Along with rabble-rouser Lars von Trier, Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg was at the forefront of the influential Dogme 95 movement, an austere cinematic experiment which eschewed not only special effects and technology, but also a lot of other modern conventions. Since then he’s branched out and made different types of movies; his latest is the well received The Hunt, starring Mads Mikkelsen as a day care teacher wrongly accused of child sexual abuse. I recently had a chance to speak to Vinterberg one-on-one, about his hippie commune upbringing (“I grew up in the 1970s in a hippie commune and was surrounded by genitals, and it was kind of not a problem for anyone”), his new film and its in-competition premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, what he now thinks about Dogme 95, and what’s next for him professionally. The conversation is excerpted over at ShockYa, so click here for the read.
Daily Archives: July 16, 2013
Beneath
Nice ribbons of naturalism and even poetical idyll root Beneath, a sort of lake-set Jaws homage, before an unconvincing turn toward Lord of the Flies territory and even more unconvincing acting conspire to sink this low-budget indie horror offering. Director Larry Fessenden’s nice use of limited resources and some early superlative, artful evocation of mood are in the end no match for a screenplay that mistakes and substitutes volume for well staked-out, compelling interpersonal disagreement. For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. In addition to its theatrical engagements on July 16 and 17, Beneath is also available across a variety of VOD platforms. For more information, click here to visit its website. (Glass Eye Pix/Chiller Films, unrated, 90 minutes)