- A neo-Nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devoted minister.
- Ivan is a priest in a rural church known for the apples that grow on a large tree in front. He's odd: seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, in denial about personal facts, and convinced he's at war with Satan. The rectory is a halfway house for recently-paroled convicts. Adam arrives for 12 weeks, a large, tough neo-Nazi, first baffled by Ivan's thick-headed optimism, then angry. He vows to break Ivan's faith. Meanwhile, in exasperation at Ivan's insistence, Adam sets a personal goal: to bake an apple pie. All goes awry for the tree: crows, worms, lightning. The Book of Job gives Adam perverse insight, and his hooligan mates provide the resolution.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
- Neo-Nazi Adam O. Pedersen (Ulrich Thomsen) is on probation and arrives with a bus in a countryside to provide three months of community service at a small-town church. Shortly afterwards, local priest Ivan Fjeldsted (Mads Mikkelsen) picks Adam up in a small van. Adam doesn't shake hands with Ivan, neither responds to his efforts in starting a conversation.
When they arrive at the church, Ivan proudly shows Adam the big apple tree growing in it's yard, which seems to yield a lot of fruits this year, but which aren't quite ripe yet.
Inside the church, Ivan introduces Adam to Khalid (Ali Kazim), an Arabian looking and Gunnar (Nicolas Bro), an overweight and unkempt, who both provide community services at the church like Adam. Khalid reacts repellent when seeing bald Adam, who also has an iron cross and swastika tattoo on his right forearm.
Inside Ivan's office, Ivan asks Adam to set a goal while his stay at the church. He decides to bake a big apple pie using the apples from the church's apple tree. Ivan consents. Adam gets the task to take care of the tree and apples until they are ripe on August 1st. During the conversation, Ivan also tells Adam multiple things: 1. Adam doesn't look like a Neo-Nazi (which he obviously does) 2. People only find the bad if they look for the bad but at this church they only look for the good. 3. The devil sent an army of people during the last years to Ivan's church but they all found their way to God. 4. Gunnar used to be an alcoholic, a rapist and a thief and lives in the church for 4 years now, even though he only needed to stay 3 months like Adam. He is sober for 26 months and studies theology. 5. Khalid used to rob gas stations, not fearing shooting people or taking hostages, but now is happy and speaks almost fluent danish.
In his room, Adam starts unpacking. He plugs in his phone, places Nazi literature and his purse in his cupboard, dumps a small flower which was placed on it and replaces a small crucifix hanging above the cupboard with a picture of Adolf Hitler. Also, Ivan brings him a Bible which he places on his cupboard.
Next morning, Adam is woken up by Khalid who's ringing the church's bells. Ivan preaches a sermon with only a few attendees being present. Adam, Khalid, Gunnar and three elder people are there. One of them, Poul Nordkap (Gyrd Løfquist), has to use the bathroom during Ivan's speech. Ivan interrupts the sermon, confronting Poul, telling him the service will only take another 20 minutes. The church's bathroom is closed during sermons due to security reasons and Poul couldn't re-enter the church once he left. Also he would have to walk to the hospital if he'd want to 'take a shit'. Poul decides to stay.
After the sermon, Adam sees Gunnar in the kitchen fondling his cat while pouring down shot after shot of alcohol. He tells Adam that Poul used to work in a concentration camp during war and now is old (86 years old), uneasy and always leaves the sermon early, that's why Ivan has it in for Poul. Gunnar tells Adam that Ivan is alright but also warns him to start a dispute with him.
In the night, when Adam is asleep, Gunnar sneaks into Adam's bedroom and steals his phone and purse. Adam wakes up, confronts Gunnar, who responds that he thought Adam would be asleep. Adam punches Gunnar on the nose, who then holds his nose and leaves Adam's bedroom, apologizing and wishing Adam a good night, enraging Adam even more.
Next morning, Ivan notices crows sitting on the church's apple tree, pecking the apples. He shows Gunnar, Khalid and Adam. Adam is infuriated and places a scarecrow next to the apple tree.
