Of the films short-listed for this year's Beijing International Film Festival "Tiantan Award," there is a nearly three hours-long epic called A Fortunate Man. Set in the late 19th century, the film follows Peter Sidenius, an enterprising son of a priest who decides to leave the dogmatic and religious family, travels to Copenhagen to study, runs into all sorts of setbacks in the real world, and finally becomes a lonely hermit withering in the ocean breeze. He once had happiness and success merely an arm's length away, but deep-rooted sufferings from his childhood would not relent, always pricking at him to give up, and he ended up living a secluded life in the countryside.

　　An adaptation of the eponymous 1917 novel by Nobel Prize for Literature laureate Henrik Pontoppidan, the film is directed by renowned Danish master Bille August, who has won a large number of accolades such as Golden Palm at the 41st Cannes Film Festival and Best Foreign Language Film at the 61st Academy Awards for Pelle Erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror), and another Golden Palm at the 45th Cannes Film Festival for Den goda viljan (The Best Intentions).

　　At the same time, Bille August has also been quite active in China. In 2017, he participated in the 7th Beijing International Film Festival as the president of the "Tiantan Awards" jury. This year, the Asia premier of his A Fortunate Man will also take place during the BJIFF.

　　Leading actor for the film Esben Smed Jensen is also a household name. He won the 2016 Robert Award for Best Supporting Actor - TV Series for his work in the Danish television production Bedrag and is a 2017 winner of the European Film Promotion (EFP) European Shooting Stars award. His superb performance in the film vividly portrays Per's turbulent and tumultuous life, capturing the full spirit of the character's painful internal struggle and unfaltering pursuit for his dream.

　　The film inherits the director's signature Northern European attributes. With a cold and harsh attitude, the movie underscores the relationship between person and person, between person and nature, and between person and religion. Philosophical and poetic, A Fortunate Man sheds light on the truth of life through revealing the encounters of feeble individuals in the real world.

　　The film demonstrates the historical ups and downs in Denmark during the country's process of industrialization. The clashes between a new breed of intellectuals, as represented by Per, and traditional politics and businesses are put on full display under the vastly different backdrops between the expansive Danish countryside and the nation's emerging big cities. Per is a concentration of even more specific disputes. He once fled the Christian family he was born into, but returns to seek redemption when under extreme anxiety; he despises collusion between politics and commerce but has no choice other than relying on them to fulfill his aspiration; he cherishes the love of his life but abandons her because of the grieve deep inside his heart. Through the presentation of these pairs of dilemmas and the creation of a complex character in Per, the film discusses the profoundly philosophical question of fortune and misfortune from the perspective of the meaning of life.

Certainly this film has the potential to function as the mirror for you to truly see the world, to truly see those around and to truly see yourself. In front of this mirror, let us be that fortunate man and woman.

　　【Screening info】

　　13:30 April 16 (Tue), Emperor Cinema