User reviews

In 19th century Denmark, a struggling old farmer makes a Faustian deal with his rich Swedish neighbor, who is grasping and unprincipled in economic matters. The film was well acted, and includes grand dame Ghita Norby as the rich Swede's toadlike evil mother.

My main quibble is that the film is severely underlit -- perhaps a legacy of Dogma95? Still, this is a film worth seeing.

This is a REALLY good story and the actors move within it so well... Its slow for sure.. but that almost excentuates the whole being of the film...

Its got a GREAT storyline without all the cheesy "dependable" undertones associated with alot of films these days..

This film stands on its own and makes no excuses as none are needed.

DEFINITLY one for personal library.

FØR FROSTEN - (Before the frost) Film (Denmark 2018) How's this for an enticing movie premise - The consequences for principled ageing widowed male head of family in the face of 18th Century agricultural poverty in Denmark? Despite this bleak set up, I was prepared to give it a go. What I got was really not what I expected. Our old proud small-hold farmer is slowly being squeezed out of providing for his family by entrepreneurial land-buyers who can pick off his assets whenever times get grim. At a certain point our hero cracks and succumbs to their offers to buy his land and in return they give him a foreman's job which reinstates the status within the local village which he had been gradually losing. This seems even more painful to him than the hunger and the grinding poverty. Basically it is vanity that gets him, and, from that moment on, we see a drama played out in which he comes to discard almost every principle and moral he ever possessed. Patently this is a metaphor for how modernity and cold commercial realities can corrupt and deprave even the most earthed and tenaciously worthy of characters. Beyond that, though, it is a meditation on how easy one can fall prey to human failings when worth, respect, and indignity blend to cloud the thoughts of an ageing soul. This is an almost biblical small film, containing decent controlled acting, gritty filming, and buckets of atmosphere. There is certainly no sentimental element, in contrast it deliberately plays the harsh card. This is probably what saves a film that does have a few flaws: It felt like the plot was rushed, perhaps through the clumsy editing-out of helpful linking scenes, so that the stacking up of moments of moral descent seem to almost stumble over each other, to a point of incredulity. Plus there are just one too many rural movie cliches, such as the obligatory cow struggling to give birth to a breached calf, pails of water being futilely thrown onto a blazing barn, and a pastoral wedding filled with tension and mixed feelings. Ultimately though this film is almost laughingly serious, and doom-laden. There is almost no humour within the story, and so, one finds oneself adding one's own fun in by first totting up the body count, then wondering whether this is actually a Gothic horror pic disguised as a period drama, or pondering if there are actually any pleasant or likeable characters in this movie at all.

A chilling film-noir movie, set in the 1850's rural countryside of Denmark. It introduces the brutal conditions and squalor of farmers conditions back in the day, where unpredictable weather, can tear families apart and spark a certain sinister creativity in desperate men.

The film examines the lengths that men will go to, to preserve their way of life, family and future prospects. In certain circumstances, good men might commit fraud, sell their children or even tacitly commit murder. This movie makes it abundantly clear, that "being good" is very much a luxury that not everyone can afford, no matter how hard they try.

I was, as always, impressed by Jesper Christensens performance, while Ghita Nørby added some much-needed gravitas to underscore the sinister nature of the deal that "Jens Cow" made with his Swedish neighbour. Swedes are usually the bad guys in danish movies, but I honestly cant tell who is good or bad at the end of this movie.

It is a dark and extremely realistic film. It is far from a Gothic horror movie as suggested by others here. Unless you think of the danish history and past to be... well a horror movie. However the horrific conditions of this countries past is displayed in a way that there is no romance left of the agricultural society of past days. Although it is also a kind of love story. It shows a young girls growing love for her husband to be. Chosen by her father to safe them from hunger. But is mainly the story of a father's love to his daughter. This is a very nordic film. You can not get further away from american mainstream movies where "feel good " is "a must have" for any production.