Terribly Happy

In “Terribly Happy,” Danish director Henrik Ruben Genz’s latest thriller, the residents of Skarrild, a small, despondent Danish village in southern Jutland, have discovered a foolproof way to eliminate their problems: plunge them into the mysterious town bog. As a voiceover in the film’s opening scene recounts, the bog first achieved fame when a cow, after being buried in the bog for months, reemerged and gave birth to a calf with two heads, one of a calf and the other human. The beast subsequently incited a plague of mad cow disease and took the lives of the town’s unborn children until it was finally submerged back into the bog. Unfortunately, the film’s shortcomings don’t vanish quite so readily. While “Terribly Happy” boasts an interesting premise and effective visual elements, its superficial characters render the film disappointingly mediocre.

The film begins promisingly, as baby-faced Copenhagen cop Robert Hansen (Jakob Cedergren) is relocated to the rural town. Immediately upon his arrival, Robert’s big-city customs provoke hostility from the locals. They resent everything about him—from the way he reprimands petty theft, to his preference of soda water over beer—and the plot seems to percolate with conflict. Compounding the rural-urban clash, Robert is soon sexually propositioned by a married woman, Ingelise (Lene Maria Christensen), who claims that her husband, Jorgen (Kim Bodnia), beats her. What ensues is a love-triangle ripe with violence and unexpected twists. As Robert learns to adapt to his surroundings and situation, he eventually finds himself inextricably mired in the more figurative bog of Skarrild’s crime, revenge, and complicity.

To its credit, “Terribly Happy” does feature striking cinematography and visual motifs which complement the movie’s larger themes. Early on, stark, desolate shots of the Danish countryside establish the harshness of life in Skarrild. Additionally, poignant portraits of Skarrild’s grim residents throughout the film evoke a melancholy commensurate to many of the disturbing plot points. And when Dorthe, Ingelise’s daughter, takes the baby carriage out for a walk, the creepy creaking of the wheels and the image of a solitary young girl, alone in the town’s dark streets, \foreshadow the strange and chilling events which come to dominate the movie’s storyline.

While these elements of “Terribly Happy” are effective, however, the shallow characters make the movie less than memorable. Robert, the protagonist, never once demonstrates self-reflection or divulges the motivations for his actions. It seems logical that as he increasingly reveals himself to be the opposite of the innocent cop he appears to be, he would simultaneously reveal the hidden personality traits which lead him to commit the atrocities he perpetrates during the film. But Robert completely maintains his superficial, ingenuous demeanor throughout the movie. This disconnect between his behavior and his bearing seems to leave Robert an empty shell, rendering the protagonist and the center of the film’s action unrelatable.

Other characters are woefully under-developed. Though complicated emotions certainly underscore her character’s actions, Ingelise remains fairly flat throughout the movie. At one point, she mentions to Robert how oppressive she considers rural life in Skarrild, but the passing comment is about as far as she goes in explaining herself. Her marriage to Jorgen seems rife with complexity, as they seem to share both true affection and animosity for each other. But the film never probes beyond the surface of their relationship. Again, this lack of depth and virtual impossibility of empathizing with a crucial character leaves the movie unsatisfying.

In the end, the film’s high points, such as its promising plotline and noteworthy visuals, are outweighed by the flimsiness of the principal characters. Like the land, the characters, and even the cows, “Terribly Happy” seems hopelessly mired, though in mediocrity rather than mud. Beyond the merits of a harrowing depiction of life in the Danish countryside, this merely passable film fails to achieve its full potential.