THIS well-intentioned but tonally erratic period drama is set in Denmark in the 1970s, where we are introduced to married couple Erik (Ulrich Thomsen) and Anna (Trine Dyrholm). One day they decide to turn their large inherited house into a commune of friends and strangers alike.
But the thin veneer of harmonious group living doesn’t stay that way, as petty arguments, political disagreements, deception and even romantic affairs rear their ugly heads.
This is the latest collaboration between director Thomas Vinterberg and writer Tobias Lindholm, who received critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for The Hunt. Vinterberg is also known for arguably the crowning jewel of the Dogme 95 movement, Festen, while Lindholm mightily impressed with directorial efforts A Hijacking and A War.
With those credentials you would expect something far more substantial and more assured than this muddled and unsatisfying film that isn’t really clear about what it’s trying to say.
Is it that the adolescent fantasy of staying in a big house with your friends isn’t as rosy as it seems? That group mentality can be damaging to individuality? How marriage requires love and respect? The meandering narrative fails to delve beyond the surface.
Disappointingly little is learnt of most of the commune’s inhabitants outside of the central married couple, with Erik reduced to being merely the unlikeable, ungrateful spouse as he embarks on an affair with a student and eventual commune resident who bears a striking resemblance to his wife.
It’s only Anna whom we truly come to know, with the always terrific Dyrholm bringing shades of complexity and depth of emotion to a woman caught between wanting to stick to a central idea she pushed for and coping with her husband’s brash infidelity.
The film is ultimately going for pathos but the contrast of light and shade just doesn’t work. For all its dramatic intentions, it’s often left feeling like an old-fashioned, dysfunctional family sitcom without the laugh track.
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