One of the recent American television cult favorites has been Hannibal. Mads Mikkelsen has brought a new look and style to the show as the title character—and he and the TV series are a bit different in style and tone than the films. This isn't at all a bad thing…and Influx has been following the show for some time. While I am NOT a die-hard fan of the show, my daughters are and insist on watching it and wonder why I am not equally excited about the show. As for me, I like Mikkelsen—but I prefer him in films. He's done quite a few brilliant and highly inventive Danish films, such as After the Wedding, A Royal Affair and The Hunt (all of which were nominated for Oscars for Best Foreign Language film). However, I finally found something unusual—a movie with Mikkelsen that is sort of like a warm-up for his later role as Hannibal Lecter. And, it seems like a natural for fans of the TV series to watch.

The Green Butchers is a very, very strange film that I did enjoy. It's about two rather asocial guys who work at a local butcher shop. They hate their boss and decide to go into business for themselves. Svend (Mikkelsen) is the 'front man'—the guy who usually greets customers and sells them their meat. In contrast, Bjarne (Nikolaj Lie Kaas),prefers to work in the back—butchering the meat and avoiding people as much as possible. Bjarne is a complicated and sad man—late in the film you learn why he is so withdrawn. Svend, on the other hand, just wants to be a success and for people to like him. In the meantime, however, their business appears to be failing—and their grand opening is a catastrophe.

An unexpected death turns out to be just what the boys needed! When their electrician accidentally freezes himself to death in their walk-in freezer, Svend panics and tries to hide the evidence. He is worried this accidental death would be bad for business and decides to get rid of the body in an unconventional way—he butchers him, marinates the meat and sells it to customers. And, the meat is a HUGE hit—such a bit hit that all evidence of the accidental death is soon consumed. But, with the prospect of losing all these new customers, Svend makes the practical, yet nasty decision to procure another body….and so on and so on.

The strangest part about this film is that it's really NOT a comedy. I had just assumed it was a dark comedy like Eating Raoul but instead found that it was a drama….and a very light drama at that. While you'd think that the film would be disgusting and bloody, it actually isn't and the two murderers (especially Bjarne) are rather likable anti- heroes. In fact this is the most amazing thing about the film—it's about cannibalism but is neither a comedy nor a horror film. On top of that, the ending is very, very strange…and a bit funny in a very off- beat sort of way. Not a brilliant film but very inventive and strangely likable. Plus, if you cannot get enough of Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal, perhaps this will help feed your need for more.

"De Grønne Slagtere" (aka "The Green Butchers") is a great Danish comedy that has a twist of very dark humor to it. Why? Well, because the movie has some really hilarious characters in it, and also the storyline is very bizarre - about two misfit butchers who open up a store and become famous for their meat, human meat that is.

There is a lot of funny situations in the movie, many of which are really well carried and delivered by both Mads Mikkelsen (playing Svend) and Nikolaj Lie Kaas (playing Bjarne and Eigil). These are, of course, the main driving force in the movie, but they are well accompanied and supported by people such as Ole Thestrup (playing Holger).

The movie is set in a small town in Denmark, and it actually depicts such a community quite well, well aside from the murdering and turning corpses into food, of course. The movie does have a cannibalistic topic to it, but it addresses this with a great sense of humor, and that ghastly topic is not really the main issue for the storyline. So thumbs up for director Anders Thomas Jensen for managing to pull this movie off as nicely as he did.

"De Grønne Slagtere" is definitely a comedy that is well worth checking out if you enjoy comedies that are supported by a bizarre and twisted storyline. I warmly recommend "De Grønne Slagtere".

Names like Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Anders Thomas Jensen - they are gripping to follow even individually, but when/if together... Thus, the result is catchy, both script-wise and performance-wise: "nasty" elements are not prevailing, there are several twists and turns, witty lines, smoothly and logically progressive plot, distinctive characters with splendid acting (apart from Mikkelsen as Svend and Kaas as Bjarne/Eigil (particularly the latter),supporting actors like Nicholas Bro and Ole Thestrup give memorable performances as well). Except the ending which is without a final twist, De grønne slagtere bears the finest trends and elements of British-type of black comedies, and it should definitely earn more praise it has earned so far. Despite the fact that the main topic - cannibalism and related activities - is not to everyone's taste.

Besides, I wonder how many viewers have abandoned shopping in butcher's shops, or become vegetarians even... :)