At the fag-end of the summer blockbuster season, I thought I’d treat myself to something completely different – the latest from Danish director Thomas Vinterberg. He has given us the excellent ‘Festen’ and critically acclaimed ‘The Hunt’, so I was looking forward to this story of a commune in Copenhagen in the 1970s. I’m afraid to say it turned out to be one of the year’s biggest disappointments.
It starts out well as we are introduced to married couple Erik and Anna as they look around the house Erik has inherited. The characters feel recognisable whilst still being interesting and the performers Ulrich Thomsen and Trine Dyrholm slip easily into their roles. As we are introduced to the other people who are going to share the house with the pair, I was sure we were going to see a compelling story about the lives of the inhabitants and commentary on the affects of living in such an environment.
Unfortunately, the film takes a detour into really cliched territory. Erik, a teacher, falls for a student and their teenage daughter acts up by hooking up with a seemingly unsuitable lad. For what seems an age, the communal living aspect is ignored, so by the time we get back to life in the house we still know virtually nothing about the other residents. Their characters remain ciphers and the film plods along drearily, with an attempt to add a dramatic note towards the end feeling cheap.
This really is soapy stuff and even the performances of the two leads can’t save it.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10