Denmark Art / Culture Profile 2012

The Culture of Denmark is quite rich and there are some general characteristics often associated with Danish society and everyday culture. Danes are generally a reserved people, though they are often considered positively outgoing compared to their northern cousins in Norway and Sweden. Danes are fun loving, as a trip through any town on a Friday night can attest, but hard working when there's something to be done. Danes like the idea of 'civilized' nature. They are generally compassionate, articulate, and clean. Equality is an significant part of Danish culture, so much so that, 'success' or what may be seen as a deliberate attempt to distinguish self from others may be viewed with hostility. This characteristic is called Janteloven or Jante's Law by Danes.

Danes with the rest of their Nordic neighbors known for enjoying an open-minded drinking culture. Recent studies has shown that Danish teenagers drink the majority compared to the Nordic neighbors, such as Germans, Norwegians and Swedes. Compared to the US laws, the Danish laws are very different. Buying alcohol is legal in shops at the age of 16, and in bars at 18. There is no minimum drinking age, however by tradition teens are allowed to begin drinking after confirmation as 13-14 year old. However, driving is not allowed until the age of 18.

Cultural achievements

Denmark has a rich cultural and intellectual heritage. The astronomical discoveries of Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), Ludwig A. Colding's (1815-1888) neglected articulation of the principle of conservation of energy, and the brilliant contributions to atomic physics of Niels Bohr (1885-1962) indicate the range of Danish scientific achievement. The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75), the philosophical essays of Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55), the short stories of Karen Blixen (penname Isak Dinesen, 1885-1962), the plays of playwright Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), the authors of the modern breakthrough including Nobel laureate Henrik Pontoppidan and author Herman Bang and the dense, aphoristic poetry of Piet Hein (1905–1996), have earned international recognition, as have the symphonies of Carl Nielsen (1865-1931).

Danish applied art and industrial design have won awards for excellence. The name of Georg Jensen (1866-1935) is known worldwide for modern design in silver. Danish Porcelain Factory ("Royal Copenhagen") and Bing & Grøndahl, renowned for the quality of their porcelain and ceramics, export their products worldwide. Danish design is as well a well-known brand, often associated with the world-famous designers and architects Børge Mogensen, Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen. And of course should not forget that the architect who designed the iconic Sydney Opera Home was a Dane - Jørn Utzon'

In recent years, Danish movies have attracted international attention, especially those associated with Dogme 95 wuch as the filmmaker Lars Von Trier. However the country has always had a strong tradition of movie making and in Carl Theodor Dreyer has produced of the world's greatest film directors.

During the Christmas holidays(or Jul) paper cutting of Christmas ornaments is a very large family event. Spending hours around a table with the family cutting intricate designs into paper is a national holiday standard pastime.

In software engineering, Danes have made significant contributions through Bjarne Stroustrup (inventor of C++) and Anders Hejlsberg (creator of Turbo Pascal, Delphi and the C# programming language). The Dane Janus Friis was of the driving forces behind the invention of Skype.

Visitors to Denmark will discover a wealth of cultural activity. The Royal Danish Ballet, an exceptional company, specializes in the work of the great Danish choreographer August Bournonville (1805-79). Danes have distinguished themselves as jazz musicians, and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival has acquired an international reputation. The modern pop and rock scene is not as well developed as that of, say, Sweden but has still produced a few bands of note (for example, The Raveonettes, Junior Senior and Mew). International collections of modern art enjoy unusually attractive settings at the Louisiana Museum north of Copenhagen and at the North Jutland Art Museum in Aalborg. The National Museum of Art and the Glyptotek, both in Copenhagen, contain treasures of Danish and international art. The Museum of Applied Art and Industrial Design in Copenhagen exhibits the best in Danish design.

