Hans Christian Andersen related films available through the Danish Cultural Institute
The Danish Cultural Institute and the Embassy of Denmark, thanks to the cooperation with the Danish Art Agency (Kunststyrelsen) and the Danish Film Institute, offer following 5 HCA-related films for non-commercial presentations only:
The Tinderbox
dir. Michail Badica,
time: 35 min. (DVD)
A soldier came marching down the highway: one, two, one, two! He had his knapsack on his back and a sword by his side, for he had been to war, and now he was going home ... The Romanian-Danish puppet film master retells Hans Christian Andersen’s splendid fairy tale in free and easy fashion in his own puppet film universe: the soldier has become a bumpkin with a raging thirst and the princess
is a plump matron. This puppet film is of international standard and one unique feature is that the puppets gesticulate in sign language, so hearing-impaired kids and grown-ups are given a helping hand while anyone who can hear normally won’t even notice.
Danish dialogue, English subtitles.
Hans the Clopper
dir. Michail Badica
time: 21 min. (DVD)
Hans Christian Andersen’s celebrated fairy tale about the poor country lad whose creativity and frankness winds him the princess and half the kingdom is performed in this film by Mester Jakel Teater. In Mihail Badica’s superb reading of the fairy tale, Hans the Clopper’s goat wears green spectacles, the princess has a tongue like a fishwife, and all the puppets speak sign language. Animated. Danish dialogue, English subtitles.
The Snow Queen
dir. Jacob Jorgensen, Kristof Kuncewicz,
screenplay: Królowa Danii - Malgorzata II
time: 35 min. (DVD)
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen told as a digital drama by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. The basis of the film is artwork created by the Queen of Denmark who takes us into the world of the fairy tale in her own special visual way. The artwork; "découpages" are animated and mixed with live action and music. Narrated in Danish and English by Queen Margrethe.
Hans Christian Andersen and the Long Shadow
dir. Jannik Hastrup
screenplay: Bent Haller
time: 75 min. (VHS)
Internationally renowned Danish animator Jannik Hastrup and his regular writing cohort Bent Haller have based their animation feature for adults on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Shadow. Hastrup’s airily poetic, yet witty and precise drawing style and content remain true to Andersen in both spirit and action. The film is a sumptuous visual feast, full of sophisticated watercolour-like backgrounds and expressionist sequences packed with striking colour. An animated feature that is a pleasure to the eye and stimulates the mind.
Hastrup has Andersen and his shadow go through the great storyteller’s life from beginning to end. It is all there: the hardships, including his learning to cope with fear; the guiding light of a loving mother; the thwarted early ambition of becoming a ballet dancer; the inevitable unrequited love, the sexual dreaming; and the rewards and temptations of fame and travel. In short, the stuff and substance of Andersen’s entire life and literary oeuvre. The relentless presence of The Shadow finds its happy counterpoints in the merging into the action of beloved Andersen creations as, in particular, the Ugly Duckling, destined for proudest swanhood. Danish dialogue, English subtitles.
Young Andersen
dir. Rumle Hammerich
screenplay: Ulf Stark, Rumle Hammerich
time: 110 min. (DVD)
A powerful modern film narrative set in a historical framework, about the crucial encounter between vulnerable eighteen-year-old Hans Christian Andersen, who rates himself so highly, and Mr. Meisling, the cynical school principal. An encounter that fundamentally transforms Hans Christian's life. Danish dialogue, English subtitles.
... and a Polish production:
The Flax
dir. Joanna Jasinska / debut (Poland)
screenplay: Frances Osterfelt (Denmark)
narration: Jerzy Stuhr
music: Michal Makulski
time: 13 min. (DVD)
release: August 2005
A newly released animation for small children, produced by TV Animated Film Studio in Poznan (Poland), based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Flax. Made in the technique of painting direcly under the film camera. The latest translation directly from Danish by Boguslawa Sochanska is used in the film. Polish dialogue.