Hvordan vi slipper af med de andre (How We Get Rid of the Others) (2006) - 72%
A darkly humorous vision of a Denmark in which one curious official discovers that a mere 20% of the Danish population is responsible for 60% of the welfare spent. Seeing this as an unacceptable drain on society, moves are made to concoct criteria by which citizens can be deemed worthy, or indeed unworthy, of continued existence. If you meet more than one of the criteria set, and you can’t figure out a way in which you contribute more than you detract from society, then you are eliminated. What is essentially a ghastly concept ripe for more Polanskic convention steers closer to the Scandinavian penchant for quirky black comedy and actually holds many genuine laugh out loud moments - particularly courtesy of the excellent performance of Søren Pilmark. It also manages that rare feat of eliciting sympathy for a cast of characters who are exclusively terrible people.
The film centres around one particular small group of individuals who meet at least two of the “New Copenhagen Criteria”, and the examining team to which they are assigned. Whether or not they survive the ordeal depends on one decisive interview, in which they must justify the money that the Danish government has spent on them over the years, evoking all manner of conceptual and ethical conundrums. Is it just for the rest of society to pay for those who simply don’t want to contribute? Moreover, is it just for society, upon finding them out, to punish them? This is the main thrust of the movie’s concept, although naturally there are twists and turns along the way.
How We Get Rid of the Others is a thought-provoking and genuinely entertaining 94 minutes, asking important questions about the importance of a life well spent and the interplay between responsibility and power of government.
72%
(My first score which doesn’t end in a 5 or a 0. It had to happen sometime so I could a) preferentialise (yep) between movies, and b) justify using percentages rather than a score out of ten (perdeciage?)
