The Bench
The Bench
| 26 August 2000 (USA)
The Bench Trailers

Kaj is a stubborn man with a great deal of pride. The former chef lives in a council flat. He has wasted his life and is now on a council job training scheme for the long-term unemployed, where he refuses to let the foreman of the activation project boss him about. When Kaj's daughter, with whom he has not been in touch for nineteen years, moves into the same council estate on the run from her violent husband, a change comes over Kaj. His initial instinct is to avoid her, but by chance he ends up helping to look after Jonas, her six-year-old son. For the first time for years Kaj need not survive on his own devices. Now he has responsibilities and a family of his own.

Reviews
NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!
Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict
Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Ebbe Jacobsen This Danish masterpiece revels the story of a drunk alcoholic living in the suburbs of Copenhagen. The film represents the underclass of the Danish welfare society and is the 1st of Per Fly praised trilogy.Kaj is an alcoholic living on the money the Danish state is providing him. Him and his friends spend their time drinking beer at a public bench. One day Kaj's life turns upside down when a young lady and her child moves in next to him.The movie shows the life of a person fighting with depression and addiction. Subjects as social inheritance, compassion, honor and shame play a significant role in the movie. The acting of Kaj is done by Jesper Christensen and it's remarkable trustworthy. One of the best performances I've ever seen. The story of Kaj is interesting and sad. It revels the story of a man who lost his track in life and how this affects others around him. It gives perspective on how people differently are dealing with shame, honor and love. It shows a person who have lost his purpose with life and how drinking became his only solution to deal with it. However behind the trashy clothes and smell lies a great person with honor, love and passion.
monz-1 This movie is about forgiving, decay, hope, love and death. The main character is played to perfection by Jesper Christensen, one of the best performances i've ever seen in any movie. I was 100% convinced that he was a deathdrunk alcoholic, what a masterpiece of acting!!! 10 stars on his acting alone.The story is beautiful, sad but very very true. Many of us close our eyes to these kind of people and tend to forget that behind the sad drunken facades are real people with real stories and emotions. This movie smacks these people right in your face. Some people find it disgusting, but the rest of us find that this is a masterpiece of a movie. Its in my top 3 of all time favourite movies.
mia-gp This movie is the most powerful movie I've ever seen, it went right through my body and at the same time I loved it and I still watches it from time to time I never get sick of it. I know some one who unfortunately is in the same position as the main character and we watch it together and we cry our eyes out it's so realistic that it can be felt all over your body it's a heart felt and honest movie. I can only highly recommend it to everyone who has a heart. The cameras are shooting the right angles and get all action, pain and warm that there might be in every scene, great acting, directing and to sum up a wonderful film. I want everyone to see it and feel the movie in your heart, body and soul.Therefore it gets a 10/10 I would love to give it more if that was possible.
kbilsted The most stunishing thing about this movie is the acting of the drunk guy. Several times during the movie I pondered whether they had brought in a real drunk, or if it really was an actor? All his moves, the way i talked etc. were so real.The story as far as I recall it, is about a drunk guy on dole, with no future. Suddenly he meets a person which makes his internal flame of live rise and burst.We as spectators get a view of how it is having no future, no family and nothing to do. Its a story without any special effects or explosions (not even a telly which is thrown out of the window from the second floor explode upon impact with the sidewalk!) But still, the story is so much better than of most multi-billion dollar movies from Hollywood.