The Films of Anders Thomas Jensen
Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen is a prolific and successful screenwriter, fluent in all genres. In the five features he has directed himself, however, Jensen’s characters are haunted by one overriding obsession; the need for love and acceptance within the family structure. If his male characters do not receive it from their biological family (“The Green Butchers” and “Men and Chicken”), they create their own (“Flickering Lights” and “Adam’s Apples”). His most recent and mature film, “Riders of Justice”, expands his onscreen domestic universe to include a fraught father-daughter relationship.
In “Men and Chicken” (2015), adult brothers Gabriel (David Dencik) and Elias (Mads Mikkelsen) are thrown into a state of confusion upon learning they were adopted and do not share the same mother. They travel to a remote island in search of their biological father and three half-brothers. Franz (Soren Malling), Gregor (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), and Josef (Nicolas Bro) live in isolation, suffer from poor impulse control, and give their newly discovered brothers a violent welcome. Eventually, Gabriel and Elias are allowed to live with their brothers and in the process, unearth the truth regarding their genealogy.
Franz, Gregor, and Josef speak with a strangely formal voice, explained by the fact that their scientist father restricted their reading to academic tomes. When Elias tries to rout Josef out of the bathroom, he gets this reply: “Your obstinacy complicates the situation and our new friendship.” In addition, their emotional IQ is distinctly at odds with their use of language. The brothers settle any dispute by resorting to force, often in the form of a stuffed animal used to beat someone unconscious.
Animals, dead or alive, are ever-present in this film. The abandoned sanitarium where the brothers reside is overflowing with chickens, rabbits, turkeys, sheep, and a massive bull named Isak. The role animals played in the scientific experiments of their father (his name, Evelio Thanatos, an example of nominative determinism) is gradually revealed and allows writer/director Jensen to explore the question of what it means to be human.
Jensen says he still receives complaints about “Men & Chicken” due to its bawdy nature. I’ve read vitriol from viewers who could not get past the first fifteen minutes. The patient viewer is rewarded, however, with plausible explanations for the characters’ eccentricities. The sexual obsession of Elias, for instance, is revealed to be biological in origin and beyond his control. As in all of Jensen’s films, the irreverent set-up leads to an emotionally devastating moment. For me, that moment occurs when Elias voluntarily imprisons himself in a cage and states, “This is where I belong.”
Mikkelsen’s character Markus in “Riders of Justice” (2020) is psychologically imprisoned as well, unable to process his grief after his wife dies in a train accident. His daughter Mathilde (Andrea Heick Gadeberg) desperately needs comfort but is rebuffed by the stoic Markus. “When people die, they’re gone for good. You might as well learn that now,” is the pragmatic advice Markus delivers. As a soldier in the Danish army, Markus has learned to conceal his emotions when confronted with brutality and death.
The rage simmering beneath the surface is ignited when Marcus is told his wife’s death was intentional. He embarks on a campaign of vengeance against the biker gang he believes is responsible. Mathilde, meanwhile, seeks psychological help from the three misfits who are supplying Markus with info to carry out his vendetta.
The violence in “Riders of Justice” is presented realistically, the tone darker than “Men & Chicken”. The vagaries of chance and coincidence bedevil the characters until it is revealed that the train explosion was, indeed, an accident. Markus, in an impotent frenzy, destroys a bathroom and ends up lying on the floor in physical and psychological agony.
While “Men & Chicken” ends with the family relationships in a state of contentment, “Riders of Justice” is more ambiguous. Markus and Mathilde are not seated next to each other at the family Christmas celebration. Mathilde gives her father an uneasy smile which Markus is barely able to return. The impression is that the father-daughter relationship still requires work to repair.
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