Red Meadows

De røde enge

Denmark

1945

85 Min

Black and White

1.37:1

Danish

Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
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DIR Bodil Ipsen, Lau Lauritzen

PROD Jens Dennow, Henning Karmark

CAST Poul Reichhardt, Lisbeth Movin, Per Buckhøj, Gyrd Løfquist, Kjeld Jacobsen, Preben Kaas, Arne Hersholdt, Karl Jørgensen

In German-occupied Denmark during WWII, the young Danish saboteur Michael (Poul Reichhardt) sits in a Gestapo jail and awaits his execution. His thoughts go back to the events that led to his capture. In a meadow in Jutland, Michael and his comrades wait for a British airdrop of weapons and explosives to use for the resistance. Afterward, while in his hideout, Michael is surprised by German soldiers. He shoots his way out and is able to slip free. On a country road, a car driven by a German Field Officer (Arne Hershold) stops. Michael overpowers the officer and shoots him. Dressed in the officer’s uniform, Michael is able to reach Copenhagen and find his girlfriend Ruth (Lisbeth Movin) at the hotel where she lives. Toto (Lau Lauritzen), the leader of the resistance group, is waiting for him. They are planning to sabotage a weapons factory. However, there is suspicion that there is an informant in the group, so the plan is delayed. One of the group’s members, Dreyer (Freddy Koch), is arrested, so Ruth and Michael flee to her uncle’s summer house. Ruth is frightened of losing Michael. She says, If you die, then everything is meaningless – then I’m not a person anymore – and the meadows aren’t green anymore — they are colored the red of your blood. Plans for the sabotage are completed and the group goes into action. But it is revealed that there has been an informant, when the group is surprised by soldiers lying in wait for them. During the firefight, Michael is wounded. However, he is able to blow up the factory before he is captured. Back in the Gestapo jail, the prison guard Steinz (Per Buckhøj) who hates the war and the Nazis, tries to help Michael in small ways, but is unable to prevent his torture. Michal is able to resist during the brutal torture, but he is condemned to death. While in jail, Michael suspects who the informant is and through Steinz gets a message to his comrades: The apple is rotten. A trap is set and Prikken (Preben Neergaard) reveal himself as the informer. There is no other way but to kill him and it is not difficult to find members who will do it. While being driven to his execution, Steinz tells Michael that he has received a message—Steinz’s entire family was killed during an Allied aerial bombardment that week. Michael asks Steinz to escape with him. Steinz declines and shoots himself in the car. Michael flees and seeks refuge in a bakery where he is able to contact Toto. Both Michael and Ruth find transport to Sweden where they can finally rest. –Wikipedia

Director

Bodil Ipsen

Bodil Ipsen (1889–1964) was a Danish actress and film director, and is considered one of the great stars of Danish cinematic history. Her acting career, which began in theater and silent films, was marked by leading roles in large folk comedies and melodramas. However, it was as a director that she was most influential: directing the first Danish film noir and making several dark psychological thrillers during the 1940s and 1950s. Ipsen’s name along with that of Bodil Kjer is given to Denmark’s most celebrated film prize, the Bodil Award.

Bodil Louise Jensen Ipsen was born on 30 August 1889 in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1908, after obtaining her high school diploma, Ipsen began studying at Det Kongelige Teater (Royal Danish Theatre) and made her stage debut there one year later. Her work on stage quickly received attention. Especially noted were her performances with Danish actor Poul Reumert. Throughout her career, Ipsen performed at the Royal Danish Theatre as well as the Dagmar… read more

Bodil Ipsen (1889–1964) was a Danish actress and film director, and is considered one of the great stars of Danish cinematic history. Her acting career, which began in theater and silent films, was marked by leading roles in large folk comedies and melodramas. However, it was as a director that she was most influential: directing the first Danish film noir and making several dark psychological thrillers during the 1940s and 1950s. Ipsen’s name along with that of Bodil Kjer is given to Denmark’s most celebrated film prize, the Bodil Award.

Bodil Louise Jensen Ipsen was born on 30 August 1889 in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1908, after obtaining her high school diploma, Ipsen began studying at Det Kongelige Teater (Royal Danish Theatre) and made her stage debut there one year later. Her work on stage quickly received attention. Especially noted were her performances with Danish actor Poul Reumert. Throughout her career, Ipsen performed at the Royal Danish Theatre as well as the Dagmar Theater, The Folketeatret, and The Betty Nansen Theater. She also performed on stage in Sweden and Norway. Ipsen played almost 200 roles in the theater, the majority as lead actress, as well as 150 radio theater roles and four television parts.

In 1920, Ipsen made her film debut as a leading actress in Lavinen, directed by her third husband, Emanuel Gregers. She made films with Gregers in 1922 and 1923. Off and on, she acted in 12 films during her career. Her most noteworthy early performances were in big blustering comedies, such as the shrewish spinster Bollette in Bollettes Brudefærd or the Countess Danner in Gregers’ Sørensen og Rasmussen.

Ipsen became a director in 1942 and directed 10 films in 10 years. Although Ipsen’s acting talent was showcased in big romantic comedies, her seat in the director’s chair marked the development of classic Danish dark dramas and mysteries. Her debut film, which she co-directed with Lau Lauritzen Jr. was the 1942 dark psychological thriller Afsporet (Derailed), the first true Danish film noir. Two years later, Ipsen directed another two even more extreme noirs, Mordets Melodi (Melody of Murder), about a singer accused of serial murders, and Besættelse (Possession), a taut thriller about a man’s erotic obsession with a young woman.

