Otra ronda

I went into this mostly looking for comedy. Well that was a mistake. It has some comedic parts, but it's most definitely a drama, and a heavy one at that. I mean look at that cover, it's great and looks like this film is going to be a good time. So, a little misleading perhaps, but a very well done film that emotionally drains you.

I'm convinced Mads Mikkelsen is one of the most talented actors of his generation. Admittedly, I believe this is the first I've watched with him speaking his native tongue. Which only adds to how good he is, because he's been great in everything else where he's not even speaking his first language. No surprise, he is very good in this.

The theory of maintaining a .05 BAC is interesting and I believe it does have positive benefits. However, as seen in the film, there is a fine line which can be easily crossed and lead to terrible tragedies. Moderation in everything is best practice I would argue.

Teacher being myself, I saw this film for a sort of cure after a crazy pandemic school year and, no doubts , for Mads Mikkelsen ( like Martin, I am history teacher and very/ too familiar with the parents/ students pressions ). The film was more then I expected. Because it is a beautiful eulogy of freedom and fine portrait of teaching - the help for Sebastian from music teacher is just moving - , friendship, escape from fears / doubts/ routine, middle age crisis, pure forms of freedom . And, sure, a film about fall. I saw it as teacher , not as cinema critic, I loved the crazyness and realism, humor and dark slices, the moral and the splendid job of Mikkelsen.

After giving the most emotional and heartbreaking Oscar speech of the recent awards, Thomas Vinterberg's International Feature winner is now in UK cinemas. "Druk" (Danish for "Binge Drinking") is in the Danish language with subtitles: but don't let that put you off.

Positives:

• Mads Mikkelsen delivers a stunning performance. He really delivers the goods. He was nominated for a BAFTA for the role but missed out on the Oscar nomination. This feels unjust. I would have personally swapped out Steven Yeun for this performance by Mads.

• Thomas Vinterberg was justly nominated for Best Director at both the BAFTAs and the Oscars. The movie never lacks momentum from beginning to end. I was thoroughly entertained.

• It's quite unusual to see a 'buddy movie' concerning a group of men that's not a cop film. My wife described it as a '"chick-flick for blokes". I guess you need to go to "The Hangover" films to find an equivalent. (That of course also centres around alcohol. Are we really that shallow?!)

Negatives:

• Up until a "church scene", I thought the story was well-structured and coherent. But I'm not quite sure what message the finale of the movie was trying to send. Yes, it's fun and full of energy. And Mikkelsen's dancing is both bizarre and entertaining. But given all that's gone before, is it a "what the hell, life is for living and alcohol is part of that" statement? I was unsure.

Summary Thoughts on "Another Round": The movie is dedicated to "Ada" - Vinterberg's daughter, who was supposed to be acting in the film but tragically died in a car crash just four days into shooting. (Hence his emotional Oscar acceptance). The fact he managed to finish the movie at all is amazing. But the fact it's so good is a great memorial to her.

It's billed as a "comedy drama" but, although there are comic moments, it leans heavily on the "drama". The Scandinavians in general tend to drink as much, if not more, than the British do. So this is a reminder of both the benefits and risks of the evil drink.

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Druk (or Another Round for the English title) by Thomas Vinterberg is a refreshing story about alcohol consumption, about the effects alcohol has on the mood of a person, on the changing behavior, positive and/or negative, someone has under influence. It's and interesting and entertaining story that will keep your attention. I recognized some scenes from personal experiences, like anyone will that likes to have a drink occasionaly or addictively. The whole cast did a great job playing their characters. I didn't know any of the actors besides Mads Mikkelsen, that in my humble opinion always delivers, but they all did a good job making this movie worth watching.

I enjoyed Thomas Vintenberg's "Another Round".

Why? Maybe because I'm an introverted guy drowining his introverted sorrow in pints of beer, wine, vodka... but not whisky. Or maybe because I'm a teacher and I can relate to being confronted to a class whose deadly silence is a severe blow to my pride. Or maybe because I'm kind of a simp when it comes to women, whether the first or the second. Or maybe because I already used alcohol to fuel some positive energy... and that it worked. Anyway I was the perfect candidate to enjoy it and I enjoyed it so much that I'm willing to do an experiment (I did one for "Festen", check the review).

