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In Your Hands
2004
The recent theology graduate Anna , is married to Frank, with whom she has been trying to have a baby for many years. Anna is offered a substitute job as a priest in a prison. In the women's ward, she meets Kate , a woman who, according to some of the other inmates, possesses supernatural abilities. Anna discovers that she is .. Read more
| Starring | Ann Eleonora Jorgensen, Trine Dyrholm, Jens Albinus, Nicolaj Kopernikus |
|---|---|
| Director | Annette K. Olesen |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Newly graduated from seminary, Anna (Ann Eleonora Jorgensen) is assigned to a womens prison about the same time... read more on Time Out
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Blazingly emotional...tremendously performed...technically brilliant
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The best Danish film since Festen... Engrossing and captivating.
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Most helpful members' reviews (3)
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33 out of 38 people found this review helpful
Dogme not dead
Dogme is now officially dead, with its most famous proponents having moved on to new challenges, but some films are still being released under its banner, and In Your Hands (Dogme 34) is one of them.
In Your Hands is a serious and thought-provoking film looking at faith, love, motherhood and the roles of women. It sets up the two heroines as opposites ? Anna, the holy, dark-haired spiritual advisor, isolated by the dark robes and Elizabethan ruff of her office; Kate, the sinner, blonde, always in cream and white, with no official status, the lowest of the low, and yet with more natural authority than Anna, with all her intellectual understanding, can imagine. We see how awkwardly Anna moves to comfort Marion, while Kate touches people much more naturally, despite her reserve, and also offers practical assistance when Marion needs help. But Anna is happy enough in her role, growing into it gradually, reaching out to the prisoners one by one, until the unthinkable happens and she finds out that she is pregnant.
God?s cruellest joke, it seems, is to give her a baby with one hand and take it away with the other, and in the meantime she is forced to work with whores and junkies who have children as easily and carelessly as a cat has kittens. Her husband, Frank, up till then a source of strength and support, falls apart under the pressure, only wanting to know what most couples do in the circumstances, but not willing to talk to Anna. Life isn?t fair, and Anna collapses under the strain. Desperation drives her to actions with disastrous consequences for all.
Adhering to the Dogme manifesto of natural lighting and no incidental music, the film has an almost documentary feel enhanced by the wonderfully natural performances, horrid clothes and lack of make-up. Highly recommended. -
8 out of 11 people found this review helpful
worth watching
very good film although I prob wouldnt have rented it had I realised beforehand that it was a foreign language film with subtitles. Never the less i did enjoy the film. Thought provoking and sad. Some good acting. Unexpected ending which crept up on me.
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6 out of 8 people found this review helpful
Good acting with a ok plot
Despite the initial shock of 'SUBTITLES' I picked myself up from the floor and put it on, knowing that on the rare occasion I have been known to enjoys the odd Subtitled Film 'City Of God'. I wasn't completely let down either, all in all it was a good film, with good acting and an ok story line. I didn't find myself getting over involved with the characters so found it difficult to show any sort of emotion. See what you think?
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Most recent members' reviews (2)
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Forgivness
Was a moving and chilling reminder of the consequences of purely seeking fulfilment in outside things (eg drugs or god) rather than yourself. Also about what happens when you forget to forgive and judge others actions rather than your own. Depressing but makes you want to try a bit harder. Really enjoyed it but then I'm maybe a bit of a masochist!
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
This movie needs more support!
This is an undeniably challenging film and not for those looking for reassuring Hollywood gloss.
For me, this is what Dogme is all about and in my opinion stands alongside, if not surpasses, Festen. Top class utterly truthful acting. Masterfully clear storytelling. Uncompromising tackling of highly unusual subject matter. My one cavill is with what I felt was a slightly conventional ending - I felt the filmmakers could have gone deeper into even more challenging territory - but that's a minor criticism of a film I otherwise found utterly compulsive...
Try it, if it isn't for you you'll soon know and can always send it back!
If you like it try 'Minor Mishaps' by the same director which is to an extent lighter and more widely accessible and also excellent.
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33 out of 38 people found this review helpful
Dogme not dead
Dogme is now officially dead, with its most famous proponents having moved on to new challenges, but some films are still being released under its banner, and In Your Hands (Dogme 34) is one of them.
