Speed Walking

Speed Walking is a tender and often urgent coming-of-age film set in 1976, deftly directed by Niels Arden Oplev (who helmed the Scandinavian adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Martin (Villads Bøye), a 14-year-old Danish boy, is a champion speed walker on his school’s team, and he is in that phase of life where discovery can be confusing and painful, with no road map available. With his best pal Kim (Frederik Winther Rasmussen) giving him a little orientation to the mysteries of sex, Martin develops an ambiguous desire for his friend. But pretty Kristine (Kraka Donslund Nielsen) is his real focus. When Martin’s mother suddenly dies, rendering his father and older brother barely able to function, the lad has to grow up quickly while clumsily courting Kristine and preparing for his confirmation at a Christian church. The collision of youthful naivete, grief, and ritual overwhelms Martin. Oplev assuredly captures the challenges of a kid taking the first adolescent steps of command over his own destiny. Recommended. (T. Keogh)