© 2006 by C. E. Murphy. All Rights Reserved.
Soap
L to R : Trine Dyrholm as
Charlotte and David Dencik
as Ulrik / Veronica in
A Soap, Pernille Fischer
Christensen, Denmark, 2006;
104 min.
                                                                                          
                                                                                The feature directorial
                                                                                debut of Pernille Fischer
                                                                                Chritensen, Soap (En                 
                                                                 Soap) utilizes some of the
conventions of the titular genre to spin a romantic tale between a
headstrong woman (Trine Dyrholm) and her neighbor, a preoperative
transsexual (David Dencik).

       Thirtysomething Charlotte has just left her abusive physician boyfriend   
and moved into her own apartment. She gets pulled into the life of her
somewhat reclusive downstairs neighbor Veronica, who was born as Ulrik.    
Fischer Christensen uses an omniscient narrator who poses cliffhanger-
type questions for each "episode" of the drama, as if life were some sort
of ongoing dramatic serial.

       I found the film a bit tedious in spots. The characters of both
Charlotte and Veronica are rather over-the-top that they don't
always ring true.

       While I might want to applaud Fischer Christensen for attempting
to say something pertinent about gender roles and stereotypes, there
is something curiously lacking in the characters. That they make
hairpin sharp turns to accommodate the storyline. Both actors work
hard to maintain audience sympathy but I wasn't terribly caught up
in their tale.

                       
                                       Rating:        C