors mentioned what Hitchcock has written on his gravestone - though research shows he was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean. Can you believe that Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar !

The Nazi and racist undertones in Danish society were laid bare in the most difficult sequences as were the horrors of paedophilia within a family. So death, racism, violence and paedophilia at 10 am on a wednesday morning sets you up nicely for the rest of the day.























Good also to recognise the Danish actor above who almost 10 years later was starring in an amazing Danish police procedural series called The Killing (2007)- now showing over 20 episodes on BBC4 and covering one murder investigation in Copenhagen - catch the first 8 episodes now on iplayer !


Then had a mind bending tour around 10 london galleries - highlights being the Larry Clark works at the Simon Lee gallery in Berkeley Street (now have to watch his film, Kids(1995)) and the Robert Mapplethorpe inspired mixed show, curated by the Scissor Sisters, at the Alison Jacques gallery in Berners Street.

Time for a lie down ...