Den du frygter

Hitchcock would be proud. The art of hinting within cinema is still alive. This doesn't spell everything out for you. The trailer for this does not do it justice. I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. It is a film about discontentment, control, and the urges and thoughts lying just beneath the surface. I was pleased to find that Anders Thomas Jensen helped write this, as I enjoyed Blinkende Lygter(or Flickering Lights) and Mørke(also known as Murk), the latter in particular. I would say that you can tell that he had a hand in making this. I believe this is the first film by Levring I've seen, but I certainly am taking notice to his directorial style. Interesting choices are made, among other places in framing and cutting. The editing and cinematography are definitely worth attention. The story-telling is very subtle, and the use of narration does not become a crutch. The pacing is spot-on, it never moved too slow or fast. The acting is excellent, every single performance is beyond reproach. Even the kid, and that's not something that happens all that often. The use of music is good. This can be rather intense, and proper care is taken to build up suspense. There is a little sexuality including obscured nudity, as well as a bit of language and bloodless violence in this. I recommend this to anyone who wants the themes explored for 95 minutes, and/or those who dig a great thriller. 8/10

but only a so-so rendering of what ultimately is the harrowing depiction of a man's mid-life crisis. Thomsen is awesome, as is Steen, and the atmosphere is "Dogmetically" foreboding, but the protagonist is never convincingly portrayed in any way other than the selfish, psychotic lout that he embodies throughout. I loved Levring's The King Is Alive, and in fact gave it a rare (for me) 10 rating on this website. But for me this is a classic case of a film failing to become greater than the sum of its parts. In the end, a decent enough character study, with a neat twist at the end, but nothing we haven't seen before, and done much better (Michael Douglas in Falling Down came to mind for me, at least). 5 out of 10 on my IMDb-ometer.

Middle aged Mikael,depressed, numb, sleepless. Beautiful house overlooking a body of water, quite a bit of money,seemingly happy marriage, surprisingly docile teenage daughter, all to no avail. Thus, this indictment of civilized, affluent, but ultimately lonely and empty western world. The world of people who have more than plenty, but always desire the impossible. Some imaginary, complete fulfillment that tops all the joys of the joys. Quiet, slow, but hauntingly eerie movie. It makes you uncomfortable, because it seems so easily our life, our nightmare. Real horrors do not involve psychotic masked killers or demonic spirits. Our own demons outweigh all the fiction.

This is a disturbing, psychological story that centers upon the private narrative of a man who – like many people – hides repression and aggression behind an overly calm exterior: in short, an example of the passive-aggressive personality type.

At once protagonist and antagonist, Mikael (Ulrich Thomsen) is in crisis with himself: he's at the mid-point of his life, he's lost his way at work and on enforced leave, and he sits around at home with this wife and daughter wondering what to do next. He exercises. He reads. He watches TV. He and his wife, Sigrid (Paprika Steen) have their married relatives, Frederick (Lars Brygmann) and Ellen (Stine Stengade), over for dinner often; they all discuss news, listen to music, see movies, talk about life, politics and so on. The two men often row together for exercise and camaraderie. Crucially, Mikael keeps a very private diary on his computer, the content of which is periodically narrated in voice-over throughout the story.

We learn that Frederick is a psychologist (perhaps psychiatrist) who is conducting test trials of a new medication designed to counter depression. It's cutting edge stuff; but there are potential, unspecified and serious side-effects. Yet, privately and away from the women, Mikael pleads with Frederick to be part of the trial. Frederick agrees, but issues strict guidelines of use when he hands over a package. Mikael agrees.

Weeks pass while Mikael settles into the routine of taking one tablet per day and weekly visits to Frederick's office for blood tests and scans. Subtly and gradually, we see that Mikael's actions begin to take turns for worse, beginning with a random act of violence on a stranger, followed by an improper suggestive proposal to a young woman that just stops short. But, Mikael feels good – for the first time in months, he feels alive...

So Mikael ups the ante for himself: he starts taking more than one tablet per day and that's when his repressed desires turn upon his wife, his daughter and Ellen, with suspenseful and unsettling results. But not quite the results that one might expect because there's a twist to this story that makes the end even more unnerving and, for this viewer, more believable.

So, this is not a story that's fast-paced. It's no thriller. It is suspenseful, however, as we see how Mikael relates to his family, friends and others and how his personality subtly and overtly changes for the worse. Best of all, we know always what's going on inside his head.

I've seen Ulrich Thomsen in Brothers (2004) and The Silence (2010), both excellent and harrowing psychological portrayals of disturbed personalities. With this addition, there's no doubt he is a fine actor who can carry difficult roles well; however, he might risk becoming type-cast. The rest of the cast is more than adequate. But this is Thomsen's movie, being in the frame for nearly every bleak, color de-saturated scene, and with the additional symbolism of the closing scene staying with this viewer long after.

I guess you can see this film as an indictment of excessive recourse to drugs for social and psychological ills; on the other hand, maybe it's just a picture of post-post-modernism in which many are struggling to cope with diminishing expectations. I can relate to both. Give it a seven.

Recommended, but not for kids.

November 21, 2011.

Got a chance to catch the world premiere of Fear Me Not, directed and written by Kristian Levring, at the Toronto Internal Film Festival.

The film examines the deterioration of the life of a man in his mid-40's facing a mid-life crisis exasperated by the fact that he has become addicted to a prescription medication with nasty side effects.

Ulrich Thomsen dominates the movie as Mikael, a doctor who has recently taken a sabbatical from work only to find himself bored and at a loss at what to do with his time. On a whim he enters into a medical study examining the side effects of a newly developed anti-depressant. When he, and other patients, begin to exhibit violent tendencies Mikael finds that he is both unable and unwilling to stop taking the drugs. Fascinated by the positive outlook on life that he gains from the little pills Mikael finds himself acting out increasingly aggressive and violent fantasies on strangers and even his own family and friends.

Ulrich Thomsen does great work here portraying the mostly docile and kind Mikael with great depth and persona. Even in the midst of acting out his most cruel fantasies Thomsen displays a sense of uncertainty and bewilderment at his own actions as if he, along with the audience, is shocked at the dramatic results that the pills have produced. Paprika Steen, in a supporting role as Mikael's wife Sigrid, turns a mediocre role into something exciting. Even small scenes, like when Mikael and Sigrid are playing scrabble, are filled with tension as we watch Sigrid drift between anger, annoyance and hurt as she tries to convince Mikael to go back to work.

The cinematography is gorgeous and includes plenty of lush scenery. The editing really adds to the overall mood of the piece, the frequent jump-cuts helping to enhance the fragmented, jittery feelings as Mikael finds himself being splintered between two sides of himself.

As a whole the movie is decent but a last minute twist in the final act turns the movie into full blown melodrama. Despite the histrionics of the final ten minutes and the rather disappointing conclusion told mostly through voice-over, the movie is still worth watching for Thomsen and Steen's performances as well as the enticing and astonishing build-up as Mikael goes from a placid family-man to a malevolent, abusive husband.

Levring and Thomsen were actually at the screening and had a brief q & a afterwards. It was really cool, Levring talked a bit about his inspiration for the film and mentioned Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which really came across in the way that the pill popping scenes were filmed and edited.