This is the official submission from Denmark for the 93rd Academy Awards. It was nominated for two Oscars. One is for Best International Feature and the other is for Best Director. Over the past decade, Danish films have been nominated or shortlisted in the category now known as Best International Feature many times. The director of this film is Thomas Vinterberg and his film
The Hunt (2013) was nominated in this category for the 86th Academy Awards. A lot of people are predicting this film will win at the Oscars, which will mark exactly ten years since Denmark won in that category at the 83rd Academy Awards. Clearly, the Academy loves films from Europe, specifically Denmark. I haven't seen the other films that made this year's shortlist, but I already feel as if this film wasn't worthy of the nomination.
Mads Mikkelsen (The Hunt and A Royal Affair) stars as Martin, a history teacher who has a room full of teenagers who aren't getting the most out of his class. He seems bored and not interested. His lessons are very dry and unenthusiastic. He's also the same with his wife and two teenage sons. He seems bored or boring in his marriage. He's not really communicating or engaging with his wife. He's the same with his sons. One night, during a dinner with his three closest friends, Martin is given the idea that his life would be better if he maintained a blood alcohol content or BAC level of 0.05.
I'm not sure what the laws are in Denmark, but, in the United States, a BAC of 0.08 is legally intoxicated. Martin thinks if he drinks enough to skirt that line of legal intoxication, it will improve his social and professional interactions. He believes it will improve his confidence and enthusiasm overall. He and his friends decide to test this theory and document the results. This means though that they will have to go to work drunk. Martin and all his friends are teachers, so it means they'll have to get drunk and be drunk around their students.
One issue that Martin immediately identifies is that while he drove to work sober, he started drinking while at work, so now he can't drive home. This is the first red flag that Martin and his friends ignore. As the days and weeks go on, Martin and his friends continue to increase their daily BAC. However, it's never explained how Martin is getting back and forth to work, if he and all his friends are drunk. Another thing that Vinterberg who is also the co-writer never considers is what if these men had jobs that required they drive or operate heavy machinery. This experiment they're conducting couldn't be done if they were taxi drivers, construction workers or even farmers. They'd be too intoxicated to handle the tools or vehicles required. Also, it's not as if these guys are just drinking a lot of beers. They're drinking quality liquor, which would add up in money after a while. This film's premise is only possible for characters who are well-off and privileged.
What this film is doing in a quirky way is dealing with the idea of alcoholism and how people think they can function while drunk or even function better. I didn't get the tone of the film though. It's not clear if this is meant to be a comedy where we're laughing at Martin and his friends for thinking they can get drunk and go to work, or, if it's meant to be a drama where we feel sorry for these guys. It's not clear if what the guys experience is a placebo effect or a real benefit. There's a scene at the end that's a funeral but almost immediately the film moves into a dance sequence, so it again confused me as to what I should be feeling about these men.
There's a scene where we see Martin giving a lesson about leaders during World War II, men like Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Instead of teaching them about their policies and politics, Martin tells his students about those men's personal preferences or activities. He tells them about their marital issues or how much they liked to drink. He does so in a way where he plays games and make jokes. This goes to an issue that teachers have grappled for years. Many teachers believe that you have to be entertaining or playful or even juvenile when trying to give lessons in class. For those teachers, being drunk isn't a requisite for changing how they give lessons to be more entertaining. The film never questions drinking as a requirement for what Martin is doing now.
In terms of Martin's friends, the other three men are given short shrift. Magnus Millang plays Nikolaj, a psychology teacher whose 40th birthday prompts Martin's drinking experiment. We know that Nikolaj is married and has several children, including a toddler who isn't potty trained and a newborn baby. We get glimpses into his home life, but the film never delves deeper into his relationships there or what the change in his professional life is when participating in this experiment. It's even less so for the other two guys. Thomas Bo Larsen plays Tommy, the gym or physical education teacher who coaches children younger than the ones that Martin teachers. Lars Ranthe plays Peter, the music teacher. We get practically nothing or hardly any glimpses into their lives, except for one scene where Tommy is shown to be a lonely guy living with his dog. Yet, Tommy's fate is one that we're not really sure what happened. Was his fate accidental or intentional? We don't know, so I was left unsatisfied here.
Not Rated for mature audiences, contains a lot of drinking.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 57 mins.
Available on Hulu.
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