Mifune (1999)

Mifune

Here's a movie that was excellent, about accepting people for what they are, and accepting yourself. The four main characters in the movie did an excellent job in portraying their character. A movie full of fun, exciting and a lot of laughter. You may find yourself in one of the roles exhibited. A great foreign film. April 19, 2008

Danish Delight

Mifune is a story of the redemptions of what might once have been described as a yuppy and a prostitute. It is a delight from start to finish. The title comes from a childhood game played by two brothers, one the yuppy and the other the left behind farmer's son (although naturally they are both the sons of the same farmer).

The brothers are reunited when their father dies and the film proceeds to show how people can be redeemed. The two main characters and the subsidiary two characters.

This film is highly recommended and was I believe the third of the dogme films, therefore short on special effects and musical accompaniment. The story is simple and heartening. August 8, 2005

You Mean It's NOT A Japanese Documentary??

My third Dogme film turns out to be "Dogme 3"--which is not to say I saw them in anything like their original order: that kind of purposeful viewing just isn't my style. But after having seen three Dogme entries, I believe I'm starting to get the feel for them. Do I find them as revolutionary as all that? Not really, but I do like their spare, bare bones style. As American films become increasingly reliant on high tech wizardry, it's actually refreshing to see someone employ a more Spartan approach.

MIFUNE (aka MIFUNE'S LAST SONG) is as quirky a movie as you're likely to find, a rambling, shambling tale that takes its time getting started, totters a bit along the way and throws in a few extraneous and dubious plot turns. But there's something winning about its offbeat characters, and its equally offbeat way of presenting them.

The misfits-finding-each-other plotline is hardly new. In fact, it's old enough that in order to make it work, you've got to make those misfits pretty darn compelling. MIFUNE's cast of characters is as odd an assortment as you'd ever find. They include: a would-be yuppie attempting to flee his country bumpkin past: a call girl who seeks to escape the harsh realities of her urban existence by fleeing to the country: her troubled, street-wise younger brother: and his sweetly innocent, mentally challenged brother.

You just know these two sets of orphaned siblings are going to merge and form a blended family of their own, not quite a Nordic Brady Bunch, but then again, not as unconventional as all that either. There are the requisite misadventures and misunderstandings before the somewhat muted happy ending. And you know, for my money, that's fine. This movie and ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS prove that even would-be cinematic revolutionaries can make pretty effective feel-good movies--a little darker and more offbeat than their American counterparts, but ultimately upbeat all the same. Nothing wrong with that. September 2, 2004

Pas paa Mifune kommer!

On the day after his wedding, Kresten finds out that his father has died, leaving behind his mentally disturbed brother who is know in the need of someone alse to take care of him. Forced to leave to leave the City and his newly wed wife, he takes of to the country to fix things and return as quick as possible. He finds his fathers farm in a big mess and his brother hiding under a table, refusing to get in the shower. Kresten decides to hire someone to live on the farm with his brother. And that is where Liva comes into the picture. A prostitute struggeling to pay her sons expensive private school, seeking a new start. She takes the Job, but not only that... November 19, 2003

Three good reasons to see "Mifune"

This is a very good movie that has three things going for it...

1. It's an excellent example of the Dogme style of filmmaking, carried out most notably over the past eight years by Lars von Trier. And since von Trier's most notable work is so draining to watch, you can get acclimated to Dogme with "Mifune" director Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's far lighter touch.

2. It's great to see Iben Hjejle acting in her native tongue. She was a pleasant surprise in John Cusack's adaptation of Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity." As impressive as she was in a secondary language, she's even better here in Danish.

3. The main story is a compelling one following the different life paths of brothers Kresten and Rud and the events that bring them back together. Unfortunately, from glancing at the usual misguided US coverbox, you'd never know it was the brothers' tale that forms the emotional core of the film. The event depicted on the box - the alluring shot of 'working girls' shooting the breeze - constitutes about 5% of what this film is about. Why do US marketers feel the need to deceive us like this?

Note that this film is also known as "Mifunes Sidste Sang" (its original Danish title) and "Dogme 3" (the Dogme practitioners got together and released their films as a series).

"Mifune" is definitely worth checking out. May 13, 2003

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