Blekingegadebanden

Mar 20 2009 N/A 1h 44m
Documentary

"Blekingegadebanden" is the true story of a group of young Danish idealists who lost their grip on their own morality. They risked their own freedom and the lives of others and feasibility of raising money for a case that was bigger than themselves. They started as political activists, but came deeper and deeper into an organization that had several layers - legal and illegal. Some stopped in time. Others went with a piece of road. And a few chose to go all the way. It all ended in November 1988 with a history of Denmark until then biggest heist and murder of a 22-year-old policeman. In the film we meet activists from that time - even some of those who went whole hog. And we meet the police, as for so many years was right on the heels of the gang, but still failed to take action before the tragic killings in Købmagergade.

Plot

This is a documentary of feature length. It consists of interviews, stills, integrated sound recordings, clips from actual shot material(but not movies) and some reconstruction. This deals with the well-known gang, the mindset and motivation behind them, their robberies and, one of the areas that are given the focus throughout, the night in 1988 where one of them shot a police officer. Both sides are heard. Law enforcement and members of the group all share their thoughts and describe their reactions, and several attempt to explain, after having come to comprehend it themselves, why they, or the people above or next to them in the hierarchy did as they did. The portions of this that are directed, staged, never take over, and act more as... "dramatized" reality, let's call it that, to give a sense of the situations, to further deliver strong impact, along with the verbal retellings and speeches that are played. This is not a film, and those sequences do not lose sight of that fact. It is an exploration of a group of people, who, as it is pointed out early on, all came from quiet, normal backgrounds, yet went on to become criminals. After watching this, you won't know who fired that bullet, one early morning in the late eighties. Only a handful of people do, and they continue to keep the secret. However, you may have gained a greater understanding of that group of Danes. This holds a little harsh language, and footage that is disturbing. This is best viewed if you have a basic knowledge of the events. I recommend this warmly to anyone who wishes to find out all the information that they can about those involved with the title faction. 8/10

Written by

Peter Øvig Knudsen, Anders Riis-Hansen

Directed by

Anders Riis-Hansen, Kenneth Kainz

Production Countries

Denmark

Production Companies

Bastard Film

Languages

Dansk

Awards

1 win

Scores
# of Votes
242
Average Rating
6.6 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA