The Candidate (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
The Candidate is a 2008
Danish
film, the first Danish film shot in the 2-perf format.. Its original Danish
title is Kandidaten. The film tells the story of Jonas Bechmann who believes the car accident that killed his father was no accident. When he goes in search of the facts behind his father's death, he finds himself set up for murder.
Devastated Jonas indulges in a wild night on the town. He wakes the next morning in a hotel room, having only vague memories of having cheated on his fiancée, Camilla. When he enters the bathroom, he finds last night's girl dead on the floor, her throat heavily bruised. He hides the evidence of ever having been there and goes home to find an anonymous envelope waiting for him. It contains a DVD with incriminating footage of him making love to the girl and her being strangled to death. Furthermore, the message states a sum - 5,000,000 Danish Krone
- a date and a place.
When Jonas goes to the place of delivery with the money (everything he owns), he hands over the payoff to the wrong person, an incidental passerby walking his Great Dane
, who takes off without a word. Next, two masked men arrive demanding that he deliver the same sum of money the next day at the same spot. To put further pressure on Jonas the tape will be delivered to Camilla. The police will be next, the blackmailers warn him.
Having nowhere left to turn to, Jonas retraces his steps of that fateful night, hoping he will find some clue to the identity of his blackmailers. During his search he sights the girl he has allegedly killed, being alive and healthy. She only just gets away from Jonas when two police men tackle him. Still, he manages to track her down. She tells him she is a call girl having been hired to set him up. She gives him the slip and jumps into a car blocking Jonas' in the road. Just before the car takes off an item of clothing belonging to his fiancée is thrown from its window.
Afraid for Camilla's life, Jonas rushes to the summer house where she is residing. There he finds her bound to a chair with a black sack over her head. Before he can free her, the two masked men arrive on the vicinity, threatening to kill Camilla if Jonas doesn't hand over the money. In the subsequent struggle he manages to shoot them both with their own weapons, but only after Camilla has been killed.
However, taking the sack off the woman's head face reveals she is not Jonas' fiancée, but the call girl. The two men turn out to be the policemen who interfered in his chasing her. Martin Schiller arrives on the scene, having been called by a worried Camilla, who is safe at home. He offers Jonas to clean up the mess and urges him to go home.
Jonas does so, but, after a talk with Camilla, makes up his mind to turn himself in. The next day he goes to Martin's house to inform the man of his decision. Just as he is about to ring the bell, a Great Dane shows itself. It is the dog of the man who took off with Jonas' 5 million krone. He follows it to a shed in Martin's yard. In it he discovers not only the two so-called policemen and the call girl - the three of them very much alive - but also the walls to be covered with detailed planning for a large scam: the one he has been led through in the last past days. What's more, among the items in the room he notices his father's old cell phone.
Infuriated, Jonas grabs the phone and a gun and runs back to Martin's house, just in time to see the man drive off in his car. After a bumper to bumper race, in which he tries to push Martin off the road, Jonas faces him. At gunpoint Martin confesses to the murder on Jonas' father. When the to be concealed evidence turned up in court again, he feared retrobution by Kiehlert accociates. Martin holds that he has done no more than Jonas has done in the past few days: concealing evidence of a crime and killing in order to protect himself. He then offers Jonas a dream position at his law firm. Grudgingly Jonas accepts.
In the last scene Jonas is seen signing his new contract in the precence of Martina nd the director of the law firm. Jonas thanks Martin and plays a recording which he has taped on his father's phone. It is Martin's confession of the murder.
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
film, the first Danish film shot in the 2-perf format.. Its original Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
title is Kandidaten. The film tells the story of Jonas Bechmann who believes the car accident that killed his father was no accident. When he goes in search of the facts behind his father's death, he finds himself set up for murder.
