Moments of awkwardness or shock are smoothed over by festive Danish carols. The guests, looking nervously around, mouth the innocent lyrics in varying states of horror. Vinterberg therefore undermines the traditional use of film music by making it his tool for obfuscation. A hand-held camera. Through the shaky eye of a hand-held camera, life looks messy and disorganized.
People walk on and off screen with no sense of choreography.
Their faces are pale and washed out. We can see their wrinkles, crooked teeth, and even the derelict pimple. The deliberate ugliness of the film challenges the outward respectability that the characters try to maintain. The camera is not afraid to fly in the face of the family members, defying their respectable detachment. It catches them off-guard, some of them frowning when they are supposed to be smiling, and some of them letting their anger peak through their hospitality.