‘Blinkende lygter‘ (the English title is ‘Flickering Lights‘) is the first feature film by Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen, who, by the time the movie was made in the year 2000, had already started a prolific screenwriting career. He continued in this direction, being the author of scripts for over 50 films so far, while as a director he has made only 5 films in 21 years. ‘Flickering Lights‘ already demonstrates professionalism and originality. We find in this film bizarre characters, to whom we will discover the history and motives of the behavior, and the absurd but human comic situations that will be repeated and amplified in the following films. And we find Mads Mikkelsen, the formidable actor who is not missing from the credits of any of Anders Thomas Jensen‘s films.
We can tell from the opening scene that we are dealing with a gangsters movie, but not an ordinary one. Imagine a Marx brothers movie directed by Quentin Tarantino and sprinkled with Danish humor. The heroes are a gang of four criminals who can’t help but toughly beat those who get in their way, excepting the cases when they shoot them or fight each other. Two of them seem to consider quitting their jobs (cherchez les femmes!) and returning to a normal life, but for that they need money, so another ‘hit’. The third seems incorrigible in his passion for firearms, and the fourth has his problems, including a bullet in the stomach. When the gang gets in trouble with other gangsters worse than themselves and have to flee, the opportunity to change the course of their lives is offered by the the unexpected hiding in an abandoned restaurant in a forest. Will the four of them turn into peaceful restaurant owners? The movie is just starting here.
The combination of violent gangsters movies and absurd comedy with strange characters doing terrible things, but which the audience can’t help but sympathize with, has been working well since this first film by the director. Anders Thomas Jensen will perfect it in the next films. His heroes always have surprises in store. Søren Pilmark plays the role of the gang leader, with Mads Mikkelsen, Ulrich Thomsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas in the other three gang members roles. All are actors with whom Jensen will work in the films that will follow in his career as a director. By hazard of programming, I’ve seen four of his films in reverse chronological order. This debut film already has all the characteristics of its directorial style. The only obvious flaw in the film, in my opinion, can be found the script. The four stories about childhood traumas that are the motivations of the characters’ actions seemed too similar and too didactic. But it is not enough to deprive us of the pleasure of watching.