Anders Matthesen is a well known danish stand-up comedian, better known as "Anden". At first you may think, he is a bit of an unconventional choice for a leading role in a movie about a handicapped man, but taking a chance sometimes brings spin offs, that would not otherwise have popped out.
Kriss is a mentally handicapped young man, who spends his day in an institution. In flashbacks we get a better understanding of why he ended there. Living with an uncaring mother, Kriss finally strangles her to stop her incessant, demeaning behavior. His one and only interest in life, is an old black and white movie called Rene Hjerter (Pure Hearts). He watches his "Linda" in the movie, with his only friend Willy, whenever he can get away with it.. except for the ending, which was cut short by his mother when he recorded it. His only reference to morality and understanding of real people, is what he has learned from this movie and a book about Noah's Ark. When he attacks another inmate for ridiculing him, he is isolated and furthermore his movie-watching is restricted. When the opportunity arises, he and Willy escapes the institution to find Linda. Willy is a violent psychopath, so they are soon wanted by the police, since they leave a trail of dead bodies. Kriss finds out he is on his own in a world, where he has to figure out who are the good and who are the bad people.. and everything seems to follow the plot he knows in his movie.
The theme is the lack of empathy for people who are not "normal". The modern welfare state destroys families and creates more and more "patients", that has to be "taken care of" by people who do not really care. Kriss is living in a kind of singularity, that he clings to, to make just a tiny bit of sense of his life. All the stupid cliches in the old movie, he takes as gospel and if one of the actors hits another with a frying pan, Kriss finds that a completely valid act too. Kriss' life has already ended, in fact it has never really started and nobody cares to check if it could be possible for him to be anything else than the "monstrosity that should be dead" as his mother taught him. Maybe he realizes that he might as well find out how the story ends... or how his story ends. There is a light inspiration from "Being There" in the way that Kriss´ movie-script life is understood and misunderstood by his surroundings. After all, the only people who really see another person in him, is an old man he meets in a doorway and Linda when he finally finds her.
This is a road-movie for the mentally handicapped. At times it is very funny, but still the feeling of not being understood by anybody is the strong theme that keeps coming up. Matthesen does a fine job, especially when there is a slightly funny twist or the dialog is completely nonsense. He does not overdo the the character and that is a good thing, you accept him as a handicapped person rather quickly. This is a fine little movie, that does not bring the big artistic guns out, but still is a solid story and a well balanced and engaging experience.
Rating: 7/10
