Danish director Bille August is probably best known in America for The House of Spirits (with Winona Ryder), Smilla’s Sense of Snow (with Julia Ormand) and Les Misérables (with Uma Thurman). He also helmed several episodes of the ’90s Young Indiana Jones series. He dominated the art house in 1987 with Pelle the Conqueror. The movie eventually won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Before all those films, August teamed up with novelist Bjarne Reuter to adapt two of his coming-of-age books for the big screen. Angst by August contains Zappa and Twist & Shout. While Twist & Shout does deal with Beatle-mania. Zappa has nothing to do with Frank Zappa. It’s the name of a fish and take place in 1961 years before the Mothers of Invention played Copenhagen. Both films are about adolescents becoming teenagers in Denmark in the ’60s. They aren’t glowing nostalgic fun as things get dark and harsh for the characters.
Zappa (1983 – 102 minutes) introduces us to a trio of boys that are troublemakers. They pose for one of those three pics photo booths. Except instead of goofy faces, they go reverse. Bjorn (Adam Tønsberg), Steen (Peter Reichhardt), Mulle (Morten Hoff) are school pals who hang out a lot. Bjorn seems eager to meet girls including Kirsten (Ulrikke Bondo). Mulle likes to eat and talk. Steen’s got a lot of issues especially since his parents are trying to live a Danish modern lifestyle. Mom wants silence when she’s doing her Yoga in the living room. The only thing he likes at home is his fish Zappa. Cute pranks turn nasty fast. Steen is a bit of a bully and gets the other two involved in a bit of trouble. He lures them into a life of crime. At first, it’s breaking into a house at night, but then they begin eyeing an ice cream shop to steal the cashbox. Everything elevates in this crucible of their “friendship.” This is not a feel-good coming of age movie
Twist & Shout (1984 – 108 minutes) brings back Bjorn (Adam Tønsberg) as a little bit older. Instead of a teenage gang into trouble, he teams up with his other kids to form a Beatles cover band called Sealions. His best pal is Erik (The Bridge’s Lars Simonsen) who is dealing with his mother mentally losing it. While Bjorn has a girl interested in him in Kristen (Zappa’s Ulrikke Bondo), he’s got a mad crush on Anna (Mousehunt‘s Camilla Søeberg). This gets more complicated because Erik has a crush on Kristen. He can’t do much with her since mom is unpredictable at home. He’s a bit awkward around her either way. Bjorn asks Anna out and she accepts the invitation. Unlike Kristen, Anna is not a coy girl and doesn’t hold back her affections. Bjorn is so caught up in his new girlfriend that he brings Anna to a party hosted by Kristen. Even though Kristen is dancing with Erik, she’s not happy that Bjorn brings a date. She wants Bjorn and won’t settle for Erik. Anna doesn’t care about the nasty glares from Kristen because she’s getting some Bjorn. She’s nice, but she not goody-goody. Their teen love turns into adult problems. This is when the film goes beyond your After School Special. The film does give an idea of the effect the Beatles had at the time. There’s even a men’s store selling clothes just like the Beatles wore including Beatle Boots.
Angst by August is a Danish double feature that gives the full range of being a teenager in the ’60s. We get the boyhood comradery followed by the violence in Zappa. August doesn’t sugar it up as the good old days including bloody fights and the shocking fate of a pair of house pets. Twist & Shout gets deeper into teenage romance than merely scoffing things off as puppy love. These aren’t two John Hughes movies as there are serious consequences for the teenagers. Adam Tønsberg does a great job in both films dealing with situations that quickly go over his teenage head. These appear to be his only two acting gigs. When I did a search for him, his LinkedIn profile came up. Tønsberg went to Harvard Business School and currently runs a business consulting firm in Denmark. He was the Brand Manager for Carlsberg brewing. Hopefully a few people recognized two Danish icons when he entered the room for a presentation.
It’s probably best to watch these films in the order on the disc. Depending where you lived, Twist & Shout played the larger art house circuit first since it was an easier sell with the Beatles angle. The even darker Zappa arrived afterwards and probably freaked out quite a few people expecting something less harsh. Angst By August reminds us that the simple times of our youth were extremely chaotic and dangerous.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out details of life in ’60s Denmark. The Audio is Danish 2.0 DTS-HD MA. It captures the silence when the kids are up to now good. Both movies are subtitled in English.
New Interview with Director Bille August (31:06) was record in April of 2025. He gets into how he got into the books of Bjarne Reuter. Turns out Reuter gave him a copy of the book and suggested there might be a movie in it. August identified with the book and had to make it. He discusses if the films were aimed for a young audience. August is still making films in Denmark.
Secrets in the Soul: The Coming-of-Age Films of Bille August (10:48) is a video essay by Jordan Cronk. Before we get too deep, the piece features a photo of August next to a guy wearing a Toxic Avenger t-shirt. Cronk gives the background of August. Turns out Buster’s World is TV series that was edited into a movie for international distribution. We also get a sense of other Danish movies from this era.
New Compilation Trailer (1:46) was created for the double feature collection. The images from both movies are mixed. Roger Ebert liked Twist & Shout.
Other Trailers includes You Are Not Along, Beautiful Beings, Taxi zum Klo and Tiger Milk.
Altered Innocence presents Angst By August: Zappa / Twist and Shout. Directed by Bille August. Screenplay by Bjarne Reuter & Bille August. Starring Adam Tønsberg, Peter Reichhardt, Morten Hoff, Lone Lindorff, Jens Okking, Arne Hansen & Solbjørg Højfeldt, Lars Simonsen, Camilla Søeberg, Ulrikke Bondo. Boxset Contents: 2 movies on 1 Blu-ray Disc. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: October 28, 2025.