A woman arrives at the church, introducing herself as Sarah Svendsen (Paprika Steen). She tells, she's not local and couldn't attend the sermon. She starts crying and Ivan, Adam and her go to Ivan's office. While Sarah starts telling her story, Ivan and Sarah have a coffee. Adam tells Ivan that the milk turned sour, whereupon Ivan replies that it's fine since he doesn't drink his coffee with milk. Adam replies he was thinking of Sarah. Ivan feels offended and quotes the bible, stating it's impudent of Adam accusing Ivan of being selfish. Ivan then asks Adam if he could instead fetch biscuits for Sarah ...and himself, even though Sarah says it's not necessary. Sarah continues unfolding her background story, she had sex with a man while working for an environmental association in Indonesia and got pregnant. She used to drink a lot of alcohol, but is sober for 341 days and sees an Alcoholics Anonymous group. She's being told, her child might be born handicapped and she doesn't know where the father is. Adam brings two plates of biscuits, one for Ivan with three smaller biscuits and one for Sarah with two larger biscuits. Ivan notices that one plate has three and the other only two biscuits on it. While Sarah is crying, Ivan starts an unreasonable discussion about the biscuits. Ivan continues talking to Sarah, still being in tears, her unborn child has a 60% chance of being handicapped and she has one week to decide to keep it or to abort, she says she couldn't handle having a handicapped child. Ivan tells her that his first-born child had a 75% chance of being born with a handicap and encourages her in keeping it since their child seems to be doing everything normally and happily. After finishing his plate with two larger biscuits, Ivan reaches for Sarah's plate and eats one of the smaller biscuits, Adam watching in disbelief.
The next morning dozens of crows fly towards the church, some of them land on the scarecrow. Adam discovers a black ski mask with rolled up bank notes in it lying in the kitchen while Khalid seems to have fallen asleep next to the ringing church bells. Gunnar enters the kitchen and starts drinking alcohol again. Adam touches a hotplate by accident, not aware it was still on, Gunnar forgot to turn it off. Adam furiously leaves the kitchen, slapping Gunnar's back of the head.
He goes to see Dr. Kolberg (Ole Thestrup) to treat his burnt hand, who tells him that, as a doctor, he learned to stop beating around the bush. He tells Adam that everything went wrong in Ivan's life - His mother died when Ivan was born (it was in the same doctor's office) and then he lived with his sister and father Henning, who raped both of his children.
Adam returns to the church. Ivan sits on a bench next to the apple tree and calls Adam over for a talk. He tells him that Satan is testing them since Adam can't bake a pie when the crows peck on the apples (which never happened before) and when Adam burns himself on the hotplate. Adam tells Ivan that he is an idiot and that 'the fat Gunnar' is drunk all the time and forgot to turn the hotplate off. Ivan tells Gunnar's backstory, he used to be Denmark's biggest talent in tennis until he started losing for a falsely claimed 'out' ball. Adam shows Ivan the ski mask he found in Khalid's pocket, Ivan tries to deny and defend it in an absurd way. Adam shows him the 17.000 cash he found with the ski mask and Ivan again tries to justify it. Adam realizes Gunnar and Khalid haven't bettered themselves at all since they came to Ivan and that Ivan lives in denial. Upset by Ivan's blindness, he starts beating him up. Ivan falls off the bench and Adam in anger keeps on punching and kicking him brutally.
Adam leaves Ivan behind and starts packing his belongings. He notices his phone and purse are missing, he furiously leaves his room and walks into the kitchen where he finds Gunnar who also took someone else's phone. Gunnar hands phone and purse back to Adam after being threatened. Adam tells him to be happy that he's on probation. Ivan enters the kitchen with a bloody face, a swollen eye, crooked nose and buffed cheek, acting normal and informing Gunnar and Adam that he's going to the emergency (to get himself treated). Gunnar asks him if he can bring him his 'Cough Syrup' (meaning his alcohol) from the kiosk on his way, Ivan accedes gladly, he's done it before. Adam again is in disbelief.
Adam meets with an old friend of his, Esben, who brings him a gun. He is concerned Adam wants to kill the priest, but Adam tells him, his intention is to intimidate Ivan and finally open his eyes. It's also revealed Adam only has 11 weeks left for his community service.
