I was not as overwhelmed with sadness as some of the other IMDb posts indicate they were. Yes, there are some sad elements to it, but all in all, there's much more to the movie than sadness. It's the story of a couple from the time they met until the present as shown through flashbacks the husband sees as he thinks about the many years they've had together. It is interesting to watch and seemed so very real--like this is a couple we all might know. What I also liked was how the mother-in-law was portrayed--and ultimately how her daughter, despite her protests, became just like her over time! While not the very best Danish film I have seen (that honor goes to "Festen"; also known as "The Celebration"), it is excellent in all facets.
8 Reviews
Moving, not sentimental
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews27 October 2009
I have not read the novel... though I wouldn't rule out that I will, now... and thus I cannot make any comparisons, or rate the quality of this as an adaptation. It is not often that I watch Danish films, but I am glad I made this one of those occasions. This is well-directed, and genuinely emotionally affecting. It does not contain an ounce of sap. Instead, you get to care about the people, and you find yourself drawn in. This stars two of our greatest actors, and the rest of the cast are excellent, as well. Almost every single performance is spot-on, and the children are fine. Nørby and Helmuth are flawless. Having someone's son(or daughter) play them at a younger age is an obvious choice, and it works. Told largely in flashbacks and with a chronology that goes back and forth a lot, this is about a married couple's life together, right from when they first met. Character development is plentiful and well-done, and they are all credible, consistent and convincing. The music is fitting. This is well-paced, and nothing seems excessive or extraneous. There is not a lot of offensive material in this... some content is disturbing and unsettling. Kids aren't really the target audience here, however. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys the genre of drama. 8/10
A tragedy
Mort-3110 September 2000
This film tells a really sad story. I don't know whether it's based on real characters but I hope it's not. It's not the story of Regitze, as the title suggests, but the one of her husband. Director Kaspar Rostrup evokes a depressing feeling in the viewer by showing the couple's present situation, having a garden party with their old friends, alternating with important episodes of their marriage, where Regitze turns out to be a dominant, egoistic wife. The comparison between now and then makes the movie very shocking and sad and I really recommend it to every one, especially to men who are about to marry.
A truly sad Danish film
AslaugRuotsalainen30 June 2003
This film is one of those you will always keep in the back of your mind. Ghita Nørby and Frits Helmuth have indeed played together many times but this is one of the best.
It's dealing with mourning and death, being together and in love for a whole lifetime and with a tremendously sad ending. In this film we're faced with lives catastrophies at the same time as we see a true and lifelong love.
A marriage with its ups and downs but a couple who are always together in safety.
As a film it is really sad mainly because it seems so real; that it could happpen to anyone. Another thing which makes this film great is that it portraits totally normal danish life; nothing fancy or spectacular, we're just shown a couple who've been together for everso many years and at the end of it all we see how utterly difficult it is to part.
A film that definately is worthwhile watching since it gives one something to think about. As we know Martha Christensen really can make tragedies but never over the line. She indeed touches peoples souls and I wonder if that isn't also the meaning.
It's dealing with mourning and death, being together and in love for a whole lifetime and with a tremendously sad ending. In this film we're faced with lives catastrophies at the same time as we see a true and lifelong love.
A marriage with its ups and downs but a couple who are always together in safety.
As a film it is really sad mainly because it seems so real; that it could happpen to anyone. Another thing which makes this film great is that it portraits totally normal danish life; nothing fancy or spectacular, we're just shown a couple who've been together for everso many years and at the end of it all we see how utterly difficult it is to part.
A film that definately is worthwhile watching since it gives one something to think about. As we know Martha Christensen really can make tragedies but never over the line. She indeed touches peoples souls and I wonder if that isn't also the meaning.
An under-seen Oscar BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE nominee from Denmark
lasttimeisaw23 June 2015
This under-seen Oscar BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE nominee from Denmark is an adaptation from a popular Danish novel written by Martha Christensen, tells the story of an elderly couple Karl Aage (played by real-life father-and-son Frits and Mikael Helmuth in different time-lines) and Regitze (Nørby and Bendsen), who are organising a garden party in their countryside house to host their friends and families, interposed with flashbacks of their past from Karl's angle, and a hidden secret only reveals near the end.
