Set in a Situation: Danish Humor

The most meaningful aspect of DIS is their emphasis on immersing students into the Danish culture. Our house meets “immersion meetings” with our Danish social residence advisor, Nicoline. She’s a Psychology student Kobenhaven University so we’ve bonded quite a bit. During these meetings we share our recent excursions imposing on the Danish lifestyle (jaywalking, traveling in American groups, etc.… how to piss of a Dane – see below), and this time she popped in a Danish film called Sorte Kugler [Black Balls].

This film reflects, dead on, why I enjoy hanging out with Danes – they prefer situational and sarcastic humor Better yet, this movie had a moral storyline which made left you pondering about how you live your own life. The director, Anders Matthesen, is apparently a very famous comedian and played the main role in the film. His character, Alex Klein, is a bitter and stressed middle aged real estate agent who seems too wrapped up in his professional setbacks to be grateful for his blessings. So of course, karma smacks him aside the head and he dies in a car accident. Alex ends up in a purgatory game show where he earns white balls for the good deeds he carried out in his life and black balls for sinful acts. Heavy representation of post-life judgment? Yes. However, frequent references to balls and witnessing awkward events in his life adds comedic relief. Certainly worth checking out because the ending hits you hard. Embrace your life and laugh all the way through J