Mens vi lever

A young man, Kristian, is working hard to get on his feet as he tries out for a job on a fishing boat and at home, tends to a new relationship. A visitor from his past appears at the door though, and the information that someone called Peter is dying, sends him into an anxious rage. Kristian travels to be by his side. There he learns that everyone still blames him for a devastating accident that tore his family apart, five years earlier.

There are several younger characters and different locations that we soon start to piece together as a story from the past, of intertwined family relationships after a tragic phone-driving accident.

This is a slow-burning, psychological drama of family relations as intense emotions of painful loss, love and hurtful conflict resurface.

Iranian-born Danish filmmaker Mehdi Avaz has intricately structured a narrative that interweaves past and present to peel back layers of buried resentment and guilt.

While We Live is a sad, complex, challenging and ultimately rewarding story based on real life events. It seems to occupy similar territory to last year's excellent 'Manchester By the Sea', if that helps.

Godt spillet og god underholdning med en tankevækkende historie

I can't imagine why there isn't so much as even ONE review here. I've never seen that before. So I decided someone must add one. Guess that leaves me.

At any rate, I hope it's not too much a spolier to add that if you've lived long enough, you can identify with the film in some serious way. I can't imagine what void must be in your life if this fails to resonate with your heart.

I think at some point, all families face tragedy, crisis & defining moments. We've had a few but by far, our/my biggest one was losing a brother in an accident when he was 16. It's unimaginable when unexpected sorrow greets you & a learning experience to see how all the family members and friends respond. It's both heartbreaking & surprising. One never can be sure what's going through another head at any given time. It vascillates frequently. That leads to so much, which this story surely indicates freshly & without manipulation. It's a journey. Certainly one I wish to visit upon no family.

I thought they explored themes all of us are familiar with, loss or no loss. Guilt, family dysfunction, suffering, death, love & life. Honestly & unabashedly.

It's well acted, well scripted & finely tuned. No easy task to get all things right. I think it's likely to stay with you long after the credits roll. Shows how much we all impact each other but again, a universal theme involving also the fallout of sheer agony & pain, what we endure as well as inflict on one another.

The young man starring in this had the most expressive face & eyes, I was riveted by his performance & his seemingly-artful understanding of this role. All the prominent actors not missing a note on their mark.

I must admit here, I took ONE simple star off due to the VERY ending (and again, don't wanna spoil anything) but I was thinking it concluded (with person in the shot, standing next to him) in a manner I didn't care for or imagined to sum up this story. But again, that was me & how I interpreted that scene. I think others might find it more ambigious & yes, I hope that's the case. One certainly can be made that it is, if you replay it & closely listen to the precise words being heard by our protagonist.

All the same, I prefer them to conclude this diffiicult, but exemplary, narrative as it should, with utter clarity & an unmistakable positive resolution---again, meaning to me, exactly as I feel the plot is " leaning into" all the while.

For one thing, these wonderful characters are more than deserving some small piece and measure of peace, unity, happiness & HOPE. And yes, you will know exactly what I mean once you see it, as well.

Secondly, though it wasn't presented in a perfectly linear fashion, it wasn't, in the least, confusing to follow. Not that I have trouble in that area (unless overly, deliberately, confounding construct), but worth mentioning as they maneuver seamlessly, this particular machination intricately weaving the tale expertly. I felt afterward it was the perfect device to utiliize & in fact, behooved the story's plotline.

I think you will be very hard pressed to find a moment that could've been edited nor will you find yourself bored or lacking interest for a mere second.

I hope all the persons involved with this film went on to do far more, both the writers & the actors--and yes, I will look into that next-- because if not, that would be an egregious & incredible waste of enormous talent. I always most appreciate Danish films (2012 "The Hunt") for good reason. Know that THIS is no exception. Hope you also take this ride;, the story is unmistakably relatable & human.