Winner Grand Prize, Maverick Spirit Award - Cinequest Film Festival Jorgen is burdened by his father, Valentin, an old man who neither talks nor moves and is leading something hard to be called a life at his villa. The nurses come and go as Valentin sits in his chair, never moving, never reacting.
Anna is a 24-year-old unemployed actress who, to get a paycheck, participates in a ridiculous commercial, where she meets Jørgen, who offers her a room at his father’s villa to look after Valentin. She takes the job and turns out to be the only person able to deal with this old, miserable man.
Valentin’s mental faculties are not always on an even keel, yet he serves as an audience for the roles Anna didn't get at auditions, and step-by-step, she starts to bring him back to life. But it turns out that Valentin isn’t quite as feeble as he has led everyone to believe, and Anna must call upon her acting skills to find out what he is hiding before Jørgen takes more drastic measures.
A satire, psychological drama and comedy rolled into one, director Erik Clausen’s Villa Paranoia adeptly draws upon rich characters, who demonstrate the values and strength of the human heart, to create a portrait of Denmark today. It is world cinema at its finest. |