Plot
Advocate Jonas Bechmann is going through a crisis. It has been one year since his father died in a car crash. Although the police have not pursued the case, Jonas believes it was, in fact, murder, connected to the last case his father worked on. To investigate the murder, Jonas quits his job and applies for the post at the law firm his father left open when he died. He is denied the job but told by his father's old partner, Martin Schiller, that evidence has been found his father took a bribe to make evidence disappear that incriminated his last client, Claes Kiehlert. Furthermore, Martin implies that Jonas' father was killed because the evidence turned up in court after all.Devastated Jonas indulges in a wild night on the town. He wakes the next morning in a hotel room, having only vague memories of having cheated on his fiancée, Camilla. When he enters the bathroom, he finds last night's girl dead on the floor, her throat heavily bruised. He hides the evidence of ever having been there and goes home to find an anonymous envelope waiting for him. It contains a DVD with incriminating footage of him making love to the girl and her being strangled to death. Furthermore, the message states a sum - 5,000,000 Danish Krone
Danish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
- a date and a place.
When Jonas goes to the place of delivery with the money (everything he owns), he hands over the payoff to the wrong person, an incidental passerby walking his Great Dane
Great Dane
The Great Dane , also known as German Mastiff or Danish Hound , is a breed of domestic dog known for its giant size...
, who takes off without a word. Next, two masked men arrive demanding that he deliver the same sum of money the next day at the same spot. To put further pressure on Jonas the tape will be delivered to Camilla. The police will be next, the blackmailers warn him.
Having nowhere left to turn to, Jonas retraces his steps of that fateful night, hoping he will find some clue to the identity of his blackmailers. During his search he sights the girl he has allegedly killed, being alive and healthy. She only just gets away from Jonas when two police men tackle him. Still, he manages to track her down. She tells him she is a call girl having been hired to set him up. She gives him the slip and jumps into a car blocking Jonas' in the road. Just before the car takes off an item of clothing belonging to his fiancée is thrown from its window.
Afraid for Camilla's life, Jonas rushes to the summer house where she is residing. There he finds her bound to a chair with a black sack over her head. Before he can free her, the two masked men arrive on the vicinity, threatening to kill Camilla if Jonas doesn't hand over the money. In the subsequent struggle he manages to shoot them both with their own weapons, but only after Camilla has been killed.
However, taking the sack off the woman's head face reveals she is not Jonas' fiancée, but the call girl. The two men turn out to be the policemen who interfered in his chasing her. Martin Schiller arrives on the scene, having been called by a worried Camilla, who is safe at home. He offers Jonas to clean up the mess and urges him to go home.
Jonas does so, but, after a talk with Camilla, makes up his mind to turn himself in. The next day he goes to Martin's house to inform the man of his decision. Just as he is about to ring the bell, a Great Dane shows itself. It is the dog of the man who took off with Jonas' 5 million krone. He follows it to a shed in Martin's yard. In it he discovers not only the two so-called policemen and the call girl - the three of them very much alive - but also the walls to be covered with detailed planning for a large scam: the one he has been led through in the last past days. What's more, among the items in the room he notices his father's old cell phone.
Infuriated, Jonas grabs the phone and a gun and runs back to Martin's house, just in time to see the man drive off in his car. After a bumper to bumper race, in which he tries to push Martin off the road, Jonas faces him. At gunpoint Martin confesses to the murder on Jonas' father. When the to be concealed evidence turned up in court again, he feared retrobution by Kiehlert accociates. Martin holds that he has done no more than Jonas has done in the past few days: concealing evidence of a crime and killing in order to protect himself. He then offers Jonas a dream position at his law firm. Grudgingly Jonas accepts.
In the last scene Jonas is seen signing his new contract in the precence of Martina nd the director of the law firm. Jonas thanks Martin and plays a recording which he has taped on his father's phone. It is Martin's confession of the murder.
