MIFUNE

A group of Danish filmmakers have formed a movement that eschews Hollywood techniques, including music that isn’t inherent to the real-life sets in their movies. MIFUNE is one of several of these movies which have become an important, though small, trend in European cinema. The trend harkens back to the days when new kinds of European movies reached American shores in the 1950s and early 1960s.

The story of MIFUNE concerns a young Dane named Kresten who hasn’t told his new wife about his farming father and his mentally handicapped brother Rud. The morning after his wedding, Kresten must return to his father’s dilapidated farm because his father has just died. While taking care of his father’s funeral arrangements, he distracts Rud by pretending to be the would-be samurai played by Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune in the classic movie by Akira Kurosawa, THE SEVEN SAMURAI. It is a game he and Rud have played often when they were younger.

Determined not to reveal his poverty-stricken past in rural Denmark, Kresten keeps his wife at bay with one lie after another. Eventually, he comes up with a desperate plan. He advertises for a housekeeper to look after his brother so he can return to the city to the nice job he has working for his wife’s rich father. The arrival of the beautiful housekeeper, Liva, who has her own personal problems, only makes Kresten’s life more complicated.

The relationship between Kresten and Rud is endearing, but not without its tensions. Both brothers are smitten with the new housekeeper, although Kresten makes an obvious effort not to become romantically involved. He wants to return to his new wife, but neither she nor Rud help matters much. Kresten’s wife, however, should know better, while Rud can’t help his need for someone to watch over him. In the end, it is Kresten who needs someone to watch out for him, as his problems and Liva’s problems become more entangled, and as Kresten’s relationship with his wife is resolved in a manner not to his liking.

A movie for adult audiences, MIFUNE is made well, with interesting characters and fine acting. It has plenty of foul language and some sexual content, however. This objectionable material is strong enough to warrant an extreme caution even for adults.

Still, some moral elements stop MIFUNE from being totally corrupt. Everything works out for the better eventually. Kresten regains his balance by learning to accept his rural roots and to love his brother Rud. Furthermore, Liva is able to overcome a sordid past and reunite with her own brother, a teenager. Finally, both Kresten and Liva find happiness together when his wife’s selfishness and willful lack of understanding leads her to divorce him.