Kjeld Bentzen

Danish noir crime drama with a poetic nerve. Two boys, Kristinus and Jakob (Rode and Neergaard) experienced a loveless and abusive childhood. Now as grown-ups, they are acting outside the law.

Per Brask is a fisherman's son, a lively 16-year-old boy, still too young to go out to sea, even though, like other boys on the west coast, he has to help out with the daily work. He is mostly preoccupied with playing, while dreaming of getting his own boat. The boys from the dunes are in a constant battle with the fjord boys, or land crabs – usually just called crabs – who are the boys from the village by the fjord or from the farms further inland.

The new caretaker of a Copenhagen tenement building wins the trust of the children, who had been incited to rebellion by his hated predecessor, by lifting unnecessary restrictions and organizing meaningful recreational activities. When he ends up in jail on suspicion of theft, the children stand up for him.