The Danish Poet
The Danish Poet
| 15 February 2006 (USA)
The Danish Poet Trailers

A woman ponders over the strange coincidences that made her forefathers and -mothers meet and create the premises for her becoming the person that she is.

Reviews
ThiefHott Too much of everything
Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.
Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Imdbidia This is one of the best animated shorts I have ever seen.Sure, there is no CGI, no wow effects, and none of the commonalities of modern animation. In fact this is a 2D animation, that will remind some people of the images of Vicky the Viking series of the 1970s.However, this short has something that most modern animation films do not have, and that is what makes it unforgettable to me. The secret of The Danish Poet is that tells an amazing story, which happens to be based on real events. This is a story that speaks of serendipity, synchronicity, and the inter-relatedness of the world. A story that shows a world in which even the bad stuff that happens to us can take us to amazing places and be meaningful. A story that shows that every twist and turn in life is a creative process. The Danish Poet is, in the end, a story about love minus the cheese, told in a simple, funny and magical way.The short is beautifully narrated, it has a point, it tells a complete story, it makes you feel and think. Fantastic.
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews I understand that this won the Oscar for the category it falls under when it came out. I haven't seen any of the competition, so I can't compare, but it certainly is great. It's a fairy tale in a modern setting, and not everyone will care for the world view arguably presented herein. This is sweet, without being so hideously overflowing with pure, concentrated saccharine, to the point of viewers risking getting diabetes from watching. It's got a sense of humor, which can be claimed to move towards the ever-so-slightly dark once or twice, and is otherwise almost invariably entirely inoffensive, as the short ought to be, on the whole. Jokes and gags aren't childish, gross or similar, although some of them may perhaps mainly be funny to us Scandinavians, and may not get as big a laugh for those not familiar with the relationships between the countries and their people. The story-telling device of narration is used fine, if nothing new is done with it. The performance is good. The animation is simple, with occasional exaggeration. It doesn't look or feel "sloppy" or downright bad. The plot is nice, and the ending, along with plenty else in this, is cute. I recommend this to all who feel they might enjoy it, and encourage not only Danes, Norwegians and Swedes to give it a chance. 8/10
MartinHafer This is a sweet story about a long chain of seemingly random events that eventually led to the birth of the person who wrote the story (though it was read by Liv Ullman). Not surprisingly, there are some touches that seem very Scandinavian--such as the introduction, the way that death is talked about as well as the veneration of the story "Kristin Lavransdatter" (the movie version was coincidentally directed by Liv Ullman and I have reviewed it--but this isn't the place to get into that).The first time I saw this film, I was underwhelmed and gave it only a mildly favorable review despite it being an Oscar winner. However, I saw it again a few weeks later and was surprised how much more I enjoyed the film the second time. I really think most of the reason I wasn't impressed at first is because at least visually speaking, it's not as pretty a film as the rest of the other nominees. THE LITTLE MATCHGIRL was one of the prettier Disney films I have seen using traditional animation, LIFTED is as good a product as you'll see from Pixar, NO TIME FOR NUTS was another excellent CG film packaged with the ICE AGE films and Maestro, though made by a small studio, was nearly as pretty as more commercial CG films. In contrast, THE DANISH POET looked very old fashioned--much like a "Madeline" cartoon.The second time I saw it, though, I noticed more of the cute little artistic touches--like all the cows falling down the ramps and other odd embellishments. However, what really stood out most the second time was the really sweet nature of the film and how it caused an emotional reaction in me at the end. Charming and sweet--this is something the other films lacked. I still think LIFTED might have been the most enjoyable and best made of the shorts, but THE DANISH POET was a real labor of love and had a lot of depth to it.
Robert Reynolds I've seen three of the five shorts nominated for the Oscar and this short is the best of the three I've seen. I'm not at all surprised that it was the winner. Since it would be difficult to discuss this short without going into at least a few details, let this serve as a spoiler warning: The basic idea behind this short regards the importance of random chance in all our lives. Narrated (very effectively) by Liv Ullman, with no other vocal work save hers, the story unfolds gradually and softly, with little touches of humor here and there. There are quite a few playful nudges at Danes and Norwegians throughout.The story centers on a Danish poet and his hit-and-miss relationship with a Norwegian farmer's daughter. The relationship has a good many twists and turns, with a logic chain made up of all sorts of random events which change the course of various lives. Barking dogs, inattentive mail carriers, slippery boards, a funeral and hairstyles all take their turn at changing things, all leading to the marvelous conclusion.This short is available (on DVD) from the National Film Board of Canada and is well worth watching. Highly recommended.