"Blinkende Lygter" ('blinking lights') is extremely original in its odyssey through several genres; starting off as a gangster movie, passing close by a road movie (until the car breaks down),and then completely shifting pace and content in a very surprising and humorous way. Although criticized for its violent scenes, BL is actually a highly philosophical study of the various faces of violence, from the off-hand unnecessary (although not gratuitous) violence, to acts of violence accepted by society. First of all, the dialogue is so funny that the movie has to be seen at least twice if one is to catch the very serious message that lies beyond. One of the best Danish films ever. Anders Thomas Jensen is definitely a filmmaker to look out for.

'Blinkende lygter' (the English title is 'Flickering Lights') is the first feature film by Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen, who, by the time the movie was made in the year 2000, had already started a prolific screenwriting career. He continued in this direction, being the author of scripts for over 50 films so far, while as a director he has made only 5 films in 21 years. 'Flickering Lights' already demonstrates professionalism and originality. We find in this film bizarre characters, to whom we will discover the history and motives of the behavior, and the absurd but human comic situations that will be repeated and amplified in the following films. And we find Mads Mikkelsen, the formidable actor who is not missing from the credits of any of Anders Thomas Jensen's films.

We can tell from the opening scene that we are dealing with a gangsters movie, but not an ordinary one. Imagine a Marx brothers movie directed by Quentin Tarantino and sprinkled with Danish humor. The heroes are a gang of four criminals who can't help but toughly beat those who get in their way, excepting the cases when they shoot them or fight each other. Two of them seem to consider quitting their jobs (cherchez les femmes!) and returning to a normal life, but for that they need money, so another 'hit'. The third seems incorrigible in his passion for firearms, and the fourth has his problems, including a bullet in the stomach. When the gang gets in trouble with other gangsters worse than themselves and have to flee, the opportunity to change the course of their lives is offered by the the unexpected hiding in an abandoned restaurant in a forest. Will the four of them turn into peaceful restaurant owners? The movie is just starting here.

The combination of violent gangsters movies and absurd comedy with strange characters doing terrible things, but which the audience can't help but sympathize with, has been working well since this first film by the director. Anders Thomas Jensen will perfect it in the next films. His heroes always have surprises in store. Søren Pilmark plays the role of the gang leader, with Mads Mikkelsen, Ulrich Thomsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas in the other three gang members roles. All are actors with whom Jensen will work in the films that will follow in his career as a director. By hazard of programming, I've seen four of his films in reverse chronological order. This debut film already has all the characteristics of its directorial style. The only obvious flaw in the film, in my opinion, can be found the script. The four stories about childhood traumas that are the motivations of the characters' actions seemed too similar and too didactic. But it is not enough to deprive us of the pleasure of watching.

In many ways, this film reminded me of the classic Hollywood film LARCENY INCORPORATED with Edward G. Robinson. In this 1940s film, a small gang of crooks buy a luggage store in order to tunnel from the basement into the nearby bank--the only trouble is that after a while they find that they enjoy the business and they start to make money so they decide to go straight! In BLINKENDE LYGTER, you also have a small gang that initially does something VERY stupid--they steal a suitcase for their boss, a very dangerous crook, but impulsively run away instead of delivering it when they discover it's full of cash. Their plans to run to Barcelona, though, fall through when their vehicle breaks down and they are stuck in the middle of no where. They take shelter in an old abandoned inn and when they are discovered by a neighbor, they panic and say they are there because they are re-opening the inn. Since they are hiding out but don't want to draw suspicion, they begin going through the motions of restoring the old home, but after a while this group's leader, Torkild, decides they should actually stay and try to run the inn after all! But considering none of them know how to cook AND they are all very screwed up people AND a mob boss has sworn to find them and kill them, it's definitely an uphill battle!

While the film was at times pretty funny, it wasn't exactly a comedy since there were some pretty brutal moments, there was a lot of pretty adult language and situations and the film took some awfully serious diversions--showing flashbacks intended to explain why the four crooks chose a life of crime. As for me, these all tended to blunt the comedic impact of the film and probably could have been a more successful film if it had avoided the serious moments--particularly the flashbacks. Still, it's unique enough and offers some bizarrely funny moments--such as the amazing way the four eventually deal with the man looking to kill them. A very good Danish film that is worth a look.