The central conflict between Roger and Clas Greve furthers this theme, and asks a supplementary question about the importance of empathy over ambition. His numerous misfortunes as the film goes on find him discovering that this frame of mind is deeply damaging: his desire for status is ultimately what leads to the affair and his life falling apart around him. His job involves making judgements on people based on others' opinions of them and concerns about the images of the companies he serves. He steals priceless works of art to fund his lifestyle and make his wife happy, ensuring that they can be seen at the right parties and own the house that everyone wants. Roger Brown is a man whose life is built around both his own personal reputation and the belief that reputation is the only thing that matters. One of the film's main themes is reputation. As clichéd as it is to describe it in such a manner, it is more introspective and self-aware than many British or other English-language thrillers borne from similar material. But it also has a few ideas of its own which set it apart from many of the films it is referencing or taking after. It is ultimately a film concerned more with pacing than with substance or insight, with the need to keep things moving occasionally working against its attempts at emotional depth. It's perfectly possible to enjoy Headhunters as a well-oiled machine, an efficient genre exercise. The truck sequence is arguably an elaborate reference to Steven Spielberg's Duel, and the scenes in the hospital are highly reminiscent of The Fugitive. Making the main character an art thief immediately calls to mind The Thomas Crown Affair, though the film is tonally closer to the John McTiernan remake than the original. There is a close comparison to the Coen Brothers' debut Blood Simple both have a ruthless efficiency and are characterised by a balance of dark humour and dramatic tension. On top of any visual similarities, the plot of Headhunters knowingly tips its hat to a number of other thrillers.
HEADHUNTERS MOVIE IN ENGLISH FULL
What little special effects there are in the film are also effective thanks to Andersen's work we know full well that a real dog wasn't killed in the film, but it looks so real that you do stop and wonder, if only for a second. As the various plot points develop, Anderson matches the darker comedy with harsher and nastier tones, turning the colour palette right down and lightening the blood in a realistic manner. The opening section is incredibly stylish, with a crisp, glossy feel akin to The Social Network or the thrillers of Michael Mann.
The film also boasts great cinematography, courtesy of John Andreas Andersen. This steady hand works in the film's favour in the opposite way: it gives off such a level of confidence that we don't ever get the sense that it would all fall apart if it did slow down. But Tyldum Mortem is careful never to let these scenes drag or otherwise interfere with the fun. The film does slow down at certain points, allowing the more intimate moments to breathe and to increase the tension during the near-misses in the chase. There is some hand-held stuff during the scenes in the woods, but otherwise there are plenty of tripods to go round.īecause of this breathlessness, Headhunters avoids one of the big traps of the crime thriller genre - namely the belief that a bleak, forbidding atmosphere can only be achieved by slow pacing. But unlike the many Bourne imitators, who have misinterpreted and misused Paul Greengrass' aesthetic, the film is not needlessly flashy in its shooting style. Its first half hour in particular is frenetic, with its need to set up all the plot points trumped by its greater need to keep the story and action barrelling along at a break-neck pace. Purely from a technical standpoint, Headhunters is one of the most breathless and efficient thrillers in the post-Bourne era. All of which brings us to Headhunters, a great little thriller which takes the gritty, stylish aesthetic of these stories and douses it with a lot of dark humour.
Words like 'bleak' and 'gritty' have become redundant descriptors for these stories, and for all their merits, their general pervasion leaves you crying out for something different. The fact that Midsummer Murders is one of the most popular programmes in Denmark suggests that the popularity of Scandinavian crime stories lies more in a fascination with cultural differences than any inherent difference in quality. The popularity of Borgen, Wallander and The Killing (amongst others) has also led to a number of English-language adaptations, with Kenneth Branagh starring in the acclaimed remake of Wallander and David Fincher helming his own version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.Īs with all trends, however, it doesn't take long for the cutting-edge to become a cliché.
In the aftermath of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, there has been an explosion of interest in Scandinavian thrillers and crime dramas.
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