電影《醉好的時光》影評：[Film Review] Another Round (2020) 7.4/10

English Title: Another Round

Original Title: Druk

Year: 2020

Country: Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands

Language: Danish, Swedish

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Screenwriters: Thomas Vinterberg, Tobias Lindholm

Cinematography: Sturla Brandth Gr?vlen

Editing: Janus Billeskov Jansen, Anne ?sterud

Cast:

Mads Mikkelsen

Thomas Bo Larsen

Magnus Millang

Lars Ranthe

Maria Bonnevie

Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt

Helene Reingaard Neumann

Magnus Sj?rup

Susse Wold

Frederik Winther Rasmussen

Rating: 7.4/10

As if hygge cannot bring easement and fulfillment, in reformed Dogma 95 cofounder Thomas Vinterberg’s ANOTHER ROUND, a quartet of Danish gymnasial teachers resort to liquor as a nostrum to solve their problems. Predicated on the hypothesis from psychiatrist Finn Sk?rderud, who has theorized that having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.050 makes you more creative and relaxed, they set about to experiment on that theory with piss and vinegar.

However, first thing first, it is a proverbial knowledge that alcohol has that particular effects of taking the edge off one’s stiffness, loosening one’s tongue and getting one’s creative juice flowing, and a BAC of 0.050 sounds like an acceptable number (the threshold of DUI in Denmark), so plainly, the experiment only serves as a cheesy excuse for them to indulge in libation, which does bring some beneficent changes in their stale habitus, especially for our protagonist Martin (Mikkelsen), it enlivens his scholastic performance and brings some refreshing air to his marriage and family. Ergo, could they stick to that salutary volume of 0.050, everything would be in fine fettle.

But, no, silly like any whippersnapper, once taste the sweetness of the benefits, naturally they are disposed to experiment more, to push the envelope and eventually, turn moderate tippling into an all-night toping, themselves into middle-aged lager louts. The ugly hangover is predictable and the catch is that, there is always the risk of addiction. The quartet’s nadir is interlaced with the jubilant graduation ceremony, taking into account of Vinterberg’s bereavement (his 19-year-old daughter died in a car accident when the film were in production), the film’s third-act tragic reveal is less a narrative device than a doleful elegy of loss and remembrance.

If Vinterberg’s directorial flourishes are mostly prominent with his unbridled, freestyle camera placement and a knack of capturing brilliant chromatic shadings, Mikkelsen’s chops are adumbrated through his relaxed, contemplative composure. His Martin starts as an irresolute mutterer as if there is a phlegm stuck in his throat, by dint of alcohol consumption, he gradually finds his voice and charisma back, but at the same time, Mikkelsen retains a self-conscious timidness that is very susceptible to a viewer’s liking. Without over-stretching Martin’s before/after contrast, only in the final dancing sequences, Mikkelsen ebulliently takes us aback with his masterfully improvised moves and that final swan dive, ends this drinking buddy serio-comedy with a neat frisson of closure.

P.S. being only a casual imbiber, Yours Truly can only admit this review is certainly affected by my own slant on the binge-drinking habit, so chances are sobriety is not the right mood to immerse yourself in this well-wrought confection that saliently rides on our olfactory and gustatory sensoria.

referential entries: Vinterberg’s THE HUNT (2012, 8.3/10); Susanne Bier’s OPEN HEARTS (2002, 6.9/10).