The story opens just before Christmas, when solitary, apathetic bank clerk Flemming Borck uncovers a plot to rob his bank. (It’s a convoluted set-up, so we’ll just leave it at that.) After doing a little rookie recon, Borck identifies the would-be bank robber as a faux shopping-mall Santa Claus, and counter-plots to steal the money himself and let Santa take the blame. This works out about as badly as you might imagine, and our bumbling protagonist spirals further and further away from the carefree, laconic lifestyle he had hoped to ensure for himself.
Director: Palle Kjærulff-Schmidt. AKA Think of a Number
Stars: Henning Moritzen, Bibi Andersson, Peter Ronild, Kirsten Peüliche, Peter Steen, Benny Hansen, Paul Hüttel, Søren Elung Jensen, Poul Petersen, Jeanne Darville, Kirsten Søberg, Søren Weis, Flemming Dyjak, Gyda Hansen, Susanne Jagd.
Thank you so much for this, a film I’ve wanted to track down for many years. Amazing.
Great film and for once, successfully remade as The Silent Partner a few years later.
This is one of the rare occasions where a re-make is a lot (!) better than the original. This is by no means a bad movie, but has shortcoming pretty much everywhere. The cinematography is equally uninspired as the direction, which both lacks spirit and zest. It all looks like TV-fare. The music by none other than acclaimed composer Bent Fabricius-Bjerre is practically mono-thematic, on purpose, but gets annoying as the story progresses. And though the acting is competent it does not do the subject justice. Pretty low level of tension throughout.
What’s really great is (just) the basic premise and then again the ending. THE SILENT PARTNER took just the premise, changed a lot about the ensuing story, added sex and violence (but in a well toned manner) and gave it the ending it deserves. Whilst this ending here ain’t bad at all, it has an unnecessary moral undertone, which is superfluous. Nevertheless it’s still the ending, which does make this version, because without the added surprise it would falter altogether.
Still 7/10.
Superb laconic bank heist with an unusual twist. The Silent Partner sounds about as subtle as you Wolfgang. You probably prefered Little Miss Sunshine to Family Rodante?
The link is dead
Good film, good story, a bit clunky but with the beautiful and excellent Bibi Anderson. The film comes to life when she comes into it