The Danish Poet (2006)

Director:

Torill Kove

Writer:

Torill Kove (writer)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Romance

Plot:

A woman ponders over the strange coincidences that made her forefathers and -mothers meet and create the premises for her becoming the person that she is.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Norway | Poet | Father Daughter Relationship | Friend

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Liv Ullmann

...

Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Torill Kove

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Torill Kove		writer

Produced by
Lise Fearnley	....	producer
Marcy Page	....	producer

Film Editing by
Phyllis Lewis

Sound Department
Håkan Lammetun	....	sound
Kjetil Trøan	....	sound editor

Visual Effects by
Martin Ciastko	....	digital imaging consultant

Animation Department
Astrid Aakra	....	animator
Bjarte Agdestein	....	animator
Anne Ashton	....	additional background artist
Anne Ashton	....	color designer
Helene Bisgaard	....	assistant animator
Stéphanie Duong	....	additional animator
Torill Kove	....	animator
Annely Põldsaar	....	assistant animator
Magnhild Valen-Sendstad Winsnes	....	additional animator (as Magnhild Winsnes)

Other crew
Winston Emano	....	publicist
David Magdael	....	publicist

Production Companies

• Mikrofilm
• National Film Board of Canada (NFB) (co-production)

Distributors

• Magnolia Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Den danske dikteren (Norway)

Runtime:

14 min | Germany:15 min (Berlin Kinderfilmfest)

Country:

Norway | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Company:

Mikrofilm

Trivia:

The first Norwegian film to win an Oscar since Kon-Tiki (1950).

Quotes:

Narrator: But had it not been for the Danish poet and Sigrid Undset, a rainy summer in Norway, a slippery barn plank, a careless mailman, a hungry goat, a broken thumb, and a crowded train, my parents might never have met and who knows I might still be a little seed floating around in the sky waiting for someone to come and get me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

Life Is More Than 'Chance'

This is an animated story about "chance" and "coincidence" ruling our lives, something the author apparently believes because it's stated by narrator in the first few sentences of the film that "we are all just seeds floating up there in the space waiting for someone to get us."

With an atheistic outlook like that, it's no wonder this won an Oscar for "best animated short." Had the opposite belief been put into film, it wouldn't have stood a chance to be nominated.

Anyway, Torill Kove, a Norwegian animator/filmmaker and current resident of Canada, gives us this "cute" story in which a series of circumstances all make for a happy ending. The illustrations are half the fun of watching this 15-minute award-winning short. They artwork is clean and colorful and a treat for the eyes.

Liv Ullman does a nice job of narrating the film but I would have rather had a variety of voices. Having a female voice all the male characters sounded out of place.

I wouldn't be surprised if Miss Kove did this story tongue-in-cheek, knowing that actually everything happens for a reason, not that all of life is sheer chance. No one is dumb enough to believe that, which is why this is a good fairy tale.