I first heard about this film some year ago and read
some good reviews. A Danish creature horror drama, a werewolf
movie and what really catched my interest was the films title - Når
dyrene drömmer - When Animals Dream - That's
poetic and beautiful. And, as i live in the neighbouring country of
Sweden i took for granted that this 2014 film very soon
would be released here, as most other films from Denmark and Norway.
But, for some unfathomable reason - NO.
Instead it has been released in Germany and maybe also in England, yes,
and in Denmark naturally.
So as i haven't travelled to Denmark this year i bought it from Germany
on this Blu-ray edition. It's in Danish audio but
without any english subtitles, only with German subtitles. Aaaah, i'm
Swedish so listening to Danish being spoken can't
be that hard as it's just as listening to Norwegian or almost as Swedish,
no? NO, it's not.
I had a hard time hearing what they said in this movie but the German
subtitles made it easier to understand. And, there's
not that much dialogue anyway in this film as it's based on it's striking
visuals.
The funeral scene from the church by the sea. The scenes
from the village. The face of Sonia Suhl. Impressive pictures
and great work from cinematographer Niels Thastum.
It's a simple straight forward werewolf tale, drama-horror, told effectively
and with great performances (and presence)
from Sonia Suhl as Marie and from Lars Mikkelsen as her father.
Marie is a young woman living on the Danish countryside
in a small village at the sea. She lives with her father and her
mother, a woman that's sitting in a wheelchair, apparently paraplegic
and to whom her husband and village doctor almost
frantically gives some sort of injections. There's something wrong about
that. A secret that we, the viewers, don't get to know
about until later, but something that the family knows and probably
also the people inhabiting the very small village.
There has been people being murdered with claw marks on their bodies,
probably, as Marie get hold of some material,
photos belonging to the doctor.
Marie works in the village's only industry, the fish
factory, and her co-workers gets more and more hostile towards her and
her mother. Has Marie herited her mother's "ailment" or is
she only suffering from Lycanthropy, a mental problem that makes
her believe she's turning into a werewolf ? Hey, wait, don't look at
the Blu-ray sleeve above ..... ooh, too late, sorry.
widescreen 2.40:1, danish audio DTS-HD MA 5.1 with German Subtitles
Extras: deleted scenes 2 min, vom mädchen zum monster 5 min, showreel
special effects 4 min, german and original trailer