Copenhagen Director's Blog

By Jimmy Quigley, Director

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Arrived in Copenhagen, cold and with the sense that snow was imminent. The place looks fantastic, the Christmas decorations are out in full, I kind of think I'm in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" walking down Bakersville High Street. I'm half expecting to bump in Clarence the Angel, but instead it's world-renowned Dogme director Thomas Vinterberg.

He's a cool guy, young, only 36 years old. We hook up at his house for coffee and a croissant and discuss where were gonna go in the city. Instead he takes me to a park and a palace outside Copenhagen, where the deer run free.

As we film, Vinterberg recollects from his childhood, about how he grew up in a hippy commune and how he came to the park and smoked his first joint. I won't go into the magic mushrooms!

Later we head for Christiana, the world-famous communal area that has declared itself independent of the Danish government. We stroll through handcrafted homes and streets that kind of remind me of an adult munchkin land; strange and wonderful shapes and colors. Vinterberg takes me to a cycle shop where the merchandise is again handmade, but now very expensive. We get an occasional glance from dodgy-looking types. Drug dealers, perhaps.

We head off for lunch in a lovely bistro surrounded by most of the Danish film scene. I ask Vinterberg if he does commercials as well as movies and he candidly replies "that he's crap at them!" This guy's no prima donna!

Later in the evening we head for Tivoli a beautiful ancient fun fair right in the center of Copenhagen. It's like being in a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale while being on ether! But Vinterberg loves this place, he really opens up and talks of his recollections as a child, also of when he was shooting a movie there and his baby was born at the same time. Despite his Dogme director credentials, I begin to deduce he's really a romantic at heart.

We end up in a Michelin-starred restaurant in the center of Tivoli where Vinterberg tells me the strangest story ever about his movie "Festen," which I'll have to leave to your imagination. He talks of his new projects, which are not Dogme but more emotionally led.

We bid our goodbyes and as he's leaving he shouts: "See you at the Sundance Film Festival." He's judging best film. I can't think of a nicer guy to be casting his eye over other people's work.

As we took off from Copenhagen airport there we saw one last Christmas tree, covered in lights, right at the end of the runway. Kind of sums up Denmark.

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