Patched up Ivan, Khalid and Gunnar stand in front of the apple tree. Gunnar sent his cat Lambert after the crows but he doesn't go after them, sitting on the tree meowing. Adam, with a gun stuffed in the back of his pants, joins the group and tells them a story about his grandfather who shot blackbirds of his cherry tree. Khalid asks what type of a gun, which arises the perfect opportunity for Adam to point his gun at Ivan, Khalid and Gunnar to show them which type. Ivan, seemingly unimpressed, tells him to give it a try and to shoot the crows. Khalid asks if that would be okay with the church, which Ivan confirms. Khalid draws his gun and shoots several crows as well as Gunnar's cat. Ivan defends Lambert's death saying he was weary of life and Gunnar shouldn't blame Khalid. Ivan tells Adam, who is still pointing his gun in shock of what just happened, that he believes, today will be a good day.
Gunnar and Adam are back inside while still hearing Khalid shooting outside. Gunnar prepares a meal. He tells Adam, Khalid is saving money to build himself a house in Saudi Arabia. Adam suggests him robbing banks instead to make more money. Gunnar tells him, he only robs Statoil gas stations since his father got killed by the company for his property sitting on oil. Adam says that Statoil is from Norway and hence couldn't be responsible for his father's death. Gunnar tells Adam, Ivan had a wife named Linda who killed herself 7 years ago and the date of death is close. The reason was a handicapped baby she was carrying, Christoffer.
Ivan visits Adam in his room to bring him a book of recipes for apple pies and sees the Hitler picture hanging on the wall, alleging, he doesn't recognize him since Hitler had a different beard. Adam says all of Hitler's enemies made the mistake of not taking him serious to which Ivan responds that they should visit Poul Nordkap who used to be a Nazi too to see how serious Ivan takes it. When Ivan leaves the room and slams the door, a Bible that Ivan brought him in the beginning, drops from Adam's cupboard, and opens at 'Book of Job' which it already did once before when it dropped.
Ivan and Adam visit Poul in hospital. He seems to be in a bad condition and is repenting his past, thinking about all the people who died in the concentration camps. Ivan tells him to let go of it and that everyone sometimes does something wrong and nobody will remember it. Poul answers that Ivan is a maniac. Ivan keeps on talking, God forgives anything. Adam has to make him notice that Poul died while Ivan was talking.
Ivan and Adam drive back to the church. During the drive, Adam brings up the suicide of Ivan's ex-wife, Linda. Ivan claims it was by accident, Christoffer put the pills into the candy box and Linda mistook them as the yellow M&M's. Adam doesn't believe one word that Ivan says, since Gunnar told him before that Christoffer couldn't move. Ivan says, he'll bring him to the church the next day so he will see firsthand.
Next day, Ivan brings Christoffer for breakfast. Gunnar, Khalid, Adam and Ivan eat while Christoffer, indeed paralyzed and not reacting when Adam snaps his fingers in front of his eyes, sits in his wheelchair. Adam confronts Ivan about all the things he's denying, his son has a spastic paralysis, his wife killed herself, his mother died when he was born and his father raped him and his sister. Ivan stares and starts bleeding from his right ear. He leaves the room. Adam is amused.
Ivan sits down in the church, still bleeding from his ear. Adam follows him and tells him to 'give up'. After a brief moment, Ivan gets up and walks towards Adam, confessing him that Christoffer just had a bad flu and hence isn't on his toes this week. Adam snaps and slaps him on the face, telling him to cut it. Ivan quotes the Bible to hold the other cheek. Adam gives him a head-nut and drags him into the trunk of Ivan's own van. On the way out, we see an apple carrying worms now. Esben witnesses Adam dragging Ivan into the trunk. Esben decides to make a phone call.
Adam brings Ivan to the local hospital and the doctor reveals to Adam that Ivan for a long while actually has a cancer tumor, size of a tennis ball, in his brain. He explains to him the Ravashi Syndrome - Ravashi was a football player who lost his feet in a Kart crash but for 2 months onward still kept playing football; due to the shock, his brain suppressed the fact his feet were missing. Ivan on the other hand suffered so much misfortune in his life, he made up excuses, like everything being a test by Satan, to bear it all. And like Rakashi he blocked everything else out. Three years ago was the last time Ivan bled from his ear, his promiscuous sister died in an accident, so the doctor suspects only really personal things make him bleed. Theoretically it would kill him at one point to make him see the reality he is blocking out.