Part today's Danish writers, probably the best-known to international readers is Peter Høeg (Smilla's Sense of Snow; Borderliners). Benny Andersen writes poems, short stories, and music. Poems by both writers have been translated into English by the Curbstone Press. Kirsten Thorup's Baby, winner of the 1980 Pegasus Prize, is printed in English by the University of Louisiana Press. The psychological thrillers of Anders Bodelsen as well appear in English. Suzanne Brøgger and Vita Andersen focus largely on the changing roles of women in society. In music, Hans Abrahamsen and Per Nørgård are the most famous living composers. Hans Abrahamsen's works have been performed by the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC.

Sexual equality is a high priority in Denmark. Danes are quite liberal and tolerant towards sexual minorities.

Copenhagen is a popular destination for lesbian and bisexual travellers. It has an active gay community and lots of nightlife options. The major gay and lesbian festival of the year is the Mermaid Pride parade, a large Mardi Gras-like bash that occurs on a Saturday in early August. There's as well the Copenhagen Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, held each year in October. The LBL (Landsforeningen for Bøsser og Lesbiske)(a national organisation for gay men, lesbians and bisexuals) was established in 1948, and in 1989 Denmark became the first country in Europe to offer gay partners most of the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. Adoption laws are liberal compared to other Western nations and public displays of affection between people of the same sex are unlikely to provoke ire. Lesbians wishing to have access to artificial insemination do not provoke the sort of scandals that can occur in other societies.

Cinema of Denmark

Danish cinema pioneer Peter Elfelt, a photographer, was the first Dane to make a film. Between the years of 1896 and 1912, he produced around 200 documentary films on life in Denmark. His first film was Kørsel med Grønlandske Hunde (Traveling with Greenlandic Dogs). Furthermore, he produced the first Danish feature film: Henrettelsen (Capital Execution, 1903). The first film show in Denmark took place in the Panorama cinema on the Town Hall square in Copenhagen, in June 1896. However, the selection of films had been made and produced abroad.

The Golden Age

Despite the small size of its native market and its relatively limited resources, Denmark reigned supreme for several years (1909-14) as Europe's most prosperous film center. Its films rivaled those of Hollywood, for popularity on the screens of Paris, London, Berlin and New York.

– Efraim Katz, Film Encyclopedia, 1998, Collins, ISBN 0-06-273492-X

In 1906, cinema owner Ole Olsen founded the first Danish film-making company, Nordisk Films Kompagni. It gained most of its income from the export market of short films. Not until 1909 were other film-producing companies established. In 1910 the number had reached ten. This period is now known as the Golden Age of Danish Cinema. In the spring of 1910, Nordisk Films Kompagni changed its policy of producing only short films and began making feature films. This was largely inspired by the Århus Fotorama company's Den hvide Slavehandel (The White Slave Trade, 1910), which was the first multi-reel Danish film lasting additional than 30 minutes.

With the increasing length of films, there was a growing artistic awareness, which is evident in Afgrunden (The Abyss, 1910). This film launched the career of Asta Nielsen, who soon became Europe's first great female film star.[1] The film was an erotic melodrama, which soon became the preferred genre in early Danish Cinema. In 1911, with director August Blom as the new chief of production, Nordisk Film was the first of the major European companies to devote itself entirely to full-length feature films. These films were sold abroad profitably because the technical and photographic quality impressed audiences. From now on, when exporting the films, the erotic elements needed to be toned down in order not to offend the working class audiences. In 1913, Nordisk released the first full length feature movie, Atlantis directed by Blom.

After 1913, Danish cinema began to lose its leading foothold in the film industry, with foreign companies having intensified competition in the production of feature length films. Danish cinema had as well begun to suffer from a lack of imagination and a willingness to take creative risks on the part of Danish producers. Independent producer Benjamin Christensen had great success with the spy film Det hemmelighedsfulde X (The Mysterious X or Sealed Orders, 1914) and the crime drama Hævnens Nat (Blind Justice or The Night of Revenge, 1916), both of which are major works in the history of the Danish cinema.