In Your Hands is a serious and thought-provoking film looking at faith, love, motherhood and the roles of women. It sets up the two heroines as opposites ? Anna, the holy, dark-haired spiritual advisor, isolated by the dark robes and Elizabethan ruff of her office; Kate, the sinner, blonde, always in cream and white, with no official status, the lowest of the low, and yet with more natural authority than Anna, with all her intellectual understanding, can imagine. We see how awkwardly Anna moves to comfort Marion, while Kate touches people much more naturally, despite her reserve, and also offers practical assistance when Marion needs help. But Anna is happy enough in her role, growing into it gradually, reaching out to the prisoners one by one, until the unthinkable happens and she finds out that she is pregnant.
God?s cruellest joke, it seems, is to give her a baby with one hand and take it away with the other, and in the meantime she is forced to work with whores and junkies who have children as easily and carelessly as a cat has kittens. Her husband, Frank, up till then a source of strength and support, falls apart under the pressure, only wanting to know what most couples do in the circumstances, but not willing to talk to Anna. Life isn?t fair, and Anna collapses under the strain. Desperation drives her to actions with disastrous consequences for all.
Adhering to the Dogme manifesto of natural lighting and no incidental music, the film has an almost documentary feel enhanced by the wonderfully natural performances, horrid clothes and lack of make-up. Highly recommended. -
8 out of 11 people found this review helpful
worth watching
very good film although I prob wouldnt have rented it had I realised beforehand that it was a foreign language film with subtitles. Never the less i did enjoy the film. Thought provoking and sad. Some good acting. Unexpected ending which crept up on me.
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6 out of 8 people found this review helpful
Good acting with a ok plot
Despite the initial shock of 'SUBTITLES' I picked myself up from the floor and put it on, knowing that on the rare occasion I have been known to enjoys the odd Subtitled Film 'City Of God'. I wasn't completely let down either, all in all it was a good film, with good acting and an ok story line. I didn't find myself getting over involved with the characters so found it difficult to show any sort of emotion. See what you think?
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5 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Mysterious
I'm sure I didn't order this film and I've now read another review that says that they didn't order it either. I'm wondering if this film is being ordered for people by some megolomaniac director who has managed to hack in to the dvd distribution centres computers and want his film to be seen.
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Forgivness
Was a moving and chilling reminder of the consequences of purely seeking fulfilment in outside things (eg drugs or god) rather than yourself. Also about what happens when you forget to forgive and judge others actions rather than your own. Depressing but makes you want to try a bit harder. Really enjoyed it but then I'm maybe a bit of a masochist!
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Depressing
I didn't order this film it just turned up. I watched for the longest hour ever and felt too depressed to watch the rest. I had a headache with all the subtitles. Dreary and boring about drugs and violent people in prison.
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
A good film
I enjoyed watching the film. Interesting story line and interesting characters. Worth seeing.
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Dogme film making at its best
Brilliant film about faith and miracles - the intellectual v intuitive understanding. The usual Dogme techniques are all there - hand held camera, natural lighting, naturalistic performances, etc - all of which combine to focus the viewer onto the character and dialogue, and also provides a neat counterbalance for the supernatural aspects of the story. Although set in a female prison it avoids the usual 'Prisoner Cell Block H' kitsch with a powerful and intense moral drama. Great ensemble performances also. Reminded me - in its themes - of the grandfather of all Dogme films 'Breaking the Waves'- although without the overt showmanship. This is reportedly the final Dogme film - if this is true it will be a huge loss.
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Strange Tale
I would not have rented this if I had known that it was a foreign film with subtitles, I did watch it and it was a very strange tale set in a womans prison with an even odder ending
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
One of the most depressing films ever....
This has to be one of the most - if not the most - depressing films I have ever had the misfortune to watch! Never ever watch this on a cold dark wet and gloomy Winter's day or if you must, just watch it just out of curiosity ... or on second thoughts do not bother... Nothing goes right for any of the characters and it goes from doom and gloom to the saddest of endings... I do not remember ordering it either !!!!
Critics' reviews (3)
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Newly graduated from seminary, Anna (Ann Eleonora Jorgensen) is assigned to a womens prison about the same time... read more on Time Out
-
Blazingly emotional...tremendously performed...technically brilliant
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The best Danish film since Festen... Engrossing and captivating.
Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop
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- In Your Hands
- DVD: £12.93
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The recent theology graduate Anna , is married to Frank, with whom she has been trying to have a baby for many years. Anna is offered a substitute job as a priest in a prison. In the women's ward, ... -
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