After Afsporet Ipsen collaborated with Lau Lauritzen Jr. on four more films. Their second film, De røde enge (The Red Meadows), about the Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II, received the 1946 Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1950, Ipsen and Lauritzen again won acclaim for their film Café Paradis (Paradise Cafe). The harsh story about alcoholism is considered a masterpiece of Danish cinema, and for which Ipsen won her namesake award, the Bodil, named after her and fellow actress, Bodil Kjer. Two years later, Ipsen and Lauritzen again won the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film for Det Sande Ansigt (The True Face).

In 1960, at age 71, Ipsen was awarded the Bodil again, this time as Leading Actress of the Year for the film Tro, håb og trolddom. Ipsen retired afterwards. She died on 26 November 1964 in Copenhagen. The movie Bodil Ipsen og Filmen (Bodil Ipsen and the Film), released in 2006, is a portrait of her life and career.

Ipsen’s steady career on stage was offset by a volatile personal life. She was married four times. Ipsen was married the first time in 1910 with the actor Jacob Texière, but the marriage was dissolved within the same year. Then, in 1914, she married civil engineer H.H.O. Moltke, and they divorced after three years. Her marriage in 1919 with film director Emanuel Gregers lasted four years. Ipsen was married for a fourth time in 1932 to the journalist Ejnar Black. They remained together for 17 years until Black’s death in 1949. After Black’s death, Ipsen isolated herself outside of work, preferring the company of her assistant and housekeeper, Stella Jensen. —Wikipedia

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Lau Lauritzen

Lau Lauritzen, Jr., (1910–1977), was a Danish actor, screenwriter, and film director. As a director, he was a 4-time recipient of the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film. Lauritzen co-founded the Danish film studio ASA Film and served as the studio’s artistic director (1937–1945) and administrative director (1945–1964).

Lau Lauritzen, Jr. was born 26 June 1910 in Vejle, Denmark, the son of silent film actor and director Lau Lauritzen Sr.. He pursued an education in the film industry by working at film studios in England, Germany, France, and Belgium. After returning to Denmark, he worked for his father at Palladium Film productions in multiple positions including screenwriter, cameraman, soundman, and director’s assistant. In 1934, Lauritzen made his acting debut in the comedy Barken Margrethe. Earlier that same year, before he was 24-years-old, Lauritzen made his directorial debut with the 1934 farcical comedy, Ud I den kold sne (Out in the Cold Snow). Lauritzen co-directed the… read more

Lau Lauritzen, Jr., (1910–1977), was a Danish actor, screenwriter, and film director. As a director, he was a 4-time recipient of the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film. Lauritzen co-founded the Danish film studio ASA Film and served as the studio’s artistic director (1937–1945) and administrative director (1945–1964).

Lau Lauritzen, Jr. was born 26 June 1910 in Vejle, Denmark, the son of silent film actor and director Lau Lauritzen Sr.. He pursued an education in the film industry by working at film studios in England, Germany, France, and Belgium. After returning to Denmark, he worked for his father at Palladium Film productions in multiple positions including screenwriter, cameraman, soundman, and director’s assistant. In 1934, Lauritzen made his acting debut in the comedy Barken Margrethe. Earlier that same year, before he was 24-years-old, Lauritzen made his directorial debut with the 1934 farcical comedy, Ud I den kold sne (Out in the Cold Snow). Lauritzen co-directed the film with Alice O’Fredericks who had also been working as a director’s assistant for Lauritzen’s father at Palladium. The Lauritzen-O’Fredericks partnership flourished and they eventually made 27 films together during the 1930s and 1940s.

In 1937, Lauritzen, along with director John Olsen and Henning Karmark, established the ASA Film studio, where Lauritzen worked as the company’s artistic director. At ASA, he often co-directed films, notably with the leading women directors Alice O’Fredericks and Bodil Ipsen. During the years of German occupation in World War II, Lauritzen directed 22 films through ASA Film. In 1946, Lauritzen shared with Ipsen the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for their film The Red Meadows (De røde enge) which told about Danish resistance fighters during the German occupation. The film starred Lauritzen’s new wife, Lisbeth Movin, whom he had married the previous year.

Lauritzen shared with Ipsen the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film three times: In 1949, for Støt står den danske sømand (The Viking Watch of the Danish Seaman) which also starred both Lauritzen and Movin; in 1951, for Café Paradis (Paradise Cafe), which has received praise as a Danish “masterpiece”; and in 1952, for Det Sande Ansigt (The True Face), a taut psychological thriller which starred Lauritzen as an architect wrongly accused of rape and murder. In 1954, Lauritzen was again awarded the Bodil Award, this time as the sole director for his crime drama Farlig Ungdom (Dangerous Youth).

From 1945 until 1965, Lauritzen was the administrative director of ASA Film. He directed and produced his final film, Me and My Kid Brother and Doggie in 1969. During his career, Lauritzen directed 64 films, acted in 27 movies, and wrote 25 produced screenplays. Lauritzen died on 12 May 1977 and is buried in Hørsholm church cemetery. —Wikipedia

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