Bag Københavns kulisser: A messy day in Copenhagen

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for vintage European theater dramas where people constantly misunderstand each other, you might actually dig this. It’s light, it’s a bit dusty, and it moves at the speed of a 1930s taxi cab. If you need high stakes or fast editing, stay far away.

The whole thing kicks off with a car crash. Well, a "crash"—it's more like a polite nudge between a taxi and a banker's car. It feels like the kind of setup you’d see in Falesná kocicka aneb Kdyz si zena umíní, where a tiny mistake ripples out into something way bigger than it needs to be. Eva shows up late to rehearsal because of it, and the director reacts like she just burned down the stage.

It’s a bit dramatic, honestly. But that’s the rhythm of these older films, right?

The theater life

Watching the rehearsals felt weirdly grounded. There’s this one moment where someone is just standing in the background, staring at a script like they’re trying to solve a math problem. It’s such a small, human detail. You don't get that in modern movies where everything is CG-polished to death.

The interactions between Eva and the banker, Morgan, are... well, they are definitely something. There’s a lot of stiff posture and intense staring. At times it feels like they’re acting in two different movies. One of them is trying to do a romance, and the other is doing a legal procedural.

• The taxi scenes are charmingly fake-looking.
• I really liked the way the stage lights hit the actors. Very moody.
• The dialogue feels like it was written to be read, not spoken.

I kept thinking about how much easier life would be if they just had cell phones. Most of the "unimaginable complications" would be solved in two text messages. But then we wouldn't have a movie, I guess.

It’s not quite as zesty as The Belle of Broadway, but it has a certain polite charm. The film doesn't try to be profound. It’s just trying to get through the day without losing its shirt. And honestly? I relate to that.

It gets a little slow in the middle when they’re stuck in the banker's office. You can almost see the actors waiting for their next lines. But then there's this one reaction shot of a supporting cast member that is just bafflingly long. I laughed out loud. It was a good time.