Another Round (2020) (Danish Language)- BFI London Film Festival 2020

Review

117min

Genre:       Comedy, Drama

Director:     Thomas Vinterberg

Cast:         Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang…and more

Writers:     Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm

-Synopsis-

An indifferent, straight-laced pushover Danish high school teacher in an existential rut and his three scholarly colleagues think they have found the key to a successful and fulfilling life within a philosophical theory—maintaining a discipled but elevated minimum blood alcohol level at all times—but the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry when they try to test that theory . . . with major consequences for all.

After perceptively exploring family dynamics and the human condition from a Danish perspective with films like ‘Festen’, ‘The Hunt’ and ‘The Commune’, and taking a few English language detours of varying quality with films like ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ and ‘Kursk: The Last Mission’, Copenhagen writer/director Thomas Vinterberg comes home and reunites with some of his regular stars to return to form and deliver one of his finest efforts yet. A droll but poignant middle-class Danish meditation on middle-aged male familial strife, alcoholism and human frailty—with a real kick to it.

Mads Mikkelsen stars as suburban high school history teacher ‘Martin’, a joyless middle-aged middle-class family man who’s become predictable and bogged down in life’s routine, who finds a way out when his childhood friends and fellow teachers ‘Tommy’ (Thomas Bo Larsen), ‘Nikolaj’ (Magnus Millang), and ‘Peter’ (Lars Ranthe) suggest a new philosophical lifestyle to reignite their lust for life and improve every aspect of it—maintaining a minimum but measured level of inebriation. But after some successful professional drinking and an auspicious start to their sociological theory—lowering inhibitions and relieving anxiety while lubricating socialisation—human nature and personal flaws soon take over and the balanced is tipped when the problems in their lives are laid bare, and even beer goggles can no longer make everything look sweet.

For millennia the relationship between Europeans and their alcohol has been a complex and co-dependent one, on one hand it’s a substance which has helped to shape the cultures particularly of Northern and Eastern Europe and remains at the heart of communal living, but on the other it can be a pernicious and dangerous drug which ruins lives . . . if only thanks to its social acceptability. And it’s in the middle of this paradox that Vinterberg and his co-writer Tobias Lindholm set the story. Using a theory from Norwegian psychiatrist Finn Skårderud—which hypothesises that we have a 0.05% blood alcohol deficit and should make up for it to function optimally—as a catalyst for a characterful and daring Danish exploration of our relationship with the sauce, all wrapped in a measured but perceptive human drama and a frank character tale with as much humour as it has pathos.

Vinterberg cleverly uses music here as both a key element in the central ‘creativity through inebriation’ thesis of ‘Another Round’, but also to add plenty of atmosphere to his concoction through an eclectic soundtrack which blends jazz, pop and soul with classical compositions, featuring everything from ‘The Meters’, Maurice Brown and ‘Scarlet Pleasure’, to Tchaikovsky, Bellman and Schubert. Meanwhile the energy and mood of the piece is balanced out by its bright yet forlorn, naturally lit cinematography from Sturla Brandth Grøvlen (Victoria, Shirley).

As one of Scandinavia’s biggest cinematic exports who regularly returns home to ply his trade, Mads Mikkelsen leads the line beautifully with a nuanced and wistful performance as a former bon vivant who is transformed into a predictable square by time, responsibility and circumstance, only to rediscover his zest for life though the drink and re-connect with his students, while seemingly breathing new energy into a stagnant home life. Mikkelsen delivers another signature restrained turn while dialling down his usual simmering gravitas but adding his own spice to the film’s blend of whimsy and quirkiness with poignancy and self-reflection.

Meanwhile the formidable foursome at the centre of the film and its group dynamic is marvellously completed by Mikkelsen’s fellow Thomas Vinterberg regulars Bo Larsen, Millang, and Ranthe, who add plenty of personality to the narrative and have more than enough space to flesh out their own supporting but crucial characters, in this study of not only of mid-life crises but of a culture as a whole. And they seamlessly help to shift to tone of the film from wistful and pensive to hopeful and daring, before almost turning it into an absurdist comedy when their theory goes out the window and they go off the deep end—reminding us what fun it can be to be drunk but how annoying it is for those around us. Only for the tone to then turn and culminate in poignant self-reflective fashion . . . before they wrap it up with a final subversive round in the tank.

And it’s that final triumphant turn that might make ‘Another Round’ a controversial film, a finale which perhaps suggests an endorsement of drinking and a rally against prohibition and sobriety, albeit from the point of view of a strong drinking culture in Denmark and Scandinavia . . . which some may argue is on the decline. After all this is a film led by sympathetic characters who for most of the film benefit from upping their blood-alcohol level, and whose problems are not specifically caused by it, all within a narrative arguably built on the hypothesis that for the most part the consumption of alcohol is a good thing.

That would be however ignoring the price they pay for indulging in it, despite the finale’s silver lining, with even the heftiest of tolls being paid. And in the sober (pardon the pun) light of day, ‘Another Round’ probably sits somewhere in the middle as a champion of responsible balanced drinking, and perhaps even the odd bit of excess, while reminding us that for many that just isn’t an option—and there is always a risk for anyone when you sample the devil’s sauce.

But the real triumph in Vinterberg and Lindholm’s writing is how it inserts several frank humanistic layers into their captivating pondering of alcoholic existentialism, and that’s really the heart of the film. An alcohol-fuelled yet completely sober look at relationships, marriage, parenthood, regret, self-actualisation, friendships, and the self-reflective mid-life crises which throw all those complexities and absurdities of life into a bowl and whisk them all together, pouring alcohol on top to spice up the taste . . . only to light everything on fire.

The Bottom Line…

With ‘Another Round’ Thomas Vinterberg manages to paint a frank and revealing cultural portrait whilst telling a hugely relatable tale of human frailty with plenty of humour and pathos through a distinct perspective. All while skilfully framing it around a clever and daring exploration of existentialist alcoholism which provides plenty of food (and drink) for thought, and could help us Brits reconsider our own troubling relationship with the sauce.

‘Another Round’ was slated for a 27th of November release in the UK, but is now marked as ‘coming soon’.

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