MEN & CHICKEN, sounds interesting right? It is. The title implies that this movie is in the first place about men. In this Danish movie by Anders Thomas Jensen masculine traits are exaggerated into absurdity, which creates an uncomfortable, unappetizing yet brilliant image. From the frequent brutal fistfights and awkward communication to their inability to multitask, this movie takes stereotypes to the next level. The stereotypes are not cheap or easy but sharp, intelligent, and complex yet funny. The absurd and often distressing elements, such as the fuss over the images on the dinner plates and the beating with dead animals, give the movie many layers that make you want to laugh and cry at the same time.
The story starts when two rather peculiar brothers, both lonely, infertile, and with a harelip, discover that the man they thought of as their father is not their real father. The brothers also discover that they have different mothers who both died while giving birth. Their real father is a professor who lives on the very small island of Ork in quite extraordinary circumstances. When the two visit their father’s house to get to know him, they are met by three aggressive sons with harelips and different mothers who all died while delivering their child. Moreover, the house they live in is full of chicken and other animals. The father is supposedly ill and sleeping, but after a few days in the house without seeing him the brothers begin to doubt and the situation grows darker…
Genetics, masculinity, brotherly love, and sex are the main themes in this movie and they are played with in a nice but edgy fashion. The father was a scientist who experimented with genetics and pushed his sons to follow his paths. The sons that grew up with him were not allowed to read fiction or believe in fairy tales and if they did not obey they were put in a cage for days. This harrowing past is noticed when one of the sons finally gets to read a bible and while reading it out loud he finds a scientific explanation for everything. This brilliant interplay between the primitive – the sons are basically classical conditioned by their father and don’t think for themselves – and the genius – their scientific knowledge is outstanding – is present everywhere in the movie. When the men lie in bed at night they want to sleep together and read stories and fight about which book to read, just like little boys do, but instead of reading Mickey Mouse they read Darwin. The role of Darwin and his evolution theory takes on a huge role in the movie, especially in the surprising ending.
This is also a movie about these men and their ability to interact with women, or well… their lack of this ability. While actual chickens play a large and very disturbing role in the movie, the real chicken here is women. The biggest quest of these strange, socially awkward, fighting, sex-driven yet infertile men with harelips is not to deal with their father but to find a woman in the real world. And this is exactly the point where the movie’s attitude towards masculinity remains ambiguous and questionable. Masculinity is heavily exaggerated and portrayed in an almost disgusting manner (when watching you will find out what the chicken are really used for…), but there is some sort of strange delight in this exaggeration. Where you would expect this male stereotyping and this exposure of toxic masculinity to have negative effects, the judgement remains absent. When the men decide they are going to ‘get some girls’ and enter a retirement home to take the elderly women to bed, these women just obey and go with them. The grossness and toxicity of masculinity is laid bare but not responded to or judged, sometimes it even feels like a little celebration of it. And when, after these men did so many bad things, the movie has a happy ending in which the men even get to live with the elderly women I thought it was a disappointment. Their deeds, which form a clear example of the downsides of the stereotypical masculine identity, don’t lead to a negative response but are almost celebrated. The movie starts a discussion, but is too weak or afraid to take a stand. After such an absurd, dark yet funny movie a normal happy ending was not what I hoped for. This is a movie that deserves an ending just as absurd and dark as its story. It would have made the movie stronger; a real masterpiece of absurdity and one that can start a discussion. But maybe… maybe this ending makes the movie even more absurd.
By Camille Straatman
The Bell 