The Idealist

The Idealist will be appreciated by those who prioritize content and social commentary over form and effectiveness. Do not expect the usual thriller and action elements, chases, or life-threatening plots. The Idealist is a realistically narrated and fact-based story about an investigative journalist's involvement with state power and political interests. Personally, I am not enthusiastic about the filmmaker's style, which focuses more on maintaining a sense of authenticity at the expense of attractiveness for the viewer. The Idealist approaches the fictional documentary genre. The pace reflects the patience required for thorough fact-finding in the field and their subsequent composition into an informative picture of the Danish political scene. This time, I will round down to three and a half stars, but my overall impression of 65% is certainly not a bad result. In my opinion, the film could have had more urgency, passion, and emotion, but that is, of course, a matter of opinion. (08/02/2020)

I will probably soon start to think that the Danes aren’t serious about Greenland. First, they shoot a story about the Danish government bullying the local nation, just so they can consequently surprise us with a story of how the Danish government has agreed to store nuclear weapons in Greenland. I have grown used to the Scandinavians being full of self-criticism in their cinematography, but at times I am really surprised. The Idealist is shot really well. There is not much action, but when something interesting is finally happening, you will get to see some quality camera shots. Plus the creators toyed with a combination of the acted part with some real documentary shots, adding on the authenticity. The journalist Poul was also real, and he kept fighting until the Danish government admitted they’ve made a mistake. Then it was only a matter of time until there was a filmmaker who would transfer this political screwup onto the big screen. (20/01/2018)

I have somewhat conflicted feelings about this. I very much appreciated the fact that I learned classified information about a serious and highly politicized case through this film, but I got it in a rather uninteresting way. The film feels very authentic thanks to the use of period footage and documentaries, but given that there were many cancer deaths in later years among the workers dealing with the aftermath of the horrific air disaster, I would have expected a bit more emotional involvement from the filmmakers. (65%) (25/02/2021)