Review of Another Round

I went to watch this movie, hoping it wouldn't be either moralizing or celebrating of Danish drinking-culture - and fortunately it delivered! Well I don't believe it was fortune or luck, but rather a deeply thought through film from Vinterberg. Before I went to watch it I saw a couple of interviews with the director to get a grasp of his vision. He emphasized that the quote at the beginning was in many ways the key to understand the film itself. "What is youth? A dream. What is love? The dream's content" - Kierkegaard Thus it is not so much about drinking, but rather it tackles the reason for all the drinking. It is about the longing for youth - a state of hope, love and vitality. We long to live life to its fullest, but we seem unable to embody that in our own lives, so we succumb to cheap methods, such as drinking. Notice how throughout the movie there is an underlying sense of depression and misery, especially in the character Martin. He attempts to fix his whole life through drinking, and it initially works, but he is unable to control it. It is not untill the last moments, where his whole life is in ruins, and his alienated wife finally admits that she still misses him that hope shines on him. Only then can he dance! It shows us how hope, love and vitality isn't found at the bottom of a bottle, it is found in our most meaningful relationships and our endeavors to hold on to them! It isn't the beer that enables him in the end, it is that text from Anika. Thus we see that drinking can be a wonderful thing as well, as long as it isn't the very thing that keeps us going in itself (Tommy's demise!). It is love and courage and daring to fail and to fall that should be our driving force, and sometimes that one drink can be the little nudge we need to embody these ideals (the student at the exam - about Kierkegaard!!), but it shouldn't be at the center of our motivation in life.