1920s to 1940s

During World War I, the USA became the leading country in film production and Danish exports decreased. In the years following the war, Dreyer made an appearance as director at Nordisk Film with the drama Præsidenten (The President, 1919), followed by the ambitious Blade af Satans Bog (Leaves from Satan's Book, 1921), inspired by the American director D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916) in both technique and theme. However, Dreyer, inclunding Benjamin Christensen, were not permanently connected to the influential Danish film industries and remained loners. As a whole, Danish film in the 1920s was on the decline in spite of the filmmakers' better technical skills. Of most interest at this time were perhaps the so-called Dickens movies directed by the very able A. W. Sandberg. At point Denmark again enjoyed some international reputation - by the a lot of farces of the vagabond duo “Fyrtaarnet og Bivognen” (often known by their French names “Doublepat and Patachon”), who were Scandinavian predecessors of Laurel and Hardy. They were introduced by “Palladium”, the rival of Nordisk Film. Despite these resurgences, at the end of the decade the Danish film industry was on its heels.

In 1929, Nordisk Film Kompagni was established as a sound film company. The Pastor of Vejlby (1931) reinforced the Nordisk's dominance in the Danish market. The 1930s were dominated by a lot of successes with light comedies. The so-called "folkekomedie" (folk comedy) genre was born, with Barken Margrethe (1934) an significant early example. The Depression and the economic conditions of the film companies prevented additional critical film business, and the victory of the sound movie automatically set better limits on the international possibilities of Danish film. A lot of popular stars like Marguerite Viby, Ib Schønberg and Peter Malberg had breakthroughs but in spite of a lot of economic successes no further development of the media was seen.

Between 1940 and 1945, the German occupation of Denmark during World War II provided favourable conditions to start producing additional critical art films. Bodil Ipsen with Black Tie (1942) and Melody of Murder (1944) produced a romantic comedy and a psychological thriller of international standard. As a whole, a additional sinister tone was expressed in these years, and several parallels to the American film noir (as well some years after 1945) can be found. Even the standard of the comedy was lifted, especially by the witty, well-performed and elegant movies directed by the ambitious Johan Jacobsen, a Danish pupil of Ernst Lubitsch. The first years after the war still saw a rising standard, and foremost a additional social/realist line was maintained by such directors as the married couple Henning-Jensen and the sharp, critical and almost cynical films by Ole Palsbo. But after some years the pre-war conditions reappeared: sentimental comedies, and uncomplicated regionalist movies.

1950s to 1970s

A large stream of family comedies ("Lystspil") and class-conscious folk comedies ("folkekomedier") were produced from the 1950s to late 1970s/early 1980s. Here a lot of Danish stars were born, such as Dirch Passer, Ove Sprogøe and director Erik Balling. Significant films of this period include De røde heste (1950), Far til fire (1953), Kispus (1956, first Danish film in colour[2]), Støv på hjernen (1961), Sommer i Tyrol (1964), Passer passer piger (1965), the Olsen Banden-series (1968-1981) and Erik Balling's classic TV-sitcom Huset På Christianshavn (1970-1977).

In the sixties, Danish cinema became gradually additional erotic, with films such as Halløj i himmelsengen (Erik Balling, 1965), Sytten (Annelise Meinecke, 1965), Jeg - en kvinde (Mac Ahlberg, 1965) and Uden en trævl (Annelise Meinecke, 1968), several of which made a huge international impression. As a natural progression, in 1969 Denmark became the first country to quite legalize pornography. In the 1970's, a large percentage of amount Danish films were sexually oriented, and a lot of mainstream-features with mainstream-actors included sequences with either softcore- or hardcore-pornography, most notably Mazurka på sengekanten (John Hilbard, 1970) and I Jomfruens tegn (Finn Karlsson, 1973) along with their a lot of respective sequels.

In 1972, Det Danske Filminstitut (DFI) was founded, with the goal of administering national subsidies to hand-picked film projects. Thanks to DFI, the Danish national was to gain an almost complete control of Danish filmmaking, its influense alternately seen as both a blessing and a curse.

