A Funny Man
This biopic of tragic Danish comic Dirch Passer wallows in melodrama.
SCREENINGS:
Monday, September 12, 10:15 p.m.
Scotiabank Theatre 1 (259 Richmond Street West)
Wednesday, September 14, 8:15 p.m.
AMC 2 (10 Dundas Street East)
Saturday, September 17, 9:30 a.m.
Isabel Bader Theatre (93 Charles Street West)
The whole tears-of-a-clown shtick can get a bit draining. Comedians are funny. And their anxiety that they should have to be something other than funny is insulting to the audience and tends to come off as wildly arrogant. That American audiences are likely unfamiliar with Danish comic Dirch Passer (played here, wonderfully, by Nikolaj Lie Kaas) benefits A Funny Man. Without a recognizable star at its centre (though Lie Kaas is huge in Denmark), Zandvliet’s film functions more as a fable: a token story about a comedic actor struggling to define himself.
Passer was one half of a mid-century double-act with Kjeld Petersen—a classic straight man–stooge routine. As the stooge, Passer got all the laughs, even when solo in dramatic roles. When his partner dies, he’s tortured by a desire to define himself as something other than a crowd-pleasing clown (a scene of him, yellowed and weathered by age, bouncing around in a baby costume proves memorably horrifying). Though beautifully shot by Jesper Tøffner, and ballasted by Lie Kaas’ excellent performance, Funny Man aggressively drives at the heart-strings, playing out like a glossed-up Movie of the Week. (Do they have those in Denmark?)