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5 Popular Movies Filmed in Copenhagen
The reason we love movies is that filmmakers cater to our fears, desires, and necessities. The film can be used as a distraction from our everyday life, a wake-up call to our society, or comic relief when life seems to just be too serious.
I can’t deny that I don’t like watching movies. Movies give us a sense of security. Movies can give the best therapy lessons. Let’s go through five popular movies filmed in Copenhagen.
1. Pusher
Nicholas Winding photo by Georges Biard – Wikimedia commons
Pusher is a 1996 Danish crime thriller film co-written and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Pusher is Nicolas Winding Refn’s film debut. A commercial success considered to be influential in Danish film history, it marked Mads Mikkelsen’s film debut.
The film is set in the criminal underground of Copenhagen, Denmark, and tells the story of the drug dealer Frank who, after losing a large amount of money in a drug deal gone wrong, falls into desperation as he only has a few days to raise the money he owes.
Will Frank be able to pay back what he owes Milo, a drug lord? The answer is no. This is because, Vic, his casual girlfriend runs off with his stash f money that he plans to give to his drug mule, Milo.
The movie ends when Frank grimly catches his breath as his enemies throughout the city prepare to dispose of him. The film was considered the first Danish-language gangster film and became a breakthrough success for Winding Refn and several of the lead actors.
Pusher has two sequels, including Pusher II, which focuses on different characters this time. Although Pusher was not intended to become a franchise, financial difficulties forced Winding Refn to produce two sequels.
Pusher II follows Frank’s former partner, Tonny. Tonny struggles with his relationship with his father following his release from prison. In the second sequel, negotiates the prospect of becoming a father himself and the discovery that his mother had died while he was incarcerated.
Pusher III, the third sequel, follows drug lord, Milo. Milo is followed through the course of a hectic day. He struggles with his attempt at sobriety, a series of problematic criminal deals, and his daughter’s birthday celebration for which he is the chef.
2. Copenhagen
Copenhagen is an independent Canadian-American coming-of-age adventure film. It had its world premiere as the opening narrative feature at the 20th-anniversary edition of the Slamdance Film Festival 2014.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Florida Film Festival and Gasparilla Film Festival. The film was produced by Fidelio Films and Scorched Films. The film was shot in Copenhagen. It is the first feature film by Student Academy Award winner Mark Raso. The film was produced by Mauro Mueller and Mette Thygesen.
After weeks of traveling through Europe, the immature American, William, finds himself at crossroads in Copenhagen. Copenhagen is not just another European city for William; it is also the city of his father’s birth.
When Effy, working in William’s hotel, befriends the twenty-eight-year-old William they set off on an adventure to deliver a letter written by William’s father, to his father, after he was abandoned when eight years old. Along the way, thanks to Effy’s persistence, they uncover William’s family’s sordid past.
William soon arrives at the home of his grandfather and delivers his father’s letter to the grandfather he had never known. As the movie came to a halt, we are shown the contrast between the two key characters, Effy and Daniel.
Back at school, Effy quietly looks at several pictures she had taken with William and smiles at one of her sleeping in the hotel room she had shared with William. At the same time, William stands at the symbolic Skagen, where the North Sea meets the Baltic.
3. After the Wedding
Susanne Bier photo by Les Kaner – Wikimedia commons
After the Wedding is a 2006 Danish-Swedish drama film directed by Susanne Bier. Starring are Mads Mikkelsen and Sidse Babett Knudsen. The film was a critical success and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but lost to The Lives of Others.
The film premiered in Denmark on 24 February 2006. The film had its North American premiere as a gala at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival on 15 September 2006. The film opened in wide release in the United Kingdom on 9 March 2007. It opened in limited release in the United States on 30 March 2007.
The film starts with Jacob Petersen who manages an Indian orphanage. With a small staff, he works as hard as he can to keep the orphanage afloat and is personally invested in the young charges—particularly Pramod, whom he has cared for since his birth.
The orphanage has been in danger of collapse for eight years and faces bankruptcy. A Danish corporation offers a substantial donation to maintain the orphanage if Jacob returns to Denmark, where he grew up, to receive the donation in person.
The CEO, Jørgen Hanson, wishes to meet Jacob. Jørgen wants Jacob to head to Denmark so he could care for Anna and Helene, as well as Jørgen’s twin sons Morten and Martin because he is terminally ill.
Jørgen dies. On Jacob’s next visit to India, construction work at the orphanage is well underway ( The money was given to Jacob by Jørgen under Jacob and Anna’s names).
Jacob invites Pramod to come to Denmark to live with him, but partly because Jacob used to rail against the rich, Pramod decides to stay in his home country.
4. A Royal Affair
Mads Mikkelsen photo by Georges Biard – Wikimedia commons
A Royal Affair is a 2012 Danish historical drama film directed by Nikolaj Arcel. The movie stars Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Følsgaard. The story is set in the 18th century, at the court of the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark.
A Royal Affair focuses on the romance between his wife, Caroline Matilda of Great
Britain, and the royal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain is shown writing a letter to her children in which she professes to tell them the truth.
In flashback, Caroline talks of England, as she was about to leave to marry Christian VII of Denmark. She is passionate about the arts and education, but when she arrives in Denmark she is told that many of her books are banned by the state.
Christian is mentally ill and Caroline is unhappy in the marriage. She is soon pregnant with a son (Frederick VI of Denmark), but the couple grows far apart and the king stops visiting her bedroom.
Towards the end of the movie, The film returns to Caroline writing the letter, where she reveals that she is dying of an illness. Ten years later, Prince Frederick and Princess Louise Auguste read the letter.
The on-screen text reveals that Frederick soon became king via a coup d’état and returned to the reforming ways of Struensee.
The film received two Silver Bears at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards. It was also nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 70th Golden Globe Awards.
5. The Shadow in My Eye
Netflix symbol photo by Ghaith baazaoui – Wikimedia commons
The Shadow in My Eye also known as The Bombardment is a Danish feature film from 2021 written and directed by Ole Bornedal. The film deals with, among other things, Operation Carthage carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Copenhagen, Denmark during the Second World War.
One of the planes during the war crashed near Institute Jeanne d’Arc, causing the school to be misidentified as the target and also bombarded.
The plot of the movie starts In 1945, when a Royal Air Force (RAF) de Havilland Mosquito strafes a car carrying several bridesmaids while flying over German-occupied Denmark, mistaking it for a German staff vehicle.
The RAF pilots Pete and Andy learn about the accidental killing of civilians from the Danish Special Operation Executive agent Major Truelson. A teenage boy named Henry is traumatized by the bombing incident and loses his ability to speak. His parents send him to Copenhagen with the hope of improving his mental health.
Will Henry speak again? During the air raid, Henry gradually regains his ability to speak and assists firefighters with identifying the bodies of the wounded. Rigmor and Teresa are trapped under the rubble amidst rising water from damaged pipes and sewers.
Frederik attempts to rescue Teresa from the rubble, but she jumps into the water in an attempt to save Rigmor. However, she dislodges some rubble in the process and the two are crushed to death.
Eva’s parents are distraught when they are unable to find their daughter, with her father regretting arguing with her. When Henry suggests that Eva may have gone home, Eva’s mother finds her daughter at home eating the cold porridge.
The Shadow in My Eye was distributed in Denmark in October 2021. Netflix acquired the international distribution rights for the movie, which was released under the name The Bombardment, in late March 2022.
