Livet i Danmark

1972 was quite an important year for Denmark with the accession of Queen Margrethe II bringing a renewed sense of optimism to her Kingdom. I doubt, however, that if Her Majesty were to watch this now she would feel very inspired by this pedestrian effort from Jørgen Leth. It doesn't exactly get off to a flying start as a chap shows us the intricies of his bike. Yes, it has wheels and handlebars and he's not half bad at balancing on it - but we are using a static set in a studio so there's nowhere for him to go. Next follow a series of increasingly uninspiring chats from the budding youth of the nation before the film ventures into more adventurous territory that includes a couple laying the table for a sumptuous dinner and a fishmnger gutting and skinning a fish. It is interspersed, occasionally, with some outdoor photography of the countryside and there can be no doubt that this is an attractive place, but the sheer mundanity of the rest of it does beg the question why. Who might this be for? I doubt if even the Danes would find this scintillating, much less anyone from other nations who might be expecting some sort of tourist board exercise. Do you think maybe Leth mistook board for bored? Anyway, it's a curiosity of a film that does feature some fashions, a state of the art police motor-cycle (think Rikki Fulton) and fifty years later seems a bizarre celebration of the dull.