With La' os være (Ernst Johansen & Lasse Nielsen, 1975), independent producer Steen Herdel launched a wave of successful teenage-dramas, including Måske ku' vi (Morten Arnfred, 1976), Du er ikke alene ("You Are Not Alone") (Ernst Johansen & Lasse Nielsen, 1978), Mig og Charly (Morten Arnfred & Henning Kristiansen, 1978) and Vil du se min smukke navle? (Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, 1978), amount produced by Steen Herdel.

A notable TV-series, Matador, ran from 1978-1982[3], and has remained a national favourite. It was directed by Erik Balling.

The 1980s

Since the 1980’s the Danish film industry has been quite dependent on national funding through Det Danske Filminstitut. A project usually doesn't get made unless the script, director and cast etc. has been approved by the appointed representatives of the Danish Film Institute. This means that Danish filmmaking is essentially controlled by the national.

In 1983, Lars von Trier graduated from Den Danske Filmskole (The National Film School of Denmark) and started getting international attention with films such as Forbrydelsens element (1984) and Epidemic (1987). His strange, innovative ideas were fiercely resisted by Det Danske Filminstitut and drew very small local audiences, but were embraced by the Cannes Film Festival, where his films were included in the official selections and took home awards.

Released in 1987 was the gay teenage drama Venner for altid ("Friends Forever"), directed by Stefan Henszelman (1960-1991). It won the 1988 Audience Award as Best Feature at the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.

The Danish film industry got a major boost in the late 1980s when the movie Babettes Gæstebud (Babette's Feast), directed by Gabriel Axel, won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1987, and next year the Best Foreign Film award went to Pelle Erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror), directed by Bille August.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, additional talented directors started graduating from Den Danske Filmskole, such as Thomas Vinterberg, Per Fly and Ole Christian Madsen.

The 1990s

Danish film in the 1990s was dominated by Lars von Trier. His films Europa, Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, and Dancer in the Dark received great international attention and were nominated for numerous awards.

The Dogme 95 Collective caught the attention of the international film world with its strict "vows of chastity" or rules for filmmakers that force filmmakers to concentrate on purity of story and the actors' performances rather than special effects and other cinematic devices.

The first Dogme 95 film, The Celebration (Festen), directed by Thomas Vinterberg, received a lot of awards on the international film festival circuit and was named by both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle as the best foreign-language film of the year.

The members of the Dogme 95 Collective were von Trier, Vinterberg, Kristian Levring, and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen. Although the Dogme 95 movement originated in Denmark, filmmakers around the world soon experimented with the rigid guidelines and sought certification for their films as Dogme.

Lars von Trier as well made history by having his company Zentropa be the world's first mainstream film company to produce hardcore pornographic films. Three of these films, Constance (1998), Pink Prison (1999) and Amount About Anna (2005), were made primarily for a female audience, and were extremely successful in Europe, with the first being directly responsible for the March 2006 legalizing of pornography in Norway.

The 21st century

Danish filmmaking remains almost quite controlled by the national through The Danish Film Institute (DFI), which was founded in 1972. This has resulted in a much criticized lack of innovation (notably, Dogme95 happened in spite of strong resistance from the Film Institute) and frequent accusations of nepotism and cronyism, for example when DFI-employee Mikael Olsen greenlighted 28 million kroner of government subsidy money to his childhood-friend Peter Aalbæk Jensen, then went on to work for him in a high-ranking position.

The Danish Film Institute however has as well achieved a high level of professionalism even if additional or less reserved for a few selected genres and production companies (mainly Nordisk Film, Zentropa and Nimbus Film). In February 2008, Nordisk Film bought half of Zentropa, which frequently coproduces with Nimbus Film, but such tax-funded, national-sanctioned monopolies are rarely frowned upon in Denmark

A trilogy directed by Per Fly, The Bench (Bænken) (2000), Inheritance(Arven) (2003), and Manslaughter (Drabet) (2005) portrayed Denmark's three distinct social classes and received international acclaim.

