ANOTHER ROUND
****
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Screenplay: Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm
Principal cast:
Mads Mikkelsen
Thomas Bo Larsen
Magnus Millang
Lars Ranthe
Maria Bonnevie
Helene Reingaard Newmann
Country: Denmark/Sweden/Netherlands
Classification: M
Runtime: 117 mins.
Australian release date: 11 February 2021.
Don’t let this put you off seeing it (you’ll be missing out), but there is an all-encompassing sense of melancholy present in Thomas Vinterberg’s latest film, Another Round. It seems to envelop the character played by the wonderful Mads Mikkelsen and, indeed, the man has his reasons to feel a bit depressed, but the film’s dedication - To Ida - points to another, altogether more personal, explanation for the down-at-heart tone: four days into the shoot, Vinterberg’s 19-year-old daughter, who was to have a role in the film, died in a road accident. The director decided to carry on with the project because Ida had loved the script and because his four male leads, all close friends of his, rallied around to support him and do their best to make the film enjoyable, even amusing, for him. And they succeeded; there are some heart-warming and funny moments to be found as the story unfolds.
At a fortieth birthday dinner for Nikolaj (Magnus Millang), Martin (Mikkelsen) breaks down and starts to cry. The table is occupied by four old friends, all teachers at a local high school, and Martin’s mood is recognisable to them all. Each has lost the spark for life that had motivated them when they all met as young men. Now, as they enter middle-age, their joie de vivre has gone AWOL: Martin’s wife barely sees him and his students think he’s a bore; Nikolaj’s having problems at home, too - his young children are still sleeping with mum and dad… and wetting the bed; sports master Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen) has become bitter and is cruel to his young charges; and music teacher Peter (Lars Ranthe) gets tongue-tied around women and lives alone, reluctantly. As the night wears on, the friends discuss a theory of the Norwegian psychiatrist Finn Skårderud, which proposes that human beings operate with a blood alcohol content (BAC) that is too low, that everyone would work better with a BAC of 0.05. So, the friends make a pact to put the theory to the test: they agree that their BAC should never be below 0.05 but that they shouldn’t drink after eight o’clock at night. The results, initially at least, are positive and their lives begin to improve. In fact, the experiment is so successful they decide to up the ante and increase their BAC to 0.10. And that’s when their new-found enthusiasm for life starts to go pear-shaped.
Vinterberg, when at his best, is one of the most interesting filmmakers around. He was a founder member, with Lars von Trier, of the Danish Dogme 95 cinema movement, which wanted to create a realistic form of filmmaking by eschewing special effects, post-production modifications and other technical gimmickry; only natural light and sound could be utilised and the director must not be credited. His superb 1998 movie, Festen, was made under these principles. He’s moved on since then but is still a proponent of making films about ‘real’ life. If you’re after shoot-outs, car chases or alien spaceships, don’t go to a Thomas Vinterberg movie - Another Round is no exception. The four principals are uniformly outstanding but Mikkelsen is the standout and the story is primarily focussed on him and his situation. He’s worked with Vinterberg before, in The Hunt in 2012 and, at 55, he just gets better and better.
This is an excellent film. It will be contentious to some, who may regard it as too soft on the negative effects of over-consumption. But, hey, turning a blind eye to the way Western society uses alcohol isn’t going to make it disappear. Vinterberg is merely acknowledging what happens in some cultures. As he says, “We want[ed] to create a tribute to alcohol but it goes without saying we also want[ed] to paint a nuanced picture. Embedded in our examination of the essence of alcohol lies an acknowledgement that people die from - and are destroyed by - excessive drinking. An existence with alcohol generates life, but it also kills.” Skål!
Screenplay: Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm
Principal cast:
Mads Mikkelsen
Thomas Bo Larsen
Magnus Millang
Lars Ranthe
Maria Bonnevie
Helene Reingaard Newmann
Country: Denmark/Sweden/Netherlands
Classification: M
Runtime: 117 mins.
Australian release date: 11 February 2021.
Don’t let this put you off seeing it (you’ll be missing out), but there is an all-encompassing sense of melancholy present in Thomas Vinterberg’s latest film, Another Round. It seems to envelop the character played by the wonderful Mads Mikkelsen and, indeed, the man has his reasons to feel a bit depressed, but the film’s dedication - To Ida - points to another, altogether more personal, explanation for the down-at-heart tone: four days into the shoot, Vinterberg’s 19-year-old daughter, who was to have a role in the film, died in a road accident. The director decided to carry on with the project because Ida had loved the script and because his four male leads, all close friends of his, rallied around to support him and do their best to make the film enjoyable, even amusing, for him. And they succeeded; there are some heart-warming and funny moments to be found as the story unfolds.
At a fortieth birthday dinner for Nikolaj (Magnus Millang), Martin (Mikkelsen) breaks down and starts to cry. The table is occupied by four old friends, all teachers at a local high school, and Martin’s mood is recognisable to them all. Each has lost the spark for life that had motivated them when they all met as young men. Now, as they enter middle-age, their joie de vivre has gone AWOL: Martin’s wife barely sees him and his students think he’s a bore; Nikolaj’s having problems at home, too - his young children are still sleeping with mum and dad… and wetting the bed; sports master Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen) has become bitter and is cruel to his young charges; and music teacher Peter (Lars Ranthe) gets tongue-tied around women and lives alone, reluctantly. As the night wears on, the friends discuss a theory of the Norwegian psychiatrist Finn Skårderud, which proposes that human beings operate with a blood alcohol content (BAC) that is too low, that everyone would work better with a BAC of 0.05. So, the friends make a pact to put the theory to the test: they agree that their BAC should never be below 0.05 but that they shouldn’t drink after eight o’clock at night. The results, initially at least, are positive and their lives begin to improve. In fact, the experiment is so successful they decide to up the ante and increase their BAC to 0.10. And that’s when their new-found enthusiasm for life starts to go pear-shaped.
Vinterberg, when at his best, is one of the most interesting filmmakers around. He was a founder member, with Lars von Trier, of the Danish Dogme 95 cinema movement, which wanted to create a realistic form of filmmaking by eschewing special effects, post-production modifications and other technical gimmickry; only natural light and sound could be utilised and the director must not be credited. His superb 1998 movie, Festen, was made under these principles. He’s moved on since then but is still a proponent of making films about ‘real’ life. If you’re after shoot-outs, car chases or alien spaceships, don’t go to a Thomas Vinterberg movie - Another Round is no exception. The four principals are uniformly outstanding but Mikkelsen is the standout and the story is primarily focussed on him and his situation. He’s worked with Vinterberg before, in The Hunt in 2012 and, at 55, he just gets better and better.
This is an excellent film. It will be contentious to some, who may regard it as too soft on the negative effects of over-consumption. But, hey, turning a blind eye to the way Western society uses alcohol isn’t going to make it disappear. Vinterberg is merely acknowledging what happens in some cultures. As he says, “We want[ed] to create a tribute to alcohol but it goes without saying we also want[ed] to paint a nuanced picture. Embedded in our examination of the essence of alcohol lies an acknowledgement that people die from - and are destroyed by - excessive drinking. An existence with alcohol generates life, but it also kills.” Skål!