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Culture culture
The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk
14 - 20 September 2012
Eliminated, reinstated, celebrated, soon to be commemorated themselves facing the Dutch defending champions in the semi-finals and defeating them. And the final against Germany on that sunny day in Gothenburg was something dreams are made of. Germany had won the World Cup only two years earlier, but an outstanding Peter Schmeichel and a wonder crack from John ‘Faxe’ Jensen brought glory to the Danes. Two decades later and the fairytale miracle is finally on its way to the cinema. DanishEnglish producer Kris Thykier,
Christian Wenande Twenty years after Denmark’s biggest moment in football, the story of Euro1992 will finally be hitting the silver screen
I
rolling on Denmark’s proudest sports moment. ‘Denmark 92’ is its working title so far, and Kasper Barfoed has been confirmed as the director, while the screenplay will be written by Anders August, the son of legendary director Bille August, who won an Oscar for ‘Pelle the Conqueror’ back in 1987. August Jr wrote last year’s ‘SuperClásico’, a footballthemed comedy that represented Demark at the 2011 Oscars. Speculation is already rife over who will play goalkeeping
t was destined to happen. A sporting drama that has it all. Drama, suspense, war, an underdog going the distance and a heartwrenching human factor. It’s amazing that it’s taken 20 years, but it’s finally official. Denmark’s Euro 1992 miracle is coming to a cinema near you. They weren’t even supposed to be there. Given just over a week’s notice to get prepared for the European Championships in Sweden, when Denmark were given the green light to replace Michae l Fassbe udrup Yugoslavia due nder Brian La to the War in Bosnia and HerIn the absence of Michael, Brian was the leading man, and zegovina, most there are none better right now than the Irish-German star of of their players ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and ‘Prometheus’ were already on their holidays, lounging around on beaches who oversaw the making of giant Schmeichel, embattled in the Mediterranean and films such as ‘Kick-Ass’ (2010), coach Richard Møller Nielsen ‘Harry Brown’ (2009) and ‘The and blue-eyed Flemming PoulsCaribbean. No-one gave them a chance Debt’ (2010) will team up with en, and according to Foldager, to progress from a tough group Meta Foldager, who is no slouch the search has begun. “We haven’t cast any acfeaturing England, France and herself having produced ‘A Royhosts Sweden. But somehow al Affair’ (2012), ‘Melancholia’ tors yet, but naturally there they overcame the indomita- (2012) and ‘Antichrist’ (2009), are a few specific people we ble odds and suddenly found to get the ball and cameras have in mind,” Foldager told
an
Klinsm Jürgen
Deep-se
a diver
We needed a star who could give Jürgen the German depth
Tipsbladet newspaper. “Because the team was quite young back then, we probably have to find some new actors, but we also have some stars in mind. Who they are, I can’t reveal right now.” But despite the dynamic story already being written for them, the filmmakers face the daunting task of trying to recreate the magic of 1992 that took place on the pitch. Although football might be the most popular sport in the world, films about the sport are notoriously difficult to choreograph so they look genuine. One only has to look at travesties such as the ‘Goal!’ trilogy, ‘Young Giants’, ‘When Saturday Comes’, and a host of other feeble attempts to portray the great game to realise that the filming of ‘Denmark 92’ won’t be an easy task. Fortunately, there are a few films that could provide the filmmakers with some confidence. Yes it may feature Sylvester Stallone as a goalkeeper, but ‘Escape to Victory’ is one of the few films where the football choreography isn’t complete twaddle. ‘Denmark 92’ is expected to premiere sometime during the winter of 2014. In the meantime, we here at The Copenhagen Post have decided to beat Foldager to the punch and make a number of suggestions for the cast (see pictures). And what about you? Do you have any ideas who could play the gang who won Europe’s hearts in 1992? Let’s see them in the comments section on The Copenhagen Post website.
hel
chmeic
Peter S
Dolph L
undgren
“If he dies, he dies.” And with Ivan Drago on board, they could get Brigitte Nielsen to play a young Pia K
nsen
axe’ Je
John ‘F
Danny M
cBride
A fitting choice given that until that day Faxe, in front of goal, was always the bridesmaid never the bride
Richard
Møller
Nielsen
Anthony
Hopkins
As long as he doesn’t have to eat Preben Elkjær’s liver with a nice chianti, Hopkins will be game
dr/Flemming Jeppesen
Who is Chris MacDonald? linn lemhag He is a 39-year old American lecturer and health specialist who has been living and working in Denmark since moving here in 1999. What exactly is his job? That’s not the easiest question to answer – MacDonald’s website describes him as a “top-motivator, inspirer and lecturer”.
‘Coach’ and ‘scientist’ have also been thrown around at his many, many media appearances. Scientist? He was given the 2001 Young Scientist of Europe award for his research in physiology. Having founded such revolutionary concepts like “Strong Body – Strong Mind”, you know it was well deserved.
So what does he do these days? Apart from writing the occasional health and nutrition piece for various media outlets like Berlinske and BT, MacDonald tours the country giving lectures about quality of life and well-being. So businesses pay him to come and tell their employees to eat vegetables and exercise? Yes. The irony of a man from the fattest nation teaching one of the
healthiest about nutrition is lost on those who hire him. Maybe the Danes just enjoy laughing at his accent. How would I recognise him? You might have seen him on the DR TV shows ‘Chris at the Chocolate Factory’ and ‘Chris on the Scales’. If you missed them, you can catch a recap on his modestly named ‘Chris TV’ player on his website. Just look for the man in
a tight black t-shirt – it’s his signature, although he probably copied it off Steve Jobs or Simon Cowell. So where can I pick up some of his health tips? Try his website. Here MacDonald shares some of his professional scientific insights on health in his weekly articles. Titles include “exercise doesn’t come in a pill”, “health is energy” and “change creates progress”. Revolutionary!