Another Round
This film is one of 15 movies in the running for an Oscar nomination in the Best International Feature Film category.
Another Round is a Danish film with subtitles. The film’s title was Druk before being recaptioned in English, and that is a clever way of telling you all you need to know about what awaits you.
Four middle aged high school teachers are losing their energy at home and with their classes. They decide to follow a study and see the effects of consuming alcohol daily to raise their B.A.C. to .05. The study suggested that adults would benefit.
Initially, all four gentlemen hit a home run. Reviving a dormant love life at home, they inspire their students to find magic in the classroom.
While all four gentlemen make valuable contributions to this surprising enjoyable film, director Thomas Vinterberg had the sense to focus his camera on Martin, played with gusto and charm by Mads Mikkelsen. Most of you will remember him from Hannibal (2013-2015), Casino Royale (2006) and Doctor Strange (2016). However, I must point out his role in the marvelous Artic (2019) where he plays a pilot who crashes in the Arctic.
Here he is a history teacher doing little more than boring his students, not to mention his wife (Maria Bonnevie). Morning booze and a handy alcohol filled water bottle helps him find his younger, energized self. A man who used to love dancing, wait until you see the films wonderful, poignant ending.
But don’t get me wrong as the film focuses on the excessive use of alcohol. Our four comrades elevate their alcohol consumption to .10 and beyond only to have their lives crash and burn.
Many of us have learned the hard way that one martini is not enough and two is too many. As a young lawyer, wine was always ordered at business lunches. There was an annual Christmas celebration in the City-County Building in Indianapolis where breakfast and lunch with booze was provided in adjoining criminal court jury rooms followed by an alcohol party in the Clerk’s Office at the end of the same day! And we drove home!
This film reminded me of the memorable line from the old 1968 song by Mary Hopkin, “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end.”