Cast
- Nikolaj Lie KaasNikolaj Lie KaasNikolaj Lie Kaas is a prominent Danish actor whose career rose in the 1990s and who is still actively working today. He is also the host of the annual Zulu Comedy Galla on Danish TV....
as Jonas Bechmann - Ulf PilgaardUlf PilgaardUlf Pilgaard is a Danish actor. The son of a priest he studied theology but shifted to become an actor. Married with Gitte Pilgaard.He has been an important part of Cirkusrevyen in 28 years. He has appeared on several films e.g...
as Martin Schiller - Laura ChristensenLaura ChristensenLaura Christensen , is a Danish actor.- Biography :Laura Christensen made her debut as a child actor in the film Min fynske barndom and had her first major role in Tøsepiger.She is perhaps best known for her roles in the TV series 'Riget , Strisser på...
as Louise - Tuva NovotnyTuva NovotnyTuva Moa Matilda Karolina Novotny Hedström , simply known as Tuva Novotny, is a Swedish actress and singer. She was born in Stockholm but grew up in Åmot outside Arvika. Tuva is the daughter of Czech movie director David Novotny and actress Barbro Hedström. She is currently living in Copenhagen in...
as Camilla - David DencikDavid DencikDavid Dencik is a Swedish actor.After having had minor roles in different films, David Dencik became an established actor in Sweden for his role as the killer John Ausonius in the three-part TV mini-series Lasermannen in 2005...
as Michael - Kim BodniaKim Bodnia-Movie career:He has appeared in several of the successful Danish films from the 1990s and 2000s, e.g. Nattevagten , Pusher, and Bleeder, the latter two directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, and the two Lasse Spang Olsen films In China They Eat Dogs, Old Men in New Cars and Terribly Happy.Bodnia has...
as Claes Kiehlert - Henning JensenHenning JensenHenning Jensen is a Danish former football player, who played professionally for German club Borussia Mönchengladbach, Spanish club Real Madrid and Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam where he won the domestic league championship in each country...
as Peter Bechmann - Jesper LangbergJesper LangbergJesper Langberg is a Danish film actor. He has appeared in over 50 films since 1965. He was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark.Jesper Langberg is the son of actor Sigurd Langberg and younger brother of actor Ebbe Langberg....
as Jørgen Hammel - Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Sarah
- Henning Valin Jakobsen as Afpresser 1
- Claus Riis Østergaard as Afpresser 2
- Peter Plaugborg as Den Tynde Mand
- Henrik Prip as Henrik Linde
- Marijana Jankovic as Kathrine Malling
- Iben Dorner as Schillers Assistant (as Iben Amelieh Emine Dorner)
- Jakob Ulrik Lohmann as Færdelsbetjent
- Camille-Catrine Rommedahl as Schillers Receptionist (as Camille Rommedahl)
- Per Scheel Krüger as TV Journalist
- Christian MortensenChristian MortensenThomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand Mortensen , known as an adult as Christian Mortensen, was a Danish supercentenarian. At the time of his death he was 115 years and 252 days old—the longest fully authenticated lifespan of any male in history...
as Tjener - Anna Eline Levin as Freya
- Ditte Hoffman Lessner as Marius Mor
- Marius S. Stands as Marius
- Stanislav Sevcik as Matthias Böttker
- David Rousing as Jimmy Lessner
- Ann Hjort as Eva Schiller
- Christoffer BoeChristoffer BoeChristoffer Boe is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is an established and well-known not only in Denmark, but all through the world. Among his international awards there are FIPRESCI Director of the Year at San Sebastián International Film Festival and Golden Camera at Cannes Film...
as Mand foran Restaurant
Awards
| Award | Category | Winner/Nominee | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Robert Award The Robert statue is a Danish film prize awarded each year by the Film Academy of Denmark. It is the Danish equivalent of the American Oscars. The award, voted only by academy members, is acknowledgement by Danish industry colleagues of a person's or film's outstanding contributions during the... |
Best Original Score (Årets score (musik)) | Jeppe Kaas | Yes |
| Best Special Effects (Årets special effects) | Thomas Dyg | No |