Summary
Director Jessen inhabits a breezy Øresund country house with his two sons, Fritz and Jørgen, whose lives are as orderly as the tide that laps the nearby shore. One crisp morning Jessen proclaims that his Australian employer will soon arrive, accompanied by the employer's daughter, Alice, and that one of his sons is expected to wed her. The announcement ignites a combustible mix of xenophobia and paternal ambition; Fritz and Jørgen, each clutching a different set of prejudices about the distant continent, resolve their fate by drawing lots, a ritual that feels both absurd and portentous. Before the Australian party reaches Danish soil, Alice dispatches her confidante Elsie to the estate, instructing her to masquerade as Alice and assess the brothers. Simultaneously, the brothers, desperate to repel the foreign intruder, enlist two itinerant tricksters, Pat and Patachon, to impersonate themselves, hoping the deception will send Elsie fleeing. When Elsie, under the guise of Alice, finally meets the brothers, their contempt evaporates; she is unexpectedly gentle, radiant, and disarms their preconceptions. The brothers' rivalry swiftly mutates from reluctant duty to a fervent contest for her affection, all the while oblivious to the fact that the woman before them is not the real Alice at all.
Synopsis
Director Jessen lives with his sons Fritz and Jørgen in a country house on the coast of Øresund. One day, Jessen announces that his boss is coming to visit from Australia, and that he will bring along his daughter, Alice. Jessen further proclaims that he wants one of his sons to marry Alice. Full of prejudice against Australians, Fritz and Jørgen end up drawing lots to determine who must accept this terrible fate. Upon arriving in Denmark, Alice decides to send her friend Elsie ahead to the country house to take the measure of the two fellows and report back to her. She pretends to be Alice, and to complicate things further, Fritz and Jørgen have in the meantime hired two strange vagabonds, Pat and Patachon, to pretend to be them, hoping that this will make her turn around and leave immediately. Once Fritz and Jørgen discover that the young Australian woman in no way matches any of their preconceived notions, but is in fact sweet and beautiful, their dispute suddenly changes in nature: now, it becomes about who can win her heart. At this point they still have no idea that the young woman is not Alice at all.
Director
