With Your Permission? I'm not sure....

Sunday night was the world premiere of With Your Permission (Til døden os skiller), a Danish black comedy about domestic violence.

After the screening, there was a Q&A with the director and principal cast. The first commenter stood up and said, "This film offended me greatly. I didn't like laughing at instances of spousal abuse. It's no laughing matter." Director Paprika Steen tried awkwardly to respond, but many in the audience seemed to feel that the commenter had a valid point.

In With Your Permission, much of the comedic premise comes from a switch in genders -- it's the wife who beats her husband -- and each day he shows up at his job with a new bruise or neck brace. Actor Lars Brygmann, in the role of the husband, plays with the full slapstick potential of interacting with coworkers and attempting to explain away his many injuries. "I walked into a door," in one instance and "Doing some renovation work around the house and I slipped," in another. There ARE plenty of these gags, and they are quite amusing. Still, you can't help but reflect that you probably wouldn't be laughing if roles were reversed and this were his wife arriving at work explaining away her bruises.

I don't know. The film left me with mixed feelings.

(The Filmcatcher crew caught up with the director. Watch their intimate interview here: http://www.filmcatcher.com/festivals/Toronto_Film_Festival/day_6/17/ )

Posted on 09/10/07 by: garyc 08:23 AM