Shorta

Echoes of George Floyd reverberate throughout this topical, gripping thriller from Denmark.

This is a film made with such aplomb that you would never guess that the Danish directors, Anders Ølholm and Frederik Louis Hviid, were making their debut feature. They also share the screenplay credit, but in this sphere Ølholm, who was the one who came up with the story in the first place, had made his mark earlier. What we get is a tale of police brutality in which the two central figures are both cops (indeed, a written statement at the start tells us that ‘shorta’ is an Arabic word for police). These two men, who become partners in the same police car, are the experienced Mike Andersen (Jacob Hauberg Lohmann) and the younger Jens Høyer (Simon Sears). Initially they are portrayed in ways that underline the contrasts between them and in point of fact Høyer has been assigned to join Andersen specifically to keep an eye on him because of the older man’s reputation for stepping out of line. However, once the story unfolds against a background of street rioting, the audience is invited to realise that these two are not quite as different as one initially assumes.

Some critics have compared this film - one that was released in some countries under the title Enforcement - with Hollywood thrillers, and it is the case that it packs enough action to please audiences looking for that kind of movie. Nevertheless, the work closest in character to Shorta is Ladj Ly’s 2019 Paris-set contemporary drama Les Misérables. That film emphasised local colour more, but Shorta is equally concerned with the policing of a disadvantaged area where the community predominantly consists of immigrants living in poor conditions. Indeed, Shorta takes place in one of the ghetto areas of Copenhagen and the streets riots that break out and put the two cops in jeopardy are a response to the death of a young Muslim while in police custody (the film opens with the youth put in a chokehold and declaring that he can’t breathe, a scene that immediately now evokes thoughts of the fate of George Floyd thereby underlining that this film’s subject matter reverberates far beyond Denmark).

The first two thirds of Shorta are consistently compelling. Both Lohmann and Sears give excellent performances that contribute to this, as does the everyday credibility of the situation portrayed. The impact is increased by our concern for the third main character in the story: this is a young Arab named Amos (Tarek Zayat) who is arrested after he has protested over the way in which Mike has picked on him and subjected the boy to a strip search. In all of this there is an admirable balance between the scenes of action and the underlying questioning prompted by the material. The matters that arise in this respect connect with the social issues, the behaviour of the police and the factors that influence these two law enforcers (is the disapproving Høyer as guilty as Andersen since he largely keeps quiet and fails to intervene, and will the impact of his tough work lead him to become more and more akin to Andersen?). This is strong stuff that works effectively, so it is a shame that the writing for the last third resorts to a series of plot contrivances (not just one, I must stress, but several). They seem set up to a degree that undermines the sense of this being a drama that feels absolutely real. But, despite that disappointment, Shorta is worth seeing and it stands as a promising showcase for its two creators as well as being a film given additional strength by the quality of its two leading actors.

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MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Jacob Hauberg Lohmann, Simon Sears, Tarek Zayat, Issa Khattab, Özlem Saglanmak, Lara Aksoy, Dulfi Al-Jabouri, Abdelmalik Dhaflaoui, Arian Kashef, Imad Abul-Foul, Josephine Park, Mads Rømer.

Dir Anders Ølholm and Frederik Louis Hviid, Pro Signe Leick Jensen and Morten Kaufmann, Screenplay Anders Ølholm and Frederik Louis Hviid, from a story by Anders Ølholm, Ph Jacob Møller, Pro Des Gustav Pontoppidan, Ed Anders Albjerg Kristiansen, Music Martin Dickov, Costumes Sarah Thaning.

Toolbox Film/Det Danske Filminstitut/Charades/DRTV-Vertigo Films.
108 mins. Denmark/France. 2020. Rel: 3 September 2021. Cert. 15.