![\"Melancholia](\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/M\/MV5BMTk4NjM0MjI3MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjcxMDYzNg@@._V1_UY1200_CR90,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOf course, we can\u2019t have the Scandinavian film blog running for a month without recommending at least one film by the big Danish provocateur and enfant terrible, Lars von Trier. If you feel a little scared \u2013 or just skeptical \u2013 of entering the dark and often bleak world of Lars von Trier, his psychological science fiction drama Melancholia<\/em> from 2011 is the perfect place to start. But be warned: If you find this film too dark and disturbing, you probably shouldn\u2019t go further with his other films. Kirsten Dunst plays a woman suffering from severe depression during her wedding and during the final days of human\u2019s existence. The planet Melancholia, metaphorically reflecting our protagonist\u2019s state of mind, threatens to collide with our good planet Earth and bring an end to the world as we know it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, last week he recommended a Finnish film in black and white, and here he goes again! Can it get more artsy-fartsy and highbrow for our Scandinavian film blogger? Oh, yes it can, because The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli M\u00e4ki <\/em>is a charming mixture of a sports movie and a romantic comedy that appeals to everyone. The film takes place in 1962, with a beautiful black and white cinematography it tells a simple, but touching story about a world that seems to be determined to turn a young guy into a sports hero. But Olli M\u00e4ki, our young protagonist, is more concerned about a young, sweet girl he has just met. Who will win the battle: love or the brutal career in the boxing ring?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last time I recommended Icelandic Dagur Kar\u00ed\u2019s debut feature Noi the Albino<\/em> from 2003. This time I would recommend you to explore his latest feature, the touching, multiple award winning deadpan comedy from 2015, Virgin Mountain. <\/em>The film tells the story about an introvert and often bullied late-bloomer, the 40\u2019s something Fus\u00ed, who still lives with his Mom and spends most of the day playing with war toys. He is a good-hearted man that eventually dares to start a relationship with a woman when he is pushed out of his daily comfort zone. But will it be like a classic romantic comedy? Look out for the especially deadpan and especially funny scene where Fus\u00ed, for the first time, drives his love interest home \u2013 you have never seen Dolly Parton\u2019s Islands in the Stream<\/em> used in a more unfamiliar context!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Comedies describing embarrassing and awkward everyday situations (like in The Office <\/em>and Curb Your Enthusiasm)<\/em> have been a strong trend in Scandinavian cinema and television in the 21st<\/sup> Century. One of the most original takes on this subgenre came with Haugerud\u2019s film from 2012. We get three stories taking place in contemporary Oslo where a female protagonist is standing in an everyday ethical dilemma that seems harmless on the surface, but has crucial consequences for the path in her future life. A nurse find it difficult to tell a young trainee that she isn\u2019t careful enough with the hygiene (more relevant problem than ever), an old translator of serious literature is forced to translate a book she detests, and a woman with economical problems is offered a humiliating charity gift that is just as difficult to say yes as no to. All stories told in a way we can all relate too, and we all can\u2019t help finding a bit funny in all their painful grotesqueness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have never seen a film like this before. You may not enjoy it but you will not forget it!\u201d That was the legendary American film critic Roger Ebert\u2019s very precise characterization of Roy Andersson\u2019s modern classic from 2000. It could sound boring: a film running for 95 minutes with only 46 shots and with no clear protagonists. But it isn\u2019t! Through a series of extremely beautifully composed and original tableaus, Andersson is giving us an absurd, but also very funny portrait of a number of people stuck in their life in a contemporary Stockholm. The closest we get to having a protagonist is this old guy Kalle (played by an amateur, Andersson met when he was standing in line in IKEA) who\u2019s so broke he burned down his furniture store to get the insurance. The scene where he stands in the metro on his way home to tell his wife about his misery is perhaps the strongest emotional scene made in a Scandinavian film in this century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morten Egholm has a PhD in film history and a master\u2019s in Scandinavian Literature, Film, and Media Studies from University of Copenhagen. He has been teaching at DIS since spring 2008, mainly film classes, but also a couple of literature classes. He lives in the \u2018Fuglebakkekvarter\u2019 in Frederiksberg with his family and a huge collection of books, DVDs, and Blu-rays (oh yes, those formats still exist!). His main interests are watching (and analyzing) film and T.V. shows (old and new), reading classical European and contemporary American literature, and playing FIFA on PlayStation with his two sons.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Get Some More Scandinavian Culture<\/p>\n\n\n\n >> Morten\u2019s last Scandinavian Film Favorites<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n >> Kalle\u2019s Book Picks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n >> Scandinavia as Your Kitchen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n >> Faculty Spotlight<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n More about DIS<\/p>\n\n\n\nFinland: The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli M\u00e4ki (Juho Kuosmanen, 2016)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.highonfilms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/The-happiest-day-in-the-life-of-Olli-M%C3%A4ki-poster.jpg?w=798&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIceland: Virgin Mountain (Dagur Kar\u00ed, 2015)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"More](\"https:\/\/sociorocketnewsen.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/05\/cgskcglwiaan-uu.jpg?w=798&h=914&fit=640%2C914\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nNorway: I Belong (Dag Johan Haugerud, 2012)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"I](\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/M\/MV5BMTcwMjI2MDc0OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTUwNzY4OA@@._V1_UY1200_CR105,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSweden: Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson, 2000)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Picture](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ilarge.lisimg.com\/image\/10051528\/1000full-songs-from-the-second-floor-poster.jpg?resize=583%2C794&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/discoverstudyabroad.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/European-Humanities-Morten-Egholm-170x170-1.jpg?resize=170%2C170&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n