Blinkende Lygter / Flickering Lights (2000) – 3/5

The light at the end of their tunnel

„Blinkende lygter“ or „Flickering Lights“ is a co-production between Denmark and Sweden from the first year of the new millennium, so this is almost a quarter of a century old now already. The focus is pretty much entirely on Denmark here though if we look at who made this film, the cast, where the film is set and also the language. The writer and director here is Anders Thomas Jensen and at that point he already had three Oscar nominations, including one win, for his short films, even if he was still clearly under the age of 30. Big early breakthrough and as a consequence it did not take long until he moved on to full feature films. This wasn’t even his first. Or second I think. „In China They Eat Dogs“ (looks like Jensen has a special connection with animals) is a film that many have seen as well, including myself, and I was a bit disappointed that it was not part of this recent Danish film series shown in one of my favorite movie theaters, but at least this one here was, a film I had not been familiar with before. Surely my loss as I was nicely entertained here and as the cast unites some of Denmark’s most famous actors, I am surprised I did not come across it earlier. The quartet in the lead here includes Ulrich Thomsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas who have been among the country’s most successful performers for a long time. They may be no superstars on the level of Mads Mikkelsen (007 movie, Fantastic Beasts…), but have achieved fame in many countries outside Denmark too. Just look at Thomsen’s Oscar-winning movie for example. Mikkelsen is Scandinavia’s finest at this point and if he is in a movie, you can always be sure that it won’t be a bad film. He has worked with Jensen on other occasions too, for example on a western I adored. I think that Mikkelsen had his breakthrough back in the 1990s with „Pusher“ and perhaps that film also helped him in getting cast for „Flickering Lights“.

The only one from the quartet I cannot say much about is Søren Pilmark, even if he has had a lengthy career as well. Less known than the other three. This is a bit of a pity because I thought he maybe gave the best performance here. Physically, he reminded me of Michael Keaton. There were many interesting moments, but one that stayed on my mind is from the very start when we see him right in front of the camera and two others are in the back beating up a man who accidentally showed up with a wrong delivery of cigarettes. This was funny when they said that nobody is gonna buy all this stuff. Menthol cigarettes I think it was. But Pilmark’s character is the leader of the gang and he let the boys have some fun in the background. In general, this film reminded me a bit of „Reservoir Dogs“ if we look at the overall combination of crime and (dark) comedy. Another really great example from early on is the scene with the surprise birthday party when one character accidentally shoots a wine or champagne bottle. You will surely have a lot to laugh here. As for Mikkelsen, he plays quite a brute in here. We understand he does not have a family and is a bit lost, but his outbursts felt funny with the aforementioned beating and he is about to beat up one of his pals too when he finds out that the guy called somebody that might help the bad guys locate them. The really bad guys you could say, including the Eskimo. Back then, it was still alright to use the term. As for Mikkelsen’s Arne, his maybe funniest moment was the return from the forest. He seemed to have found his passion and literally raided half the forest from animals with all he hunted down. Oh well, they can use most of it at the restaurant. And I found this scene pretty funny despite my gigantic love for animals and long history of vegetarianism. Don’t get offended guys, just enjoy the show and of course this also applies to jokes about other areas where political correctness comes into play. Social justice warriors better stop whining, no matter if the subject is gender equality, racial discrimination or LBGT rights.

