Terribly Happy

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Scandinavian movie. That’s why I didn’t hesitate and recalled a piece that has been eluding me for a while now. And after watching it, I must say that Terribly Happy is an absolutely precise Scandinavia in all regards. At the beginning, the movie’s pointless, it’s like watching a David Lynch movie. The atmosphere is incredibly pervasive and each detailed shot of nature highlights it beautifully. Later, it shifts into a typical Scandinavian drama with a brutal share of irony and coincidences that simply have to be there. And so, I was really satisfied. It wasn’t worth the full five stars, but as far as Scandinavian movies go, I enjoyed it perfectly. (30.10.2012)

Triers vertikale Deviation der Charakteren sowie der falsche Coen-nichtkonfliktreiche horizontale Bereich - und im Schnitt ein beunruhigendes Drama mit Hinweisen und humorlosen Anzeichen, eines Humors, der so pervers ist wie die Charaktere selbst. Eine alte skulpturelle Geschichte über das Aufeinanderprallen von Ordnung und Unordnung, Gerechtigkeit und Ungerechtigkeit, Rationalität und Impuls. Perfekt cool, perfekt genau, perfekt theaterähnlich. (25.10.2010)

Terribly Happy is a Kafka-style film. It is a film where the determining element is a carefully constructed atmosphere of a community that determines its own rules of the game, is governed by its own morality, and cautiously protects itself from external scrutiny. A stranger is not one of us, and it is necessary to either drive them away, eliminate them, or adapt them to our own image. The positive aspect in this case is that the screenwriter and director, except for one or two scenes, do not push too hard, and it all feels civilized and believable. It is actually a variation of a heavily dark-humored Nordic tragicomedy with an incomparable style and ubiquitous absurdity. If you go along with the game that the filmmakers are playing with you, you can have a royal time with it. If not, you can only shrug your shoulders at the oddities and ponder the immorality of the idiosyncratic antiheroes. Overall impression: 90%. (30.04.2012)

In a remote Danish town where cows bid goodnight, everyone, including the cats, greets each other with "Brej", and a nearby bog hides more than one secret. The atmosphere is so thick you could slice it. An excellent cast, a dramatic storyline, and the specific Nordic humor add up to ensure entertainment even in such a backwater place. (85%) (23.05.2021)