Regitze is a spitfire, a woman full of vim and vigour, whilst Karl is a more introvert and self- effacing sort, a wallflower standing beside his more gregarious jokester friend Borge (also played by real-life father-and-son pair Henning and Michael Moritzen). Rarely in his life, Karl makes the first move to invite Regitze for a dance in their very first encounter, which kindles their romance and launches a marriage will last until now. Jumping back and forth frequently between past and present, director Kaspar Rostrup utilises brusque editing to reflect Karl's fitful memories of their past episodes - at firstly it may prompt some bewilderment, but soon viewers can find the pattern - about how they fall in love, being rebellious to Regitze's orthodox mother (Rolffes), raise their only son John until he is old enough to let them taste their medicine, help out their friend Gloria (Zinn) when she is afflicted with domestic violence and face inescapable career debacles in difficult times.
Substantially, it is an ode to an ordinary life of two ordinary persons, of course they squabble and ruffle each other's feathers from time to time, but more significantly they also coordinate their dissimilarities, respect and encourage each other over the long-haul of a marriage. And Rostrup never opt to sensationalise their experiences to manipulate audience's reactions, instead, he largely relies on the emotive performances to lay out a heterogeneous mixture of humour, laughter and confrontation in a down-to-earth narrative, with the aid of its swooning soundtrack.
The two pairs play Karl and Regitze are wonderful to watch, as a national treasure, the prolific Ghita Nørby powerfully stands for a force of all emotions, which can be ignited at any moment while as the young Regitze, Bendsen sparks with a distant likeness of a young Liv Ullmann; a great casting choice to bring Frits and Mikael Helmuth to play the same person, their facial resemblances does offset the inconvenient fact that in only about 10 years, we have to accept Karl's physical switch from Mikael to his father Frits, it is always the same risk for casting with a vast age range, Mikael is at best with his wide-eyed unsophisticatedness and the veteran Frits, brings about his prowess out of reticence and obstinacy.
Fairly speaking, MEMORIES OF A MARRIAGE is skillful in its lyrical style, admirable in its unassuming stance and owes one to its competent cast, yet at the same time, a twist in the coda may be unnecessarily staged since the picture has already comprehended quite a lot marriage philosophy within its 90-minute length, there is no need to bookend it with a strike of bathos (despite the fact that it is well-anticipated), or perhaps, it could be introduced earlier to fine-tune the mood to a more somber frequency and evoke some pathos for our protagonists, either way, it may help to ameliorate itself to be a more worthy Oscar-nominee in its category.
Regitze is a spitfire, a woman full of vim and vigour, whilst Karl is a more introvert and self- effacing sort, a wallflower standing beside his more gregarious jokester friend Borge (also played by real-life father-and-son pair Henning and Michael Moritzen). Rarely in his life, Karl makes the first move to invite Regitze for a dance in their very first encounter, which kindles their romance and launches a marriage will last until now. Jumping back and forth frequently between past and present, director Kaspar Rostrup utilises brusque editing to reflect Karl's fitful memories of their past episodes - at firstly it may prompt some bewilderment, but soon viewers can find the pattern - about how they fall in love, being rebellious to Regitze's orthodox mother (Rolffes), raise their only son John until he is old enough to let them taste their medicine, help out their friend Gloria (Zinn) when she is afflicted with domestic violence and face inescapable career debacles in difficult times.
Substantially, it is an ode to an ordinary life of two ordinary persons, of course they squabble and ruffle each other's feathers from time to time, but more significantly they also coordinate their dissimilarities, respect and encourage each other over the long-haul of a marriage. And Rostrup never opt to sensationalise their experiences to manipulate audience's reactions, instead, he largely relies on the emotive performances to lay out a heterogeneous mixture of humour, laughter and confrontation in a down-to-earth narrative, with the aid of its swooning soundtrack.
