Reviews

A great film about adolescence. I wish more people could see this film, because it is a true masterpiece. It isn't just a pleasant movie about growing up. It contains some truly powerful and painful scenes. Not with blood and violence, but with small and subtle means Bille August portrays the clash between good and evil when boys grow up to be men. The sequel, Tro, håb og kærlighed or Twist and shout is also a good movie, but it is somewhat superfluous because Zappa contains everything that a film about young people should contain. Quite a lot of danish films are very good when it comes to portraying the good and bad of growing up. Most of Bille Augusts early films are good, but other directors have made great films like Tree of Knowledge (1981), Dance of the Polar Bears (1990), Den Store badedag (1991) or for the younger kids Guldregn (1988). In my opinion though, Zappa is by far the strongest movie of them all.

Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn fall in love, but their lives are everything but stable. Sean Penn is sent to jail for a number of years and when he is released he returns to his love Robin Wright Penn. She is now married to John Travolta and they have several kids. Normally this kind of family business would take months or even years to solve, but these crazy people and kids settle everything in one day. This means emotions, actions and dialog concentrated to the very essence of these peoples lives. Quite fascinating to watch and reminding of the way director Nick Cassavetes' father John Cassavetes used to make movies. Sean Penn always puts his soul into his work and the other actors do a great job. This movie is great fun. Watch it!!!