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My favorite things Danish
1. Movie: A strong category for this country. Babette's Feast used to be one of my favorite movies, though it now strikes me as sentimental. I much prefer The Celebration, or the recent After the Wedding. The Best Intentions, with a Bergman screenplay, is directed by Dane Billie August. Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc is technically a French movie but the director is Danish, in any case it is one of cinema's greatest achievements. Ordet has splendid shots but I can't bear the ending. I don't rate Lars von Trier with these other creators though I did like his recent The Boss of it All, a study in the social construction of leadership.
2. Short story: "The Caryatids, An Unfinished Tale," by Karen Blixen [Isak Dinesen], in Last Tales. This one shows the influence of the now-sadly-taken-for-granted Hans Christian Andersen; read it.
3. Novel: Smilla's Sense of Snow, by Peter Hoeg; lovely and mysterious, yet driven by plot. His History of Danish Dreams I find too baroque.
4. Composer: Poul Ruders, one of the most listenable contemporary composers, writes compelling melodies and offers a broad palate of sound colors. I most prefer his Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Concerto in Pieces, the guitar music, Tundra, and Gong. His major influences are Brahms, Berg, Sibelius, and Hindemith. I'll buy anything by him, though I've never much enjoyed his operas.
5. Popular music: Help!
6. Philosopher: Kierkegaard's Either/Or is the place to start, and don't skip over "Diary of a Seducer" or the discussion of Don Giovanni. There are few philosophers who think more like an economist, or who use more metaphors from economic life.
7. Painting: Danish Impressionism is one of the most underrated fields in art, noting that the subtle textures and colors do not reproduce well on the web. Try this picture. Here is a nice landscape, here is a nice door. This one is lots of fun, too.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on May 19, 2007 at 12:45 AM in The Arts | Permalink
Comments
Dane/popsters Junior Senior, the proggish indie band Mew, and the rockabilly-by-way-of-the-Jesus-and-Mary-Chain Ravonettes are all Danish. Also, the band Aqua, famous for that inane/catchy/embarrassing international hit "Barbie Girl."
Posted by: Dave McDougall at May 19, 2007 1:43:53 AM
Though not technically incorrect, I meant "Dance/popsters" in the post above.
Posted by: Dave McDougall at May 19, 2007 1:45:39 AM
What? No Nielsen for music?
(Sorry, he is just another classical... )
Posted by: Barkley Rosser at May 19, 2007 2:08:08 AM
popular music:
Saybia - The Second You Sleep
http://www.saybia.com
Kashmir - The Good Life
http://www.kashmir.dk
Posted by: Ed at May 19, 2007 4:16:46 AM
Popular music: Aqua.
/muhahaha
Posted by: Erik at May 19, 2007 4:54:30 AM
Recent von Trier is certainly overrated. However, have you seen Europa (or Zentropa as released in the US)? Fantastic.
Posted by: Jay at May 19, 2007 5:23:51 AM
"Novel: Smilla's Sense of Snow, by Peter Hoeg"?
Started out well. "Lovely and mysterious" as you say.
But half way through the author ran out of "lovely
and mysterious" and switched to a silly over-the-top science-fiction plot-line.
Posted by: Robert Ayers at May 19, 2007 5:40:09 AM
Don't skip over The Seducer's Diary, but do skip over the Immediate Erotic Stages.
Posted by: adrian at May 19, 2007 8:24:13 AM
What about the Kingdom? I know its a TV series but its still fantastic albeit unfinished.
Posted by: Hamish Barney at May 19, 2007 8:35:20 AM
What about The Kingdom (Lars von Trier)? As a nomination for favourite TV series? Its fantastic albeit frustratingly unfinished.
Posted by: Hamish Barney at May 19, 2007 8:38:25 AM
"5. Popular music: Help!"
Actually that was by an English musical group whose name I can't seem to recall.
Posted by: josh at May 19, 2007 8:47:13 AM
My favourite novel happens to be by Danish author Johannes V. Jensen: 'The Fall of the King' (1900-1901). Brilliantly disturbing!
Posted by: Nils at May 19, 2007 9:50:30 AM
Among my favorite things Danish is Steen Eiler Rasmussen, for his book Experiencing Architecture. It's the kind of book I give to friends, saying, "You have to read this."
Posted by: RSA at May 19, 2007 9:51:36 AM
While watching "after the wedding" not too long after having watched "The Celebration" I kept expecting certain speeches to be made about the father. I'm glad they were not.
I'd recommend skipping much of Kierkegaard unless you're a moody teen. That's about his style. "Oh, no one has ever suffered like I have!" "Oh, being a christian is so hard!" (But don't you know that I'm the only real christian around?" Blah. And especially skip the seducer's diary- what's interesting in it is stolen from Ovid and you'd do better to read that. The rest is bad advice about women from someone who obviously knew nothing about them.
Posted by: Matt at May 19, 2007 10:23:09 AM
How about large women?
Posted by: Chris at May 19, 2007 10:35:05 AM
But, the very best thing in Denmark of all is the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.
Posted by: Barkley Rosser at May 19, 2007 10:41:11 AM
Tyler, pick up Høeg's Borderliners if you get a chance. A short read in the vein of Smilla's Sense of Snow.
Posted by: The Tsunami at May 19, 2007 11:05:14 AM
Italian for Beginners should be on the movie list.
Posted by: Peter at May 19, 2007 11:45:36 AM
Had to look it up, and, damn, Kings of Convenience are Norwegian. Thought I had a good answer for you.
Posted by: J. Goard at May 19, 2007 6:01:48 PM
Popular music: 1/4 of Metallica is pure Danish.
Posted by: Jan Madsen at May 19, 2007 8:39:06 PM
Slaraffenland - especially the songs "Watch Out" and "Polaroids
The album is Private Cinema
Posted by: npopp at May 19, 2007 11:44:33 PM
Slaraffenland - especially the songs "Watch Out" and "Polaroids
The album is Private Cinema
Posted by: npopp at May 19, 2007 11:45:17 PM
Aquavit?
Carlsberg?
Posted by: fustercluck at May 20, 2007 1:20:01 AM
What differentiates Danes from Norwegians, Swedes?
Posted by: ricpic at May 20, 2007 9:58:12 AM
When there was a united Scandinavian kingdom, its capital was Copenhagen.
The Danish royal family is the oldest in the world, dating back to Gorm in
the 800s, only outdated by the Japanese imperial family. So, there is more
of an aristocratic tradition, although there is a monarchy and aristocracy in
Sweden, which became independent earlier. Denmark ruled Norway until much more
recently, and their languages are much closer than either of theirs is to
Swedish, although the others joke that Danish sounds like something spoken
by a strangled goose. The Norwegians have no aristocracy. The others tend
to think of the Swedes as being a bit too full of themselves, with their
neutrality in WW II somewhat undercutting their high self image.
Posted by: Barkley Rosser at May 20, 2007 11:33:47 PM
