...comparable that the golden years of the Nordisk Films Kompagni in the 1900s-10s and receiving critical and scholarly attention commensurate with the volume of interest in Carl Th. Dreyer's films. In her study Small Nation, Global Cinema, Mette Hjort identifies a pattern in the carpet of this new Danish cinema, and she persuasively advocates a new direction for the renewed scholarly attention. By introducing and elaborating with compelling case studies the term "small nation," she establishes a new model for scholarship on Danish and Nordic cinema. Her argument also makes a case for the relevance of Danish cinema to several scholarly audiences. And she further defines her original theoretical position by drawing together elements in her scholarship of the last ten years. Small Nation, Global Cinema deserves careful reading by many readers.

Many recent books and articles have sought to explain the artistic accomplishments and popularity of contemporary Danish cinema and to situate it in relation to its antecedents. Some have done so in historical terms, others in relation to Lars von Trier and Dogma 95, some through discussion of changes in national and transnational cinema institutions and production practice, and others in analysis of other factors or combinations of elements. New histories have appeared, for example Peter Schepelern's 100-Ars Dansk film (1999; 100 Years of Danish Cinema) and Larsen and Nissen's 100 Years of Nordisk Film (2006). Several scholars have published books on Lars von Trier, including ones by Schepelern (2000), Stevenson (2002), and interview books edited by Lumholdt (2003) and Bjorkman (2005). Another valuable interview book was Hjort and Bondebjerg's Danish Directors (2000), which includes interviews with nineteen active Danish filmmakers. So, too, Dogma 95 has been the subject of books by Hjort and MacKenzie (2003) and Stevenson (2003). Furthermore, collections of articles focusing exclusively or in part on contemporary Danish cinema have appeared, for example Bondebjerg, Jensen, and Schepelern's (eds.) Danskfilm 1972-1997 (1997), Toftgaard and Hawkesworth's (eds.) Nationale spejlinger (2003; National Reflections), and Thomson's (ed.) Northern Constellations (2006), among others. The volume of scholarly publication reflects intense scholarly and popular interest in the transformation of Danish cinema since the 1980s.

Hjort's Small Nation, Global Cinema stands out among these books for its explanation of the new Danish cinema as the film culture of a small...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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