Directed by Thomas Vinterberg who managed the highly commendable 2015 version of 'Far from the Madding Crowd', this is a film which is darker and heavier than I'd hoped for.
Set in the 1970s in a town north of Copenhagen, a married couple at the high end of middle age (Trine Dyrholm and Ulrich Thomsen - she a TV newsreader, he a University lecturer), wish to move with their 14-year old daughter into the very same house in which he'd grown up as a child. But it's now a house that's far too big for just the three of them, with the rent and upkeep costs being unaffordable. So a friend is invited to join them as a live-in to help enable them to pay their way. Then another friend is similarly invited, then another couple (with a 7-year old son suffering from, a heart condition and who's convinced that he's not going to survive beyond nine years old)....and so on. In the end there are ten individuals living together.
Tensions simmering under the surface are largely (but not always) kept under control. However, the dynamics of the group are changed radically when the lecturer embarks on an affair with one of his much younger, though more mature, female students (24 years old). When he tells his wife (his daughter having accidentally found them together) she puts a brave face on it and, superficially at least, allows him to carry on with his new partner with her blessing - eventually the new woman joining the commune too.
But of course it can't continue long like that, the wife getting removed from her TV role after 'losing it' on-screen, then getting a bit drunk and turning up home at the communal meal where truths start getting told.
The ensemble casting in this film is of a high order, even if some of the characters didn't have full credibility to me. I could have done with some lighter episodes to relieve the pervading heavy atmosphere but they weren't much in evidence. In fact the entire film struck me as being over-serious, at times quite hard-going. Despite that, and the fact that the film is needlessly prolonged at just short of two hours length, I wasn't terribly bored, even if I didn't want to stay in the company of this group longer than I had to. Not really a bad film, though neither is it one which I'd care to sit through again.......................5.
Interesting! I need to see something lighter me thinks x
ReplyDeleteIdeal if one is already on a 'high', J.G., and needing something to bring one down. (How one got to be on a high in the first place is not of my concern. Too much caffeine perhaps?)
DeleteNope, not for me, like John I like something lighter. It's winter here and grey and bleak enough already!
ReplyDeleteI feel your apprehension about forthcoming dental treatments...fingers Xed and good wishes sent your way.
It's quite a toughie, Judith, and not a film to watch if one just wants mentally to unwind.
DeleteThanks for your wishes. Getting a trifle worried now that still haven't heard about an appointment to see jaw specialist. The longer it waits before repair works can begin is probably making the dentistry harder to accomplish. Meanwhile I've got to remember to keep my mouth closed and avoid talking to others for fear that what they could see could freak them out, as it does myself whenever I look at it in the mirror.
But your continued concern is most appreciated.
Damnit Ray, I wish I didn't live so far away or I'd be round with hot soup and soluble aspirin so fast you'd think I had skates on. XXX
DeleteYou needn't bring any straws to eat/drink the soup with, Judith. I've got enough to last me till, well, nearly Xmas. But the soup I'd take - preferably without solid veggies or croissants in it. Gratitude for your thoughts. :-)
DeleteCroissants? Even croutons!
DeleteI echo Judith's sentiments about this film Ray, "Not for me." I like human drama but this kind seems pretentious and setup. Nope, not for me. Thanks for the warning.
ReplyDeleteRon
It's what passes as a 'social drama', Ron, the sort that ought to be studied in depth by psycho-analysts rather than being presented as entertainment.
Delete