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Essential Danish Cinema

Ordet (1955)
Carl Theodor Dreyer · 67 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel, Darkroom
The three sons of devout Danish farmer Morten have widely disparate religious beliefs. Youngest son Anders shares his father's religion, but eldest son Mikkel has lost his faith, while middle child Johannes has become delusional and proclaims that he is Jesus Christ himself. When Mikkel's wife, Inger goes into a difficult childbirth, everyone's beliefs are put to the test.
Gertrud (1964)
Carl Theodor Dreyer · 27 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
Hopeless romantic Gertrud inhabits a turn-of-the-century milieu of artists and musicians, where she pursues an idealized notion of love that will always elude her. She abandons her distinguished husband and embraces an affair with a young concert pianist, who falls short of her desire for lasting affection. When an old lover returns to her life, fresh disappointments follow, and Gertrud must try to come to terms with reality.
Melancholia (2011)
Lars von Trier · 19 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy, fuboTV, Criterion Channel
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
The Act of Killing (2012)
Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn · 18 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy, Fawesome
In this chilling and groundbreaking documentary, former Indonesian death squad leaders reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of various film genres. As they recreate their past atrocities, the line between reality and performance blurs, exposing the lingering impact of Indonesia's 1965-66 anti-communist purge and the unsettling psychology of its perpetrators.
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Lars von Trier · 14 critic votes
Streaming on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
In a small, conservative Scottish village, an oilman is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when he urges her to have sex with another.
The Celebration (1998)
Thomas Vinterberg · 8 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
The family of a wealthy businessman gather to celebrate his 60th birthday. During the course of the party, his eldest son presents a speech that reveals a devastating secret that turns the night into a battle of truth and denial.
Dogville (2003)
Lars von Trier · 8 critic votes
Streaming on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town, she learns that their support has a price.
Day of Wrath (1943)
Carl Theodor Dreyer · 7 critic votes
Free on Darkroom, Plex, Plex Channel · Streaming on Criterion Channel
In a Danish village in the early 1600s, a young woman named Anne, whose mother was thought to be a witch, develops sympathy toward an old woman, Marte, who is accused of witchcraft. The intervention of Anne's older but kindly husband, Pastor Absalon saved her mother -- but now, urged on by his overbearing mother, he refuses to help Marte. When Absalon's son returns home and is attracted to Anne, it's a matter of time before her family destiny catches up with her.
The Idiots (1998)
Lars von Trier · 4 critic votes
Streaming on MUBI
A group of people gather at a Copenhagen suburban home to break all the limitations and to bring out the 'inner idiot' in themselves.
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Lars von Trier · 4 critic votes
Streaming on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
The Parson's Widow (1920)
Carl Theodor Dreyer · 1 critic vote
A newly elected village parson is required to marry his predecessor's widow. However, he's already married, and the woman is old enough to be his grandmother.
Europa (1991)
Lars von Trier · 1 critic vote
Streaming on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
Just after World War II, an American takes a railway job in Germany, but finds his position politically sensitive with various people trying to use him.
The Kingdom (1994)
Lars von Trier, Morten Arnfred · 1 critic vote
Streaming on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
At The Kingdom, Denmark's most technologically advanced hospital, a number of strange and otherworldly events begin occurring, much to the dismay of its doctors and patients. A ghostly ambulance appears and disappears, the voice of a little girl calls to a patient in an elevator shaft, and a doctor's fetus begins growing at an alarming rate.
How to Invent Reality (1996)
Jon Bang Carlsen · 1 critic vote
Jon Bang Carlsen's essay about his way of approaching reality with a camera. Following the filming of "It's Now or Never", the story of an Irish bachelor's quest for love, Jon Bang Carlsen elaborates on how he manipulates reality in order to get to the core of it. " Staged documentary " he calls his method.
Antichrist (2009)
Lars von Trier · 1 critic vote
Streaming on MUBI, Kanopy
A grieving couple retreats to their cabin 'Eden' in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.
The Look of Silence (2014)
Joshua Oppenheimer · 1 critic vote
Free on Plex, Amazon Prime Video Free with Ads, Amazon MX Player · Streaming on Fandor, Kanopy, Hoopla
An Indonesian man with a communist background named Ramli was brutally murdered when the "Communist" purge occurred in 1965. His remaining family members lived in fear and silence until the making of this documentary. Adi, a brother of his, decided to revisit the horrific incident and visited the men who were responsible for the killings and one survivor of the purge. These meetings uncovered sadistic details of the murders and exposed raw emotions and reactions of the killers' family members about what happened in the past - much to Adi's disappointment.
Another Round (2020)
Thomas Vinterberg · 1 critic vote
Free on Tubi TV, YouTube Free, Plex · Streaming on Netflix, Sundance Now, Kanopy
Four stagnant high school teachers decide to test out a theory that maintaining a constant level of intoxication will improve their overall lives.

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Essential Danish Cinema

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