The Green Butchers
Directed by Anders Thomas Jensen
In the 2003 Danish film The Green Butchers, Mads Mikkelsen stars as Svend, a butcher who resorts to selling human flesh disguised as chicken to save his failing business. In a darkly comedic yet poignant scene, Svend recounts his troubled childhood to his business partner Bjarne (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), explaining the bullying and neglect he faced after his parents’ death. His desperate need for acceptance and success leads him to this gruesome solution. Despite Bjarne’s disgust and insistence to stop, Svend reveals his deep-seated fear of failure and longing for respect, encapsulating the film’s blend of macabre humor and tragic human vulnerability.
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INT. BUTCHER’S SHOP – DAY
Svend (Mikkelsen) is counting coins when his business partner Bjarne (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) walks in. Bjarne, smoking, is upset as Svend has been selling human flesh, passing it off as chicken. Oh, and killing people in order to get more meat.
Bjarne: We’ll never talk about this again. Tomorrow we just say that there are no more chicken fillets.
Svend: Chicky-wickies. That’s what I call them. Svend’s Chicky-Wickies.
Bjarne: Svend, stop it.
Svend: Yes, of course. That’s that. (He rings up the register and sits down. After a beat…) That’s that.
They sit in silence for a spell. Then Svend speaks.
Svend: I never told you this. But my parents died when I was very young.
Bjarne: Yes, you have. Many times.
Svend: And I wasn’t popular at school, so I got beaten every day. The other kids were free to pick on me, because I didn’t have any parents. Yes, sirree. They hit me and stole my lunch money. That’s why I’m so skinny. I didn’t get anything to eat before I began training as a butcher. Sometimes they’d hit me with stuff. With wood. And with flashlights. And with a green bicycle pump. And with belts…
Bjarne: Svend, enough with the examples. It doesn’t matter. What are you trying to say?
Svend: I’m very well aware that I’m not a charming person. People have always treated me rough. They’ve called me names. They called me… you know…
Bjarne: Svend Sweat?
Svend: Yes, let me tell you… I was always afraid. I was afraid to go to school. I was afraid to die. I was afraid of girls. I was afraid of people. And to some extent I still am, let me tell you. But then I met Tina. And I thought that things would get a lot better, but they didn’t. That was when I decided to open my own shop.
Bjarne: How the fuck did you work that out?
Svend: Perhaps I didn’t say it right.
Bjarne: No.
Svend: I’m tired and confused.
Bjarne pats Svend on the back.
Bjarne: We’ll see each other tomorrow. (He gets up and starts to prepare to leave.)
Svend: But, Bjarne, I would like… I can rephrase it. I can put it more bluntly. I’ve never been loved. The cat is out of the bag. That’s it.
Bjarne: And…?
Svend: And today… here… What I had here today behind the counter, Bjarne, it was fantastic. It was great. People spoke to me differently. They smiled at me. Suddenly I was someone else, and I really liked that. Don’t be angry, Bjarne, but we can’t open tomorrow without more meat. We can’t.
Bjarne kicks Svend in the shin.
Bjarne: It stops here. It’s sick and I don’t want to hear any more about it.
Bjarne walks off. Svend hobbles up against a wall.
Svend: That really hurt. You’re insane!
Bjarne: It’s only a problem to be insane and not know it. See you tomorrow.
