When people heard the words "foreign film," they usually think of subtitles, and a heavy serving of Serious Cinema. And while the upcoming "Men & Chicken" does indeed have subtitles, everything else about it is not what you’d expect from your usual serving of arthouse fare.
Directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, and starring Mads Mikkelsen, David Dencik, Nikolaj Lie Kass, Søren Malling, and Nicolas Bro, the movie follows adopted brothers who journey to meet their biological father, and while that premise reads "sober drama," the execution is in the vein of a thoroughly screwball comedy. Here’s the synopsis:
A darkly hilarious slapstick comedy starring Mads Mikkelsen (“Hannibal”, ingeniously cast against type) about a pair of significantly socially-challenged siblings who seek out their mutual biological dad after discovering they are adopted half-brothers in their late father’s videotaped will. Their journey takes them to the small, insular Danish island of Ork where they stumble upon three additional half-brothers—also sporting hereditary harelips and lunatic tendencies—living in a dilapidated mansion overrun by barn animals. Initially unwelcome by their newfound kin, the two visitors stubbornly wear them down until they’re reluctantly invited to stay. As the misfit bunch get to know each other, they unwittingly uncover a deep family secret that ultimately binds them together.
Directed by acclaimed, Oscar®-winning director Anders Thomas Jensen and also starring David Dencik ( The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), the inventively bizarre Men & Chicken has been described as an outlandish hybrid of The Three Stooges and The Island of Dr. Moreau.
"Men & Chicken" opens on April 22nd. Watch below.