Another View 2015 / Bridgend / Denmark 2015
The Virgin Suicides meets Nordic crime drama. Set within the shifting contours of a film about growing up, the provocatively ambiguous genre of the feature debut Bridgend marries mysticism to the punch of a procedural TV series. The topic of “investigation” is at the same time unexpectedly evanescent – like the mysterious energy defining “youth.”
A series of unexplained suicides troubles the town of Bridgend, and maybe there’s only one reason behind them. And maybe it’s a reason the adults don’t want to hear. But maybe there’s no reason. Jeppe Rønde, debuting here in feature film, defies genre borders, betraying consummate skill combined with the clear formal vision typical of contemporary Danish filmmakers as he journeys deep into mysterious woods where parents discover their children hanging in the trees. A similar fate could be in store for Sara, a respectable lass who nevertheless falls for a member of the “suicide gang” her father is investigating. Through Sara and her shifting perception, Rønde, aided by dynamic camerawork, crafts an oppressive portrayal of adolescence and of the confrontation between the opposing forces of youth and old age. The film initially mimics the kind of Danish crime story constructed around case investigations, yet it is gradually transformed into a mystical drama about an enduring intergenerational conflict and the mysterious energy defining teenagers in extreme states – enthusiasm and self-destruction.
Jindřiška Bláhová
105 min / Color, DCP
Director Jeppe Rønde
/ Screenplay Jeppe Rønde, Torben Bech, Peter Asmussen
/ Dir. of Photography Magnus Nordenhof Jønck
/ Music Mondkopf
/ Editor Oliver Bugge Coutté
/ Producer Michel Schønnemann, Malene Blenkov
/ Production Blenkov & Schønnemann Pictures
/ Cast Hannah Murray, Josh O'Connor, Adrian Rawlins, Steven Waddington
/ Sales New Europe Film Sales
/ Contact Danish Film Institute
Jeppe Rønde (b. 1973, Copenhagen, Denmark) studied film science and art history at the University of Copenhagen (2002). He is an established director of commercials and award-winning documentaries. In 2013 he won Best Director at the Cannes advertising festival for The Lover. Rønde’s documentary reflection on religion Jerusalem My Love (Jerusalem, min elskede, 2003) won the award for emerging talent at the Leipzig festival and also competed at KVIFF. His second documentary The Swenkas (2005) also competed at Karlovy Vary and won the Jury Prize at Canada’s Hot Docs and the Danish national Robert Award. The teen crime mystery Bridgend is his feature debut.
Danish Film Institute
Gothersgade 55, 1123, Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone: +45 337 434 00
Fax: +45 337 434 01
E-mail: [email protected]
New Europe Film Sales
Puławska 152/5, 02-670, Warsaw
Poland
Phone: +48 609 804 296, +48 600 173 205
E-mail: [email protected]
Jeppe Rønde
Christian Juhl Lemche
Film Institution Rep.
Jan Naszewski
Sales Agent
Joanna Malicka
Sales Agent
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