Adam and Ivan drive back to the church, Ivan in believe that God is always on his side. Sarah, the pregnant woman, sees the paralyzed Christoffer and is mad at Ivan lying to her that he is healthy. She slaps Ivan in the face.
Gunnar and Sarah drink alcohol in the kitchen since Sarah has no hope that her unborn child won't be handicapped.
Next morning, Gunnar, Khalid and Ivan tell Adam that the apple tree has worms in it's apples. Ivan says the infested fruits have to go and the rest gets injections. Ivan and Gunnar prepare Poul's ascension. Esben is still around and spying on them.
It starts raining outside. Adam goes back into his room. He notices The Bible on his cupboard and drops it repeatedly. It always opens on the page of 'Book Of Job'. He decides to read through it and at one point, when he's already in bed and had a couple of cigarettes, throws The Bible to the ground.
Next day is Poul "Nordkap" Bækel Hermann's funeral. Gunnar, Sarah, Khalid, Adam and Christoffer (with a Denmark flag on his wheelchair and a music blaster on his lap) are present while Ivan runs the burial. He lies about Poul's last words, saying they were: "I am not afraid. I am ready." He also mentions it's Christoffer's 9th birthday. He then plays Christoffer's favorite song on the music blaster.
The funeral is over, everyone's back inside. A storm quietly arises, blowing all the straw off the scarecrow, leaving behind a wooden cross next to the apple tree.
Adam sits in the church smoking and when Ivan arrives with Christoffer and Gunnar, Adam tells him he wants to talk to him. Ivan acquiesces and Gunnar and Christoffer leave. Adam suggests that it wasn't Satan who tested Ivan all these years, but it was God. Adam tells him, he read the 'Book Of Job' and that God hates Ivan. In the 'Book Of Job' God brings great suffering to Job, comparable to Ivan's story. Ivan still denies it, but starts bleeding from his ear again with teary eyes. Adam tells Ivan, it's God who actually wants Ivan to die but Ivan is being obtuse and thinks it's Satan. Ivan asks him: "Why are you doing this to me?", Adam answers: "Because I am evil/bad and there's nothing you can do about it." Ivan drops to the floor. Adam throws his cigarette at him and leaves.
The storm outside gets stronger and the church is being thunderstruck. The stove Ivan just recently bought is hit and breaks down. Khalid was trying to make food but then says that they go to bed every day with an empty stomach. Adam looks concerned towards the stove and goes back, with a flashlight in his hand, to Ivan, who he discovers still being alive on the floor of the church.
Dramatic music starts playing as Adam kneels down to Ivan, the doors of the church start slamming due to the storm's wind, the pages of a Bible on the floor are flicking through wildly. Adam goes outside, lots of lightnings and rain. His flashlight goes belly-up. He walks towards the apple tree when a huge thunderbolt hits it and brings it down. The apple tree starts burning. Adam runs back inside, picks up Ivan and brings him outside past the burning remains of the apple tree and takes him to the doctor.
Storm is over and the doctor tells Adam that Ivan is done, he will die in four or five weeks. He says that Adam somehow managed to destroy Ivan's worldview. Adam gets to drive Ivan home, Ivan isn't as talkative as he always used to be and it's the first time we see Adam drive Ivan's car and putting on the feel good music just like Ivan used to do.
Ivan and Adam look at the burnt down apple tree. They walk inside the church where they find Christoffer. Ivan kneels next to him and tells him that God hates them and always has.
Ivan gathers the others (Sarah, Khalid and Gunnar) to tell them he will soon die. Ivan leaves. Gunnar plans to get drunk.
