A riotous, bawdy and transgressive black comedy, Men and Chicken from Danish director Anders Thomas Jensen (The Green Butchers, Adam’s Apples) stars long-time collaborator Mads Mikkelson (Hannibal, the Pusher trilogy) in surely one of his least suave roles as troubled loner Elias, brother to Gabriel (David Dencik), a depressed academic.
Discovering their father isn’t really their father, they go in search of their biological parent, travelling to the remote island of Ork to do so. They find it a unique place – where bestiality is gleefully accepted, casual violence is the norm and unusual passions are indulged – and start to uncover the mysteries of their origins.
Jensen pulls no punches, and the film may offend those with delicate sensibilities – but behind the twisted, politically incorrect goings-on, he’s asking real questions about who we are, where we come from and what makes us human, in this very funny and provocative comedy.