15 January,2021 08:24 AM IST | Mumbai | Johnson Thomas
Another Round (Druk)
This film by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg is intriguing, provocative and surprising. As part of an experiment to buzz out of the dead-end midlife crisis they find themselves in, four middle-aged teachers experiment with alcohol using the theory of a Norwegian philosopher and psychiatrist, Finn Skårderud, who says that it's sensible to drink at least one or two glasses of wine every day because, he claims, humans are born with a blood alcohol level that's .05 percent too low.
Vinterburg's no-frills narrative relies on dramatic turns in the script to chalk up interest. The camerawork eschews visual swaggers, allowing for only vital, contextual assays that highlight the human condition as the primary characters undertake a journey that eventually undermines their own well-being.
The praiseworthy craft sways the tragicomedy towards a social commentary on middle-class life, thus underlining the need for a fair bit of stimulation in order to break out of deadness brought on by routine and repetition.