But now back to this film here: Thomsen you are maybe used to seeing as some family dad as that is a bit of his trademark role, but here he plays a totally different character, namely a drug-addict who is also fairly violent. He joined in early on when Mikkelsen’s character beat up the courier. Despite how violent some of these scenes were, you can always see how the protagonists are not interested in cold-blooded shooting and killing. They only use their fists and occasionally knives. Okay, when being attacked by guys with guns, they don’t hesitate to use theirs either. So yes, there is a lot of blood. It is not a harmless film. I have not yet mentioned Nikolaj Lie Kaas’s role and you can sometimes wonder why he is part of the gang because he does not seem to be a violent fella, but much more interested in eating all the time. When they break into a place, his first destination is the fridge. He is also the one with a bit of a romance story and his wife shows up at the hideout even and causes some mayhem. I am sure some of the aforementioned gender justice warriors got so mad when the leader of the gang slaps her. How dare he? She is pregnant! Just kidding, with her permanent provocations she really had it coming. The entire scenario with the guys and the eggs there was hilarious anyway. Some great situational comedy in this film. By the way, said leader of the gang has also a minor romance story, but in the end we see his woman is with another guy and that is alright. Here in my country, we would not be allowed to cheer for a guy who slaps women or in the end we would have had him get together again with his girlfriend from the start. Everything needed to be fixed and this is why German film in general right now (and maybe also already back in 2000) really sucks compared to Danish film. Nikolaj Lie Kaas‘ character also decides against his pregnant girlfriend to stay with the boys. The gang leader was right in knowing he would return.

Why NLK is with these three other more violent folks in the first place is something we find out during flashbacks. We get one for each character from their youth and there is always an escalation, be it a father slapping his son, a girl struggling with pregnancy or an apple tree conflict. This escalation results in the quartet as boys sitting next to each other, so coincidence united them back in the day and they stayed not only in touch with each other, but kept working together in the decades since then. The friendship remains, which is fairly nice to see. They overcame occasional issues with each other. There was not a lot that I did not like here. Overall, I was well-entertained. Maybe the idea how the title was created was not great as I did not find the moment here too emotional, true or philosophical even. Not significant enough. I prefer to think of the title as a description of the main characters. Another thing I found cool was the inclusion of Barcelona as I went there not too long ago, but yeah, eventually this city did not play a major role here as the guys realize that staying in the forest with their own restaurant was what they really wanted. Even Mikkelsen’s character who loved the Barcelona idea early on. He also came back after running into the cattle owner. Quite a way to strike a friendship if it all started by one shooting the other’s cows. There was a trail of cow corpses even there we realize a little later. This really made it impossible for me to like Mikkelsen’s character at all and it was also sad in a way, but also solid black comedy how it was handled there. We see the face expression of disbelief there in Pilmark’s face and this was one that really stayed memorable on quite a few occasions. In general, the idea of characters evoking disbelief in one another. Nicely handled and very entertaining.

It was also done right at the ending in terms of story writing. The four of them are not superb cooks all of a sudden, but it’s rather the local charm and maybe also the lack of other restaurants in the area that made the concept work. Nice framework also with the beginning. Or look at the scene when the Eskimo shows up towards the end and is ready to kill everybody. How he wants them armed with forks and spoons etc. Because he does not kill the unarmed. Well, somebody surely was armed there. Did he bring the AK-47? It surely was not that Israeli military pistol. How did the guy get this firearm anyway with which he then blows all the (really) bad guys away in the end? But it was nice that they did not include Nikolaj Lie Kaas‘ character there to come rescue everybody, but he just stayed the simpleton that he was before that mostly already and got controlled by the Eskimo and his folks right away. Then again, if we look at who came and saved them there, this was also evidence of how their socializing during the brief stay there already paid off and even saved their lives. Had they been on their own, nobody could have saved them. This is surely a central message from the move. Overall, there were many enjoyable aspects and I am glad that this film got made and also that I got to watch it last night. Don’t regret going one bit and it was decent closure to the Danish film series I have been watching on quite a few occasions this first month of 2023. I think I would put this film into the top5 of movies I have watched since New Year’s Eve. It’s not too important if you like Mikkelsen and/or any of the other people in here, but more important that you like crime movies and also that dark comedy is up your alley and also that you do not despise movie violence. If at least 2 out of 3 apply for you there, then you should give it a chance. Here and there, I was considering giving out 4 stars out of 5 even, but in the end, I just have to stay with 3 and it feels accurate. More maybe if I ever rewatch. The positive recommendation was absolutely never in doubt though.