For frosten (2018)

Directed by: Michael Noer | 104 minutes | drama | Actors: Jesper Christensen, Clara Rosager, Magnus Krepper, Ghita Nørby, Elliott Crosset Hove, Rasmus Hammerich, Bertil De Lorenzi, Gustav Dyekjær Giese, Oscar Dyekjær Giese, Martin Greis-Rosenthal

With the Danish drama ‘Før frosten’ (‘Before the Frost’), we find ourselves temporarily in 19th century Denmark. Jens, a middle-aged farmer, lives on a humble farm with his nearly grown daughter Signe and two cousins ​​Peder and Mads. He may have the largest piece of land in the area, but the family is not in a good financial position. At the start of this film by Michael Noer, we witness that one of the three cows is sold, simply because there is not enough money to feed all the cows.

In the church, Jens has to watch with sadness how his position in the village community is faltering, and when he returns home it starts to rain, which results in a failed harvest. If the seeds for next year also germinate too early, Jens will be in despair. His daughter Signe is in love with Ole, and vice versa, and after much deliberation he decides to admit that she can marry him. The dowry is not much, but together these two sapping farms have to put their shoulders to the wheel. Signe is thrilled, but then wealthy Swedish businessman Gustav enters the picture. He makes a proposal to Jens, which he initially haughtily rejects, but the two nevertheless come closer to each other.

‘Før frosten’ is a grim looking and feeling family drama about a proud family head who, through ruthless circumstances, makes decisions that jeopardize his daughter’s happiness and ultimately lower his self-esteem. Of course you can judge as a viewer and think that he could have acted differently – certainly in the second half of the film, when the film even takes on a thriller-like character, but because of the powerful acting of Jesper Christensen he takes you inexorably into his hand. motives. It helps that you feel that he does it all out of love for his family. Christensen portrays Jens as a stubborn, sometimes somewhat melancholy man, a cattle rancher in heart and soul. The few scenes with the cows add an essential layer to his character.

As soon as the cards are on the table, you kind of feel where ‘Før frosten’ is going, but it’s not all that predictable. Not every choice in the story works well, a single storyline seems to be dragged by the hair and the reason is unclear. The actors do a good job. In addition to Christensen, the young Clara Rosager also impresses, she convincingly knows how to play the diverse moods of her character. Penetrating camera work means that you can almost smell the mud and straw and would like to make a big pot of hot tea for the numb hearts. Tea with sugar.