The two pairs play Karl and Regitze are wonderful to watch, as a national treasure, the prolific Ghita Nørby powerfully stands for a force of all emotions, which can be ignited at any moment while as the young Regitze, Bendsen sparks with a distant likeness of a young Liv Ullmann; a great casting choice to bring Frits and Mikael Helmuth to play the same person, their facial resemblances does offset the inconvenient fact that in only about 10 years, we have to accept Karl's physical switch from Mikael to his father Frits, it is always the same risk for casting with a vast age range, Mikael is at best with his wide-eyed unsophisticatedness and the veteran Frits, brings about his prowess out of reticence and obstinacy.
Fairly speaking, MEMORIES OF A MARRIAGE is skillful in its lyrical style, admirable in its unassuming stance and owes one to its competent cast, yet at the same time, a twist in the coda may be unnecessarily staged since the picture has already comprehended quite a lot marriage philosophy within its 90-minute length, there is no need to bookend it with a strike of bathos (despite the fact that it is well-anticipated), or perhaps, it could be introduced earlier to fine-tune the mood to a more somber frequency and evoke some pathos for our protagonists, either way, it may help to ameliorate itself to be a more worthy Oscar-nominee in its category.
The reality movies don't usually dare to show
skinnybert30 December 2022
Most love stories focus on romance; a valid choice, being the most saleable part of such a story. It works so well because it follows all the needs for story: it starts, it complicates, it has a satisfactory ending (or the opposite, if a tragedy -- and therefore a negative example which still supports the same example) . People want to live or relive such stories, whether they are 17 or 70.
This, of course, is a different tale: one which illustrates love in a more whole fashion. Love is not just romance, desire, passion and payoff (though it may well include all those things). Real love lasts longer than any of those, and therefore include elements that don't go so well with bright colors and swelling music: endurance, understanding, and shared connections. But it's also likely to include disappointments and even shocking betrayals, which doesn't make an easily appreciated story; viewers may well respond that these are the moments they'd rather not dwell on.
Danzin med Regitze doesn't sugar-coat things: people aren't always at their best, and they will fall short of the hopes they lay on each other. And yet, they may also move past those things. Long-term love isn't like that of youth. This isn't romantic, but it is real. That deserves to be in movies too, and here it is -- if you can find it.
This, of course, is a different tale: one which illustrates love in a more whole fashion. Love is not just romance, desire, passion and payoff (though it may well include all those things). Real love lasts longer than any of those, and therefore include elements that don't go so well with bright colors and swelling music: endurance, understanding, and shared connections. But it's also likely to include disappointments and even shocking betrayals, which doesn't make an easily appreciated story; viewers may well respond that these are the moments they'd rather not dwell on.
Danzin med Regitze doesn't sugar-coat things: people aren't always at their best, and they will fall short of the hopes they lay on each other. And yet, they may also move past those things. Long-term love isn't like that of youth. This isn't romantic, but it is real. That deserves to be in movies too, and here it is -- if you can find it.
Danish director Kaspar Rostrup has directed an excellent film about love and marriage.
FilmCriticLalitRao1 May 2013
Most love stories made for cinema depict what happens in the lives of lovers before marriage.This is done by showing scenes of happiness or hardships.Films about lovers who were once married can rightly be called love stories about married people as they create two separate lives for lovers;one before marriage where love develops and a different life for lovers after marriage where they might or might not be able to continue their love.Memories of a marriage/"Dansen med Regitze" is one such film which reveals itself as a good blend of lovers' past and present lives. In this film,past and present lives of its main characters make a lot of sense as they are presented through many dream like situations wherein Danish actors Ghita Nørby and Frits Helmuth pour all their emotions in scenes of fight,frustration,happiness and togetherness.This film is based on a famous Danish novel written by Martha Christensen. The tone of the film is simple and there are plenty of daily life scenes which suggest that family is the most important unit for lovers who have decided to tie the knot.
Movie of a Lifetime
antikill21 March 1999
Ghita Nørby and Frits Helmuth in their roles of a lifetime. This movie shows, what the couple goes through during their marriage. From the mother who demands that they get married to the troubles of unemployment. This picture must be seen, at least if you come from Denmark. It's a classic picture. A 100 % must-see!!!
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