Villa Paranoia (2004)

The lovely Danish actress Sonja Richter steals this film from under the noses of everyone, no small feat considering the terrific performances surrounding her.Richter plays Anna, an out-of-work, independent-minded, somewhat neurotic (and perhaps suicidal) actress who lands a desperation job looking after a wheelchair-bound, muted, aged father named Walentin (the great Danish actor Frits Helmuth, who died at 77 shortly after this film was made).SPOILER ALERTWalentin refuses to respond to anyone --until he confronts the gifted Anna, whose whimsical and mischievous manner brings the poor old battered devil back from a self-imposed death sentence.Writer/director/actor Eric Clausen has made a strong film about the difficulty a ponderous businessman son (Jorgen, played by Clausen) has loving a father who has never accepted him. The film sags toward the end, but Clausen has some important things to say about euthanasia, the nature and value of loving and caring, and how one person, the irrepressible Anna, can alter the course of a human life. Highly recommended. Sonja Richter's performance is alone worth the price of admission.

Being from Canada, I cannot say whether this film is original in the context of Danish cinema - unfortunately, we, here, do not get to see many Danish films in a year! I also cannot comment on Clausen's acting in the context of his other roles - I personally found him quite believable - a touching monstrosity of a man, this Jorgen! As for the actor who played Kenneth - why would his participation in a TV show rule him out as an actor - aren't we over such elitist attitudes? International viewers unaware of his Big Brother participation will find him a fair actor.In spite of the movie's faults (the writing could have been subtler in some instances), I do subscribe to what one could call the 'message' of the film - namely art's essential role in everyday life, art as healing force. Art, as Nietzsche said, sanctifies the lie ('Kunst heiligt die Luege') - it is a holy lie: the wedding scene is fabulous in this sense - a theatrical, not religious, wedding, celebrating love and life as play...

It seems as if filmmakers in Denmark can only one type of film over and over. Isn't this obvious to anyone else? And another thing - if you're going to tell a story like Villa Paranoia, which has been told time and time again, you had better make sure you do it in an original way. Unfortunately it is not. I had to fight to keep my eyes open. Luckily the guy next to me was snoring, so that helped.There isn't even any payoff after sitting through this overlong piece of fiction. The characters are written as boring clichés with minimal and/or predictable arch (if any) and never once do they do or say anything original. The best actor in the film doesn't even speak until 3/4 of the way through. And I can't understand why Eric Clausen would ever choose Søren from Big Brother to play one the main characters. That's right, I said Big Brother, like in the TV show. I mean, come on, aren't there hundreds of educated actors in Denmark who are starving for work? Well, at least it wasn't shot on DV like most Danish films (It was shot on the new Sony IMX). So if nothing else, the picture quality was good and the cinematography was well done. But this was a "wait for video" film for sure. I guess I should have figured that much out when I walked into the theater and immediately noticed I was the only one in there under 60.

A typical Clausen film, but then again not typical. Clausen writes, directs and play one of the leading roles. This is really a great film about normal people living normal lives trying to make the best of it. The 4 primary actors were fantastic.Fritz Helmut was convincing. You believe that he really is sick.Sonja Richter plays a nurse that really is an actor, but it turns out that she is the best nurse to take care of the old man.Everybody has problems and those who nobody believes in ends up being happy. But nothing good comes easy, they have to fight to win their life and love.