2007 New Directors/New Films: ART OF CRYING, THE

The Art of Crying
(Kunsten at græde i kor)

Adapted from the novel by Erling Jepsen, THE ART OF CRYING is a black comedy
that wallows a bit too deeply in its darkness. What is meant to be amusing comes off
as decidedly creepy and disturbing. This is a movie that includes sexual abuse and
incest, death, something akin to murder, and threats of suicide all filtered through the
eyes of its 11-year-old protagonist Allen (Jannik Lorenzen).

As children sometimes do, Allen has a rosy outlook on life. He adores his father,
the brutish Henry (Jesper Asholt), who acts more like a child than his own kids. Most
nights, Henry ends up bursting into tears and acting like a spoiled brat. He retreats to
the living room couch but not before making idle threats to kill himself. The only thing
that seems to calm Henry is the presence of his 14-year-old daughter Sanne (Julie
Kolbeck) to whom he turns for "comfort." Allan, not grasping the implications, urges his
sister to go to their father. When his older brother Asgar (Thomas Knuth-Winterfeldt)
comes home from school, it's clear there's tension between him and his father. When
Allan tells his brother about his sister's nocturnal visit, Asgar threatens the older man
and finds himself banished from the family. Even his mother (Hanne Hedelund) refuses
to believe the accusations he makes. For her part, Sanne refuses to "comfort" Dad
and he spirals into a depression. When the son of a rival dies, Allan manipulates
matters so that his father has to give the eulogy -- which Henry delivers eloquently. Allan
realizes that this might be an answer to making his father happy and sets out on a
course to assist him.

THE ART OF CRYING is structured in an episodic manner which dillutes some of the
satirical notions. As I am not familiar with the source material but am assuming the film
follows the outline, certain ideas are raised and then dropped. For instance, Allan
decides to create more funerals at which his father can offer the eulogy and we get one
example of this and then the matter is dropped. In its place, the story shifts focus to
Sanne and her first boyfriend. That relationship is sabotaged by Henry with Allan's
unwitting aid, leading to arson and murder, incarceration in a mental institution and
Allan's taking his sister's place in "comforting" their stricken parent.

There is a strain of the Oedipal conflict to the story, but it is buried under the satire and
attempts at black comedy. One's reaction to the film will probably depend on just how
much outrageous and outlandish behavior one can tolerate. The passive wife borders
on cliche and it is never made clear exactly why this woman would tolerate her
husband's behavior. She's not terribly maternal and there are hints she may be a victim
of verbal abuse, but she is so inert that her reactions come across as callous and
uncaring. As such, she does not earn audience sympathy. In fact, the only character
who comes across with any shred of moral dignity is the older brother, who has wisely
escaped to start his own life. The incestuous abuse drives Sanne to act out in a deadly
manner which in turn leads to her being sent to a mental institution. We are told she has
been subjected to drug and electroshock therapy, but she appears to have been
immune to their effects -- or at least recovers so quickly that it makes absolutely no
sense.

I found the characters in the movie to be so unredeemable that I stopped caring about
what happened to them. This is not the fault of the actors who all seem to be committed
to their characters. I would have to lay the blame on the source material and its
interpretation by the screenwriter Bo Hr. Hansen and the director Peter Schønau Fog.

Rating: C

L to R: Jesper Asholt
as Henry and Jannik
Lorenzen as Allan in
THE ART OF CRYING.

Directed by
Peter Schønau Fog,
Denmark, 2006; 106m

© 2006 Final Cut
Productions/ SF Films A/S