Balladen om Carl-Henning

Reportedly, The Ballad of Carl-Henning is the first Danish new wave film. At a leisurely pace it tells of the dairy apprentice Carl-Henning, who drifts uncritically and happy-go-lucky around the small provincial town where he lives with his parents. In his spare time he keeps company with his friend Poul and Poul's girlfriend Kirsten, but when Poul moves to Aalborg, a void suddenly opens up in Carl-Henning's life, a void he fills with alcohol. At a party he drunkenly "borrows" money from the dairy's till, but is discovered by the dairyman, whom he accidentally knocks unconscious. In a panic Carl-Henning flees his problems to Aalborg, where Poul promises to help him.

During Poul's absence Carl-Henning soon falls in with petty criminals. He himself is not aware of how serious things are, and it is going to cost him dearly.

The film is shocking because it starts in the same mood as Carl-Henning's mind, carefree, but gradually the tone becomes more and more serious until the tragic ending.

Jesper Klein is fine as the naive and immature gangling oaf who never manages to grasp the harsh side of life until it is too late.

The film's tension curve rises constantly. The opening is rather off-putting in its slow, humdrum depiction of the protagonist's life.