Opening in the seductive style of the sixties, »A Funny Man« uncovers the perennial loneliness that comedian Dirch Passer (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) has found himself in after a fast-tracked rise to fame. He struggles between his own desire to gain critical respect and servicing the audience¿s needs. Costing his kindred friendship to on-stage partner Kjeld Petersen (Lars Ranthe) Dirch takes on Steinbeck's classic »Of Mice and Men«, only for the audience to break out in laughter at his first line. Dirch's Lennie becomes a running joke, and so has, Dirch believes, his own life.
Acting
Nikolaj Lie Kaas captures Passer's tragic duality flawlessly
Direction
Zandvliet's seductive sixties aesthetic vs brutal loneliness
Production
Period recreation that feels lived-in, not museum-piece
Director
Martin Zandvliet
Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Dirch Passer
Julie Zangenberg
Lone Hertz
Lars Ranthe
Kjeld Petersen
Lars Brygmann
Stig Lommer
Annika Aakjær
Daimi
Laura Christensen
Hanne Passer
Morten Kirkskov
Ove Sprogøe
Laura Bro
Sitter Horne-Rasmussen
Martin Buch
Preben Kaas
Malou Reymann
Bente Askjær
Silja Eriksen Jensen
Judy Gringer
Kristian Halken
Lommers assistent
Peter Reichhardt
Klaus Pagh (scenes deleted)
Sarah Grünewald
Vicky
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Dirch Passer remains Denmark's most beloved comedian; this film dared to ask what that love cost him. In Denmark, he's household-name famous — imagine a biopic of Robin Williams that actually went there.
The film mirrors its subject: audiences expected laughs, received tragedy. Some Danish viewers reportedly felt betrayed, proving the movie's point about performer-audience dysfunction.
DK
