Top 10 Best Danish Movies of all time
Probably, in all honesty, our favorite film country in the world. Especially in more recent years it has really grown to be one of the best movie making countries in the world. The best Danish movies are becoming increasingly popular. Of course best demonstrated by the successes of Susanna Bier (Oscar for In a Better world) and Lars von Trier (Melancholia). Here we have made ourselection of the best Danish Movies of all time. You will notice they are all quite recent, but we cannot help liking them so much. For more information about Danish Cinema and more best Danish movies have a look in our Danish Movies section.
The Best Danish films top 10 list is partly based on our personal opinion and partly based on the Internet Movie Database user rating. All movies are films that have been watched by a large amount of people in Denmark and internationally.
Best Danish movies top 10
1. The Celebration – Festen (1998)
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
Cast: Ulrich Thomsen, Henning Moritzen and Thomas Bo Larsen
IMDb Rating 8.1
When a very wealthy family’s patriarch turns sixty, everyone gets together for a party. Whether it turns out to be fun is a different matter.
2. Adam’s apples – Adams æbler (2005)
Director: Anders Thomas Jensen
Cast: Ulrich Thomsen, Mads Mikkelsen and Nicolas Bro
IMDb Rating 7.8
Adam a neo-nazi, gets sentenced to 12 weeks of community service under the supervision of a priest called Ivan. Ivan’s unstoppable optimism is incomprehensible for Adam.
3. After the Wedding – Efter bryluppet (2006)
Director: Susanne Bier
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Rolf Lassgård
IMDb Rating: 7.8
The Danish Supervisor Jacob Peterson, receives a donation to save his orphanage. The only condition being that he needs to come back to Denmark for a while to visit a wedding.
4. Melancholia (2011)
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kiefer Sutherland
IMDb Rating: 7.8
The relationship of two sisters gets tested even more when a planet called Melancholia threatens to hit and destroy earth.
5. Open Hearts – Elsker dig for evigt (2002)
Director: Susanne Bier
Cast: Sonja Richter, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Mads Mikkelsen
IMDb Rating: 7.7
When Cecille’s fiancé gets paralyzed after a car accident her world is upside down. To make things come complicated she starts an affair with the doctor at the hospital.
6. In a Better World – Hævnen (2011)
Director: Susanne Bier
Cast: Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm and Markus Rygaard
IMDb Rating: 7.7.
A Danish Feature film about two family’s that are connected by through their two sons.
Director: Susanne Bier
Cast: Ulrich Thomsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Connie Nielsen
IMDb Rating: 7.6.
When Michael ends up missing during a mission in Afghanistan, Jannik is forced to man-up and take care of Michael’s wife. .
8. Flickering Lights – Blinkende lygter (2000)
- Director: Anders Thomas Jensen
- Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Ulrich Thomsen and Søren Pilmark.
- IMDb Rating: 7.5
Four small-time crooks decide to flee Copenhagen with the money they were supposed to deliver to a gangster boss in Barcelona. However, due to unforeseen circumstances they are forced to hide nearby Copenhagen at the countryside.
Director: Per Fly
Cast: Jesper Christensen, Marius Sonne Janischefska and Stine Holm Joensen
IMBd Rating: 7.5
In Copenhagen alcoholic Kaj spends his days on a certain little bench.
10. In China they eat Dogs – I Kina spiser de hunde (1999)
Directed by Lasse Spang Olsen
Cast: Kim Bodnia, Dejan Cukic and Nikolaj Lie Kaas
IMDb Rating: 7.4
The life of Arvid, a simple bank clerk, takes a drastic turn when he hits a bank robber to the ground with a squash racket.
The final modern classic from Denmark in our best Danish movies top 10. For more excellent gems of Danish cinema browse through the rest of our website!