The Sunfish (2014)
Kesse is a third generation fisherman, living in a small coastal town in Northern Jutland. Life trudges along without surprises, but all this is about to change. The fishing industry is hit by financial crisis and the small fishing boats are swiftly put out of competition by big corporations. In desperation, Kesse tries to find a way out of his hopeless plight and has to resort to dishonest means, on top of having to fire his best friend and lone employee. As if this wasn't enough, he gets an unwelcome guest on-board in the form of marine biologist Gerd from Copenhagen, sent to study the fishing. Søren Balle's debut feature is a funny and touching film about love, friendship and the difficult art of dealing with change.
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Some years ago a danish filmmaker made an acclaimed movie about the harsh reality in the agricultural industry. Now a similar venture has been produced about equally troublesome conditions within todays fishing business. The actors are not well known, but that only contributes to the believability of the project. In truth there has not been made many attempts to cover that subject matter, and the structure of the drama could be valid for most fishing industry along the shores of Europe, where bigger boats are now needed to make fishing profitable. There is a symbolic meaning to the title of the film 'Ocean Sunfish' where a clumsy big fish is swimming lonely around in the local fish tank exposition. The main character feels the same way as a creature not really fitting in with the current development of his branch. To keep from bankruptcy he indulges in some illegal activity which eventually backfires. The film is a valid and honest tribute to the living conditions in the provinces, where the changes make it difficult to continue to live and keep up the old traditions.