Scandinavian liberal social mores were already evident in the mid 70's and it showed in their movies. Speedwalking (Kopgang in Danish) tells the story of 14 year old Martin (Willads Boye) who faces numerous rites of passage from childhood in his small rural Danish town in 1976. A promising speed walker (a difficult sport to master), he faces the tragedy of his mother's death and his father and brother struggling to cope. The most powerful scene in the movie is how Martin's grief catches up with him at the funeral and how he dramatically tries to exclaim at the graveside that she's not dead.
Martin wrestles with all the usual teenage rite of passage issues, alcohol, acceptance, maturing and sexual attraction to girls and boys. This last aspect, so common with early adolescent boys, is particularly accurately and sensitively portrayed as he reconciles strong attraction to a neighborhood girl and experimentation with his maturing body with his best guy friend Kim.
The backdrop of this journey is the Lutheran church confirmation service and the emotional turmoil of the mother's death. Martin emerges as the strongest link in the family as his father copes with death by having random sexual encounters, the maternal grandmother with nasty shaming and the older teen brother obsessing with his mother's clothes. In the space of a few fateful days, Martin confronts his father's 'friend with benefits' (a local hairdresser) after catching them in the act, catches his brother in a casual intimate encounter with a neighboring woman, his father gives him condoms after hearing of his first girlfriend, catches his best friend sleeping with who he thought was his girlfriend - at his own house at his own party AND getting drunk at his own confirmation party then having the vomit cleaned off in the shower .. naked .... by his substitute teacher! In politically correct modern America, it's hard to imagine this level of on-screen frankness with 14 year olds although there is no nudity shown.
The acting is very authentic helped by casting actual 14 year olds and Willads Boye in particular puts in a stunning performance navigating so much tricky territory.
Martin wrestles with all the usual teenage rite of passage issues, alcohol, acceptance, maturing and sexual attraction to girls and boys. This last aspect, so common with early adolescent boys, is particularly accurately and sensitively portrayed as he reconciles strong attraction to a neighborhood girl and experimentation with his maturing body with his best guy friend Kim.
The backdrop of this journey is the Lutheran church confirmation service and the emotional turmoil of the mother's death. Martin emerges as the strongest link in the family as his father copes with death by having random sexual encounters, the maternal grandmother with nasty shaming and the older teen brother obsessing with his mother's clothes. In the space of a few fateful days, Martin confronts his father's 'friend with benefits' (a local hairdresser) after catching them in the act, catches his brother in a casual intimate encounter with a neighboring woman, his father gives him condoms after hearing of his first girlfriend, catches his best friend sleeping with who he thought was his girlfriend - at his own house at his own party AND getting drunk at his own confirmation party then having the vomit cleaned off in the shower .. naked .... by his substitute teacher! In politically correct modern America, it's hard to imagine this level of on-screen frankness with 14 year olds although there is no nudity shown.
The acting is very authentic helped by casting actual 14 year olds and Willads Boye in particular puts in a stunning performance navigating so much tricky territory.