Mifune (Mifunes sidste sang)

Released 1999
Stars Iben Hjejle, Anders W. Berthelsen, Jesper Asholt, Emil Tarding, Anders Hove, Sofie Gråbøl
Directed by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen

Mifune opens with a wedding. Kresten (Anders W. Berthelsen) is marrying Claire (Sofie Gråbøl), a domineering woman who happens to be the daughter of Kresten's boss. The two haven't been united in marital bliss for long when Kresten receives a phone call: his father has died and he has to return home to care for his brother, Rud (Jesper Asholt), and to prepare the funeral. All of this comes as a great surprise to Claire, who didn't realize that her husband had any surviving family. She offers to accompany him, but Kresten doesn't want her meeting Rud (whom he views as an embarrassment) or seeing the seedy, run-down farm where he grew up and from which he fled. When he arrives, the place is in a mess, as is his brother. Looking for someone to help clean up as well as to babysit Rud, Kresten places a newspaper ad for a housekeeper. The only one who responds is Liva (Iben Hjejle), a young, attractive blond who is running from demons of her own. She is a prostitute who is fed up with selling her body just to keep her ungrateful brother, Bjarke (Emil Tarding), in boarding school.

Summary by James Berardinelli

Other than a few contrivances, this is a good flick. My biggest complaint was when Claire burst in on Kresten, and he didn't explain the situation. Instead, he gets divorced and fired. One of my pet peeves about movies is when the characters don't explain an easily explainable misunderstanding. It's a plot device that I find annoying. Although the plot in general was contrived, the movie felt fresh. This is a Dogma 95 film, and it felt natural and real. It's definitely worth seeing for the performances and for the freedom it exudes. One side note: it was unfortunate, but this movie reminded me too much of Shower, which had a very similar story. Both were made in 1999, but one was from China and the other from Denmark. What a weird coincidence. --Bill Alward, November 28, 2001