The work of Susanne Bier, particularly Brothers (2004) and After the Wedding (2006), introduced the world to Danish actors such as Mads Mikkelsen, Ulrich Thomsen, and Nikolaj Lie Kaas. After the Wedding was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Anders Thomas Jensen first received acclaim as Oscar-winning writer-director of three short films, Ernst & lyset (1996), Wolfgang (1997) and Valgaften (1998), then as screenwriter of such feature films as Mifune's Last Song (1999), Open Hearts (2002), Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002), Stealing Rembrandt (2003) and Brothers (2004); and finally as a director of dark and profound feature comedies like The Green Butchers (2003) and Adam's Apples (2005).

Other notable Danish directors of the 21st century include Nikolaj Arcel, Christoffer Boe, Lone Scherfig, Niels Arden Oplev, Nicolas Winding Refn, Ole Christian Madsen, Annette K. Olesen and Christian E. Christiansen.

The 21st century's first decade proved difficult for a number of Denmark's most established directors, including Lars von Trier, although things started well with his Nicole Kidman-starring Dogville (2003), a provocative stylistic experiment filmed on a black sound stage with little beyond white floor markings to indicate the sets. It's sequel Manderlay (2005), exploring the issue of slavery, continued this stylistic device but was largely ignored by audiences.

Thomas Vinterberg, who had gained worldwide recognition with The Celebration (1999), made very expensive English-language flops, It's Amount About Love (2003) and Dear Wendy (2005), then tried to retrace his roots with a smaller Danish-language production, En mand kommer hjem (2007), which as well flopped painfully, selling only 31.232 tickets

Around the same time, both Bille August, Lone Scherfig, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, made Danish-language films that flopped both financially and with the critics, leading the Danish financial times Børsen to observe on September 19 2007 that "1990'ernes filmfest er forbi" (the film party of the 1990's has ended)

A change of leadership at the Danish Film Institute in late 2007 was seen by a lot of as an opportunity for reflection and renewal, while others pointed to the generally healthy local box office numbers and denied any crisis. Daily paper Jyllands-posten concluded the situation to be a "krise i en opgangstid" (crisis in a time of increase)

Danish cinema remains highly respected internationally, and Danish films (today almost exclusively consisting of social realist dramas, social realist comedies, children's films and documentaries) receive a lot of awards at major international film festivals.

Danish films nominated for César Award for Best Foreign Film

* 1997 - Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier) (won)
* 1999 - The Celebration (Thomas Vinterberg)
* 2001 - Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier)

Danish films nominated for César Award for Best European Union Film

* 2004 - Dogville (Lars von Trier)

Danish films nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

* 1956 - Qivitoq (Erik Balling)
* 1959 - Paw (Astrid Henning-Jensen)
* 1961 - Harry and the Butler (Bent Christensen)
* 1987 - Babette's Feast (Gabriel Axel) (won)
* 1988 - Pelle the Conqueror (Bille August) (won)
* 1989 - Waltzing Regitze (Kaspar Rostrup)
* 1996 - Amount Things Fair (Bo Widerberg) (Swedish/Danish coproduction)
* 2007 - After the Wedding (Susanne Bier)

Danish films nominated for Best European Film

* 1988 - Pelle the Conqueror (Bille August)
* 1996 - Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier) (won)
* 1998 - The Celebration (Thomas Vinterberg)
* 1999 - Mifune (Soren Kragh-Jacobsen)
* 2000 - Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier) (won)
* 2001 - Italian for Beginners (Lone Scherfig)
* 2002 - Lilja 4-ever (Lukas Moodysson) (Swedish/Danish/Estonian coproduction)
* 2003 - Dogville (Lars von Trier)
* 2004 - A Hole in My Heart (Lukas Moodysson) (Swedish/Danish coproduction)
* 2005 - Brothers (Susanne Bier)

Danish directors nominated for Best European Director

* 2003 - Lars von Trier, Dogville (won)
* 2005 - Susanne Bier, Brothers
* 2006 - Susanne Bier, After the Wedding

Major article: Denmark