Copenhagen (2014)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

hyped garbage

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Don't get me wrong, I liked this film. Interesting characters, interesting plot. When we find out that Effy is 14, it's rather shocking, but then, not shocking. She's so young in her way of dealing with William. So we see them drinking, in clubs, etc., and this girl is only 14. She also seems quite comfortable, and I use that word loosely here, getting involved with William, emotionally of course, but also physically. So what is going on with her? The introduction of Henrik in the middle of the movie pretty much cemented it for me. His "protection" of her seemed a bit intense. And then, when she goes home and he's there, the last thing she says to Henrik is "I'm telling mom." Hello?!?!? It was fairly obvious that this poor girl has been abused by this man. yes, she's looking for an older man figure in William, but she's a confused 14 year old treated badly by none other than her mother's boyfriend. LIke I said, I liked this movie. But I'm a bit chagrined that many of the other reviews were mostly enthralled by this lovely young woman-as they should be-but did not see the dark underside of it as well.

There are three protagonists in the story of Copenhagen: William, Effy and the city. There are many city specific romance films dedicated to London, Paris or New York but there is a quaint charm in bicycles and in that regard, Copenhagen-the city of bicycles, fits really well to the narrative. William is an American/Canadian tourist on an adventurous bender across Europe with his best friend Jeremy and his tag along girlfriend, whom William detests. On his to-do list is to deliver a letter from his father to its rightful owner. When left neglected by his best friend who promptly leaves William behind in Copenhagen, the letter gathers importance for him, who is otherwise content being inconsiderate and childish to everyone around him- including Effy, a teenage waitress at the hotel where William has checked in. Unable to read the contents of the letter, William asks Effy for help who commits to tracking the recipient of the letter, William's grandfather. One of the most touching moments in the film is when William learns that he is the grandson of a Nazi corroborator. His father who had abandoned him was also left abandoned by his own father. The familiarity of this desertion is genetic. Seated in a quiet room of a distant relative, there is no one except Effy, a stranger then, who gets William's predicament. Imagine William's state of mind when he finds out that Effy, who has been part of this intimate, shocking discovery and whom William seems to grow fond of, is underage. The rest of the film delves into William's own sense of discipline and morality and Effy's discovery of a childhood she never had. Effy, brilliantly played by Hansen is at moments vulnerable, effervescent, spontaneous, and more perceptive than William, who even in his late twenties seems to behave like a moody, cantankerous, entitled, teenage boy. Her 'resting bitch face' to William's off brand sexist humor is brilliant. The bicycle rides in the film open up vistas of cobbled alleyways, brightly colored apartment blocks, flirtatious and honest banter between the two, and moments of interlude in the story. The second most touching moment of the film is when William takes Effy to a club and in a rush of emotion blurts out that he loves her. Gethin Anthony does a fine job playing a man so overcome with this alien realization that he doesn't know how to mend himself better to express this. This is followed by a childish game of 'shark attack'. Effy returns the sentiments later in the film reclined in William's hotel bed. Her confession is soft, hesitant perhaps, as it's quickly followed by "you told me you loved me already". She tries to seduce William but here is when we see how much William has matured through the course of the film. It is in the same hotel room that he had previously had his one night stands, the same room where he had broken his laptop screen in a fit of rage- unable to decipher his father's letter, the same room where he once lay despondent, staring at the ceiling for clues. The film ends with William at Skagen, point of confluence of the Baltic and North Sea. The metaphor for a perfect relationship- "you look to the left and you look to the right, and both seas are there. And they can meet in the middle, but they never lose themselves in each other. They are always themselves no matter what"- Effy.

I had high hopes and expectations when I first found this film on here, that I watched on the very same day (which I never do). My expectations were so high that I was convinced this film wouldn't meet them but boy, I was wrong.The city of Copenhagen turned out to be the best setting for this romantic film. It was refreshing to see a movie filmed somewhere other than the usual filming locations and this one made me appreciate Denmark a little bit more.The directing, the casting, the cinematography and the music, all add up and lead to the most majestic experience you could ever gain by watching a film. It made me want to travel abroad and date a foreigner, learn about their culture and gave me a very feeling of wanderlust.It's true that, in the beginning, I thought Frederikke Dahl Hansen was not a great actress, but that proved to be just the way her character is supposed to act because she feels kind of guilty, kind of naive as a 14 year old. Gethin Anthony was very sexy and very romantic at the same time, in his own ex-douche bag way but both actors delivered a wonderful performance.I also liked the fact that this film features a big age gap, let alone an age gap between an adult and a teenager. Needless to say, dating an underage person is a controversial topic but this film handled it very well.10/10 though I wish I could give it more. It's a must see.

First of all, big ups to Mark Raso, a recent film-school grad, for not making his first feature about a quirky couple on a roadtrip or a guy getting over a breakup somewhere in the bowels of Brooklyn… In fact, he's taking a bit of a risk by making his protagonist a douchy American tourist, William, whose slightly grating accent goes well with his annoying snarkiness and abysmal outlook in general. Raso's on much solider ground with his female lead, Frederikke Dahl Hansen, who plays Effy, the gorgeous, precocious teenager who—after a meet-cute scene that really is pretty cute—joins William in his search for his Danish grandfather. This may sound implausible at first, since William seems like too basic a guy to have much interest in his family background—and the idea of a haunting family secret that dates back to WWII is indeed a movie cliché— but Raso makes it right by filling in a few details of the couple's personal history. William's American wingman and Effy's mother's sketchy boyfriend (plus a couple of drunken woo- woo girls from Jersey) turn up at intervals to keep things moving, but the developing relationship between the two leads gives the film some real momentum. This edgy romance between a messed-up boy-man and a precocious girl is very deftly handled, IMHO; I didn't find it the least bit cringey, as some reviewers have done. Something like "Before Sunrise," it's the story of a love affair that takes place a little outside of time, and it ends on a suitably wistful note. Dahl Hansen's expressive, unselfconscious performance—according to a disclaimer at the end of the credits she was "at least 18" when the film was made —is just about perfect. I wouldn't have spotted Gethin Anthony as a Brit (an Oxonian no less and an unsuccessful claimant to the throne of Westeros, Renly Baratheon, on "Game of Thrones"), and he does a fine job of sustaining our interest in this unlovable character. You may start to feel that there's some hope for him after all.