Review of Green Butchers, The

Introduction

In general, the prospects of watching a `Danish comedy` might not seem too appealing. An evening watching an intellectually challenging subtitled black comedy from a country renowned for its bacon, unappealingly entitled `Green Butchers` would, under normal circumstances, not figure too highly on my `top ten things to do tonight` list. Especially as I`ve been a devout vegetarian for more years than I can count on my fingers and toes.

But it just shows how wrong-minded these preconceptions can be. This is the best film I`ve seen so far this year. It`s absolutely bloody brilliant.

Writer/Director Anders Thomas Jensen is a man who likes to see the funny side of even the darkest of human situations ("Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" and "The King Is Alive") and he has succeeding in producing perhaps his finest work to date with this macabre comedy.

The film begins with `Sweaty Svend` (Mads Mikkelsen) hosting a barbecue for his friends. From the start there`s a sense that things are slightly off-kilter, not least because of Svend`s crazy high-fore headed hairstyle, making him look like a member of Kraftwerk`s odd younger brother. Svend seems obsessive about the cooking and when his (only) male friend arrives, his lady guest clearly has designs on him. She tries to make conversation with this quiet and intense Butcher, Bjarne (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), by asking him how many pigs he can slaughter in one day. He kicks her.

After being subjected to verbal abuse at the Butcher shop they work in, Svend and Bjarne decide to mortgage everything they have to open up a shop of their own. For Bjarne, this means raising money by turning off the life-support system that has been keeping his comatose and mentally ill twin brother alive (curiously an event that precipitates his waking. But that`s for later…).

Svend accidentally kills an electrician after locking him inside the freezer, and in a moment of stress, decides to cook slices of the man`s thigh in a marinade and sell it to the locals as "chicky-wickies." They`re an immediate hit and Svend is convinced that it`s the nature of the meat, not his marinade that is the root of this unexpected success.
Bjarne`s not happy with this turn of events but goes along with Svend in covering up the murder. But then Svend`s partner leaves him (`Barbecue season is no time to break up` he protests, and after saying `go on, drive away then if that`s what you want…` she does exactly that, a moment typical of this dark comedy).

Eventually, following various other `accidents`, it`s clear that Svend can`t break the habit of acquiring new meat through killing. It`s literally a case of `meat is murder` here, and despite a growing unease, Bjarne seems to go along with it. Their newfound success shows `sweaty Svend` a new world that he`s never known where people like and respect him. Though he`s up to his eyes in murder, he`s never been happier.

Bjarne proves to be a complicated character too. It turns out that his wife and parents were all killed in an accident when his mentally handicapped brother was allowed to drive to a zoo. Over excited, the brother crashed the car. So Bjarne is not too thrilled by his brother`s unexpected return.

There`s even romance afoot here too when Bjarne meets a girl whilst visiting the grave of his lost wife and parents.
In the meantime, a Danish TV show called `Missing Danes` speculates on the whereabouts of Svend`s victims.

The real magic of the movie comes from the complex relationship between the two men - it`s electrifying, and despite the bleak landscape against which the movie`s painted, there are plenty of laugh-aloud moments. One example is when, after closing the shop after another busy day, Svend sits with Bjarne and says `When I was younger my father used to beat me with bicycle pumps…my parents died when I was very young. I`ve never told you that.` After a long pause Bjarne says: `Yes you have. Lots of times…`. Absolutely fantastic stuff!

Video

There`s a (deliberate) green cast to much of this movie. To begin with I didn`t like it. It looked a little washed out, like a low contrast transfer, but it became apparent that this cold, clinical grey-green look was stylistically perfect for the movie. It`s painstakingly shot with some ambitious lighting design, creating odd atmospheres in dark places. The transfer itself is fine with no evidence of artefacting or over compression.

Audio

Well, unless you speak Danish, you attention will be drawn to the subs, though the dialogue throughout is nicely delivered. Conversations are often delivered in whispered tones but all cuts through nicely. It also has a quirky score which perfectly compliments this very fine movie.

Features

THE MAKINGOF THE GREEN BUTCHERS (25 MINS): This is an enjoyable and informative documentary that uses cast and crew interviews to tell its tale. Particularly amusing is the section detailing how Svend`s bizarre hairstyle was constructed, which he describes as being "…a cross between Planet of the Apes and Sloboden Milosovic".

MEAT IS MURDER: MAKE-UP AND PROSTHETICS FEATURETTE (10 MINS):
A very surreal featurette featuring lots of people holding severed hands, feet and body-bits. Very impressive too by which I mean very realistic. Not for the feint-hearted.

THEATRICAL TRAILER / ENGLISH DVD TRAILER

Conclusion

If you can imagine the Coen brother`s getting together with David Lynch and turning out an Ealing comedy then this would be it. (Actually a comparison that could be seen as misjudged as the Coen brothers did take on a classic Ealing which was not their finest hour…). This black comedy is, in my view, the best release I`ve viewed this year, despite the fact that it was originally released theatrically in 2003.

A Danish film featuring two mass murdering butchers may not be your first choice for an evening in, but despite its bleak subject matter this is a film with a lot of humour, compassion and depth. Despite their faults (murdering amongst them) you`ll end up liking these guys and wishing for a happy ending.

The principal performances here are just superb and at a very brief 95 minutes, it`s a film that is over before you know it. As it`s a movie that you`ll definitely want to see more than once I whole-heartedly recommend this as a purchase. And that`s straight from the vegetarian`s mouth…