Since the film is about four men and teachers (with their own issues and marital troubles): history teacher Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), P. E. teacher Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen), philo Nikolaj (Magnus Millang) and Music Peter (Lars Ranthe) decide to prove a theory that implies a man's alcool level at 0,5g maintains or improves his social skills and creativity, that state between drunkenness and soberness. I'm willing to do a similar test and advance in that review after several drinks. This is not an endorsement of drinking, no more or less than the film but let's do it for fun. See you later.

Well, here we are, two small beers, I guess I'm there at 0,5g. How does that affect my writing I don't know. I just want to take an opportunity to say that I could really relate to the scenes that depicted every single stage of inebriation by Vintenberg. From the way, you start stumbling and looking for the right word, or just talking loudly and smiling to the way you start loosen up. There's a real portrayal of alcohol effect that takes me back to the first time I drunk, drank, whatever, when my cousin asked me to approach a girl and I was shy, it took one bottle of Malibu pineapple and the magic operated, placebo, maybe. Anyway, I could relate to the character of Mark, he's lost his appeal with his wife and girls and one glass of wine is enough to bring back the worst and anaesthetize it. Alcohol becomes the remedy to the very thoughts it catalyses, strange but true.

Having said that, I dream to be a filmmaker and one of the film I dreamed of making since 12 years involve a long sequence of guys drinking and dancing and a climactic catastrophe dancing that is almost like Madds at the end. And so for the record, I want to make it clear, if I ever make such a film, please don't accuse me to make a rip-off. I swear I had it in mind years and years before. Let's hope this will serve a purpose.

Where was I? Just had two and half glasses of wine. I guess I'm in a stage where my mind floats in total lucidity, and I already feel silly about the former paragraph... how about just making a film without caring about any accusation of plagiarism. What Vintenberg did was more than offer a platform of expression to average guys who want to be heard in a world where it's about the pleas of youngsters or women, I suspected Vintenberg was a fan of "The Deeer Hunter" when I saw "The Hunt": you know, male-bonding etc. , the drunk scenes especially when they want to literally go the distance is just like the bar scene pushed to eleven... men behaving like a children, he wife wants a fresh fish, how about fishing it... I like the way Vintenberg use the process of handheld camera to exteriorize the drunken effect like Harvey Keitel's "Rubber Sandwich" scene in "Mean Streets".

The directing, rightfully Oscar-nominated is both subjective and objective, it shows the state of mind, shows the way they look at their own entourage, whether kids laughing at their jokes or women telling them to calm down and it shows a certain reality about couples, exams, needs for existence and that found a perfect loophole with alcohol. Does the film advocate the drinking? Well given the most extreme scenario and the fact that a man wets his own bed and Marcus ends up laying on the ground, I doubt so... but what Vintenberg does is acknowledge that there's a reason for existence (remember what Homer Simpson said?) and he doesn't back up in the controversial scene where a teacher advices a student to drink before answering, it can help... I'll be back...

Now, I guess I got to the limit, my head is heavier and I'm tired. Maybe that' what consumption is about, there's an aftershock, something to bite you back that is called reality... Vintenberg draws the line between reality as it seems and the the virtual universe we fabricate to improve or please ourselves.... I was perplex about the ending, why cut the focus from the experience and leave us with the aftermath of the first booze orgy... maybe Vintenberg settles a personal record with destiny (check the trivia) and out of honesty decided to show that alcohol is a life-and-death issue whether physical or "social" death. Still the same...

However the ending that seems to embrace the energy boost of alcohol within the students and their intergenerational communion with teachers suggests a social cement, a rite of passage, as wicked as it is, it exists and that one should handle it with responsibility. It's interesting that if Marcus could get his wife to notice him with alcohol, her comeback is due to one moment where he chose to be sober... and maybe there's a certain sternness, a strength in that sate that can take you further in life... and watching the quality of the directing, I was sure there was no alcohol involved during the filming.

Think about it before calling the film an ode to alcohol? Off to bed now...