Movie Review - The Green Butchers

Rarely do you get to see a movie as fresh and entertaining as this one. This 2003 Danish movie directed by Anders Thomas Jensen is a dark, morbid comedy about two men, Svend and Bjarne, who set up their own butcher shop. They both have personal issues which confront them as they go about their business, which leaves an impact on the way they do business as well.

Svend can be described as having very low self esteem. He tries to hide it with false confidence, rudeness and pride. However, anyone can see that despite his loud, arrogant, rude nature, he’s hurting inside and it won’t take much to turn him into a nervous wreck. Bjarne has his own skeletons which aren’t so apparent.

They break away from their employer, the town’s reining butcher, to set up their own butchers shop. At the end of their first day however, they find themselves with no customers and Svend accidentally locks the electrician in the meat locker. He discovers the body the next morning, but when a customer places a sudden large order, he makes a rash decision, does the unthinkable, and serves a part of the body to the customer, soon earning Bjarne’s wrath.

With no choice but to continue with work as they can’t go to the police, matters are complicated when they discover that people actually like the human meat. Svend, obsessed with his sudden popularity, wants to continue killing people, against Bjarne’s opposition. Added to this is the fact that Bjarne’s twin brother, who happens to be slow, has just woken up from a coma after Bjarne has taken out a loan against harvesting his organs, and is now pursuing Bjarne everywhere, even though Bjarne doesn’t want to meet him. 

Movie Review - The Green Butchers