Sad Jokes

An unsuspecting flower farmer visits the hospital to discuss some test results, only to find himself admitted without explanation for an indefinite period of further examination and observation.

A young doctor fresh out of medical school takes a job at a big-city hospital, and on his first day finds himself making life-and-death decisions.

A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.

A treatise on love and desire tainted by harsh reality of capitalism, in which submission to the laws of lust-as-commerce is played out by five prostitutes and their pimp, who pits them against one another so that they are incapable of standing up to him collectively.

The film shows a strong bond between two brothers that live in a remote fjord with their parents. We look into their world through the eyes of the younger brother and follow him on a journey that marks a turning point in the lives of the brothers.

Andrew returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral, a journey that reconnects him with old friends. The trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants. A chance meeting with Sam—a girl also struggling with various maladies—opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional connections, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.

An intimate study of two women friends who come to each other because of troubles with everyday life and with men and thus try to enjoy a life based on their ideas.

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.

After a wonderful time in Hungary Sissi falls extremely ill and must retreat to a Mediterranean climate to rest. The young empress’ mother takes her from Austria to recover in Madeira.

The family of a wealthy businessman gather to celebrate his 60th birthday. During the course of the party, his eldest son presents a speech that reveals a devastating secret that turns the night into a battle of truth and denial.

A woman and her daughter struggle to make their way through the aftermath of the Balkan war.

Tillie is a secluded, lonely woman living a mundane and repetitive day-to-day life. Marcus is a reluctant and unorthodox hitman who has been recently hired to murder her.

Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.

Michaela, an epileptic, enrolls in college to study education. She goes off her medication and soon begins hearing voices and seeing apparitions that tell her to avoid religious objects, although she is devoutly Roman Catholic. One priest scoffs at the idea that Michaela could be possessed by demons, but a younger pastor arranges an exorcism for the young woman.

A deadpan young man obsessed with death meets an eccentric septuagenarian who teaches him to live life to the fullest.

Several lonely hearts in a semi-provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their lives. The film, which unspools the connections and family drama shared between the students, complies with several aesthetic principles of Dogme 95 movement.

Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.

Cecilie and Joachim are about to get married when a freak car accident leaves Joachim disabled, throwing their lives into a spin. The driver of the other car, Marie, and her family don’t get off lightly, either. Her husband Niels works in the hospital where he meets Cecilie and falls madly in love with her.