Speed Walking

What a great performance from Villads Bøye. And such an amazing script. It blew me away! And that scene from the funeral made my skin crawl. Such a mature character at such a young age, you definitely have something to learn from this story.

When I first heard about this film the only thing that was mentioned to me was the discovery of sexuality angle. Which is definitely a key theme. But this film also deals heavily with loss.

Things are going well for Martin. He is the best athlete in his speed walking group, his confirmation is coming up, and the girl that he likes is showing an interest back.

Then his mum suddenly dies. (This happens in the first few minutes of the film... this is not a spoiler) The rest of the film is about how Martin and his family deal with this loss. Martin is also dealing with his developing feelings for his best friend, which is causing him to question his sexuality.

So he is dealing with two quite significant things. And in all fairness to the actor that plays Martin... he does a fantastic job. I found him thoroughly believable and his range of emotion was brilliant for such a young actor.

I also liked that despite all the relationship drama... everybody still remains friends and supports each other. Plenty of people remain friends after such dramas, which is something that rarely seems to happen in movies.

This film did lose a star from me for the weird scene in the paedophile's flat. It was very random and quite unnecessary.

The film is mostly well acted (bar a couple of people) and the plot is actually quite believable... at least for the time period that it is set in. I'm sure modern audiences will probably find it odd. But I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What a great movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It deals with so many issues in its short running time, and while it doesn't offer any solutions, it does make you think. That's a good thing. Well acted by all involved, especially the younger actors, who do not shy away from some very difficult scenes. The story is entertaining and engrossing.

Not a fan of WHATEVER THIS WAS. Kind of explicit and just overal not what i wanted to see, lol. The plot line was KIND OF interesting, but also kind of odd. Not saying it is a bad movie, I just didn't like it. I translated this thing to my English friends who don't speak Danish, we just laughed the whole time.

True, the events go back into the 1970ies, but the film is new, seems realistic, and both the characters and performances are really something. Apart from Villads Bøye as Martin, who is really wow!, the film features - even in tiny roles - many excellent Danish actors and actresses known internationally, e.g. Sidse Babett Knudsen, Pilou Asbæk, David Dencik... The main background of the events is sad, but the Danes living in a small town somehow cope with it in their own, sometimes crazy manner, with fresh sexual liberation whiff in and around their lives. In spite of cruel world and sometimes odd ideas, there is still warmness around, and life goes on with its different angles - all this giftedly directed and performed.

A good stuff, really. I can hardly imagine such a film made and screened e.g. in the USA...