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Copenhagen does not exist

2023 | 99 min | K-12 | drama

A young woman named Ida disappeared months ago, but the police seem unable to make any progress. Ida’s father and brother make an unusual agreement with Ida’s boyfriend, Sander – they put Sander within four walls for questioning related to the case. Sander once again tells Ida’s father and brother everything that happened in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. But is Sander telling everything? Does he have something to hide? And why is the movie titled ‘Copenhagen Does Not Exist’? Is Copenhagen just an illusion, or is there something that shouldn’t be revealed?

The movie has been described as captivating, thriller-like, and dramatic.

After watching the movie, you can also have discussions on the following questions:

What did Ida and Sander’s love and relationship look like? What emotions and thoughts did their portrayal of the relationship evoke in you? Did your perception of their relationship change as the movie’s story progressed? How?
The movie tells a love story, with several events taking place in Copenhagen and the Danish countryside. Reflect on how Copenhagen and the Danish countryside appeared in the movie.
Write a love story that includes a mystery. Set your story in Helsinki and the Finnish countryside. Choose five different locations, each with significance to the story. Justify your choices.
The movie used various color tones and filters. Which colors do you remember from the movie? What moods did different colors create in the film? Reflect on the symbolism of colors in the movie.
Mise-en-scène, or staging, refers to everything we see in a movie while watching it. In films, everything from set design, colors, and other details is carefully considered for the overall atmosphere. Find still images from “Copenhagen Does Not Exist” and analyze the stylistic choices made in the film. What does the apartment where Sander agrees to be locked in look like? How does the countryside differ in mood and colors from Copenhagen? What does Ida’s family home look like?

After watching the movie, you can also do the following activities:

The Time and World of the Movie: Even fictional movies provide an image of the time and world they are set in. Discuss your perceptions of Copenhagen as a city and Denmark as a country. Examine travel guides’ portrayal of Copenhagen and Denmark. Compare them to the moods and landscapes in the movie.
The Movie’s Main Character: The movie’s main character, Ida, remains a mystery to the viewers. Write a version of Ida’s diary in which she tells her story to us.

Summary:

“Copenhagen Does Not Exist” is best suited for high school students. The movie contains a portrayal of an unusual relationship in which a young couple isolates themselves from the rest of the world. There are signs of an unhealthy relationship, and the movie’s ending reveals a destructive outcome. References to mental health issues such as eating disorders and self-destructiveness are part of the movie’s story. These aspects should be addressed possibly before and after watching the movie.

The other main character in the movie, Ida, remains a mystery to the viewers, and her story is told through the perspectives of her boyfriend Sander, Ida’s father, and brother. Based on this, the movie can be examined as an example of masculine voyeurism. The film depicts grief and loss, has a slow pace, and is visually highly stylized. The overall atmosphere is melancholic and at times even shocking. The movie’s screenplay was written by writer-director Eskil Voght and is based on a Norwegian short story titled “Sander” by Terje Holtet Larsen.

Author of the teaching material: Elina Vitkala / Mediametka