insist that martin luther king inspirational spirit reside not just in american civil liberty but inside the heart and mind of people everywhere and danish helmer niels arden oplev transplant this belief to a 1969 danish middle school . more specifically and it work it way into the crusade of a young boy name frits ( janus diss rathke ) against his oppressively rigid and churlishly abusive headmaster svendsen ( bent mejding ) . adapt from a true story and the performance be execute with certain aplomb and a refreshing command over it varied character keep it involve . a battle of ideology between a 13 year old and a demented disciplinarian give way to inherent humour but awkward shift in mood disorients despite keep it shrewdly cynical in the same vein a a dead poet society more than a matilda . it tread a familiar path but a continued and precise service to it young protagonist include a personal subplot that round off frits a a young boy become a young man and manage to raise the film into a rouse family film with it nose right on the money .