There is nothing I can write here that would be odder than this movie.
Men & Chicken (2015; Danish: Mænd og Høns) is the story of five men in search of their father, a man who was indiscriminate in his mates … and didn’t mate with them.
The two eldest, Elias and Gabriel, were sent away as babies, and don’t learn of their biological heritage until their adoptive parents are dead. So, between bouts of semi-public masturbation, they discover that their father is now located on a small, Danish island named Ork, and set out for it.
Their introduction to the island is sadly tragic, as Gabriel is run over by the local mayor and his daughter, leaving him an invalid, but they make it to the institution where their father lives.
And finding him, while fending off their three brothers, who appear to idiot savants – feel free to emphasize your favorite word of that pair as is your wont, or even want – is an adventure in dominance behaviors in and of itself.
But it all circles around and around and around the question that will afflict American audiences, if not Danish audiences: Why make this movie? Is this a Danish peculiarity, or someone’s perverted pet project of little pertinence nor perspicacity?
Acted with great competence, I’m still puzzling over it.
Pass the chicken.
