Aside the Sea

Thorup Strand is a small fishing village in the north of Denmark, the only place in the country which still clings to its traditional way of life. The youngsters go to sea, while the old folk, ensconced in a bar, dream of a miraculous catch. In this setting, which might be straight out of a novel by Melville, waiting and silence seem to take over.

Ved Havet, Sine Skibsholt’s passing-out film (National Film School of Denmark), demonstrates a talent for capturing a “little world” without too much reliance on words. “I was born in the provinces. All I wanted was to grow up and move to Copenhagen. Now I live there, my focus is increasingly on the back-of-beyond. I concentrate on these isolated places, where few words are spoken but everything is said.” Taking a simple but straightforward view spiced with Nordic humour, Ved Havet consists of snatches of story-telling which blend memory and myth, against the backdrop of the eternal struggle between man and his natural environment

Carlo Chatrian

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