Mifune

Director: Søren Kragh-Jacobsen
Year Released: 1999
Rating: 2.0

Aimless Dogma 95 film (which places rules on filmmaking - as if the medium and its product were too diverse as is) in which 'plot threads' just dangle about - most of them arbitrarily tossed in there for the hell of it - and the terms 'meaning' and 'direction' get kicked out the door. Granted, I have a soft spot for occasional goofiness and director-infused artsy touches (the game the main character and his retarded brother play involving Toshiro Mifune - hence the title - is metaphorical yet sweet and doesn't feel entirely out of place), but after a while there are just too many puzzle pieces scattered about and the whole thing feels like a student project. The revelation as to whom is exactly making obscene phone calls to Iben Hjelje (who is beautiful, talented and also in the ultimate guy-guilt film High Fidelity) comes out of left field and never quite makes sense, nor is ever explained. The ending, if you can call it that, is just a total and complete mess (it isn't worth getting into, but it has something to do with UFOs and vicious prostitutes), as if director Kragh-Jacobsen and crew just gave up trying to make any genuine sense of the preceding eighty minutes and just called it a day.