A car pulls up in front of the church. Esben, plus two other guys get out. They all appear to be Neo-Nazis. Khalid and Adam manage to collect three apples from the remains of the apple tree. When Adam's old friends arrive and see him collecting apples with Khalid, they get furious. The smallest of the three orders the bulkiest one, Jørgen, to teach Khalid a lesson. Khalid pulls his gun and shoots Jørgen in his leg. The smallest one incensed by that, walks towards Khalid and Adam and tells Adam he will regret it and that Khalid is a dead man. Khalid again fires his gun but this time right into the small man's chest. He manages to walk away with both of his friends but Khalid again shoots him, this time in the back. They still walk away.
Adam gets back inside with a small bucket full of apples. He waves it in front of Ivan's eyes, who is absently starring at a big holy cross. Adam tells Ivan that Gunnar and Khalid have problems and need him. Ivan wants to be left alone. Adam finds drunken Gunnar in a tennis outfit, carrying a tennis racket and an eggplant. He asks him if he knows where Sarah is. Gunnar says, she ran away. When they enter Gunnar's room, drunk and unconscious Sarah is laying tied up on his bed. While Adam unties her, Gunnar steals an apple from Adam's basket. Suddenly they hear two gunshots from outside. Gunnar wants to lay next to Sarah but Adam drags him outside to go with him. Turns out it's Khalid outside with a bunch of guns in his trunk, ready to attack more Statoil's. Adam convinces Khalid to take them with him.
When they arrive at a gas station, Adam goes in first, telling Khalid he has to use the restrooms first. Inside, he warns the employees and tells them to run away using the rear exit. Khalid and Gunnar enter the station, Adam tells Khalid the employees ran away. While Gunnar steals sweets, Khalid goes for the cash register and Adam refuses to take anything but a microwave at last second. One employee was still hiding in the restroom and Adam makes sure he is okay.
Outside, Adam tells both they have to talk to Ivan and get help.
When they get back in the morning, Christoffer and Sarah are sitting outside, Sarah eating an apple. After Adam asks what happened to the rest of the apples, she answers that they ate them all since they were standing on the table and in the fridge was only beer. Two cars manned by Neo-Nazis arrive, the three from before are with them. Adam sends Khalid inside. Adam moves towards them to greet them. Jørgen punches him in the face and Adam drops to the floor. The small one kicks him repeatedly. Ivan steps outside the church, asking for them to be more quiet. He tells them he only has about six days left to live and he doesn't want them to be troublesome. The small one, who seems to be the leader, points a gun at Ivan, demanding Khalid. Ivan refuses and starts collecting all the weapons from them since 'they all make noise'. He tries to grab the gun from the small one when suddenly a shot triggers. It hits Ivan right in the left eye. He drops to the floor with half of his brain oozing out. The Neo-Nazis leave.
Adam takes Ivan to the doctor, who says it's called a 'half Kennedy'. Ivan won't recover quickly from it.
Khalid decides to leave. Gunnar returns the apple he stole from Adam's bucket. Adam bakes a very small pie from it, using the microwave he stole from the gas station.
He takes it to the hospital just to find out that Ivan's bed is empty. He talks to the doctor, who is shocked by the miracle he just witnessed, packing his things, getting ready to leave.
Ivan's tumor got blasted out of his brain by the bullet and he left the bed to take a walk in the garden. Adam and Ivan eat the little apple pie, sitting in the garden of the doctor's office.
We see a small sequence, where a new small apple tree is growing near the church.
Sarah and Gunnar get a child baptized by Ivan, it's called 'Ivan Lambert Andersen'. Adam watches, he has grown blond hair now. Sarah and Gunnar plan to fly to Indonesia.
Ivan and Adam pick up two people, Arne and Noller, from the same bus station where Adam arrived. They both refuse to shake Ivan's hand, just like Adam did. Ivan introduces Adam to them as his right hand, 'Adam Ole Pedersen' (when Adam first arrived, he told Ivan, he didn't know what the 'O.' in his 2nd name stands for).
The two new passengers behave very disrespectful towards Ivan and the look of his eye, but Adam and Ivan don't fall for it. The four get in the car and Ivan puts on his feel good music in the car as usual, in this case 'How Deep Is Your Love'. Ivan sings along and in the end, after hesitating for a while, Adam joins him. We see the same van Ivan used when picking up Adam in the start, driving off on a country road heading towards the church.
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