Drabet

In this, the third installment in Per Fly's trilogy, again the familiar conservative themes of the primacy of family, and a moral imperative not to shirk responsibilities, yet not to harm others, come to the fore. In a scene reminiscent of shock-jock Jack in Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King inciting a listener to murder, Carsten possibly instigates Pil's violent actions resulting in the murder of a policeman, the arrest of his young activist lover, the end of his marriage, and the start of some predictable but still interesting relationship developments and deepening moral questions. This reviewer did not find it drawn out, rather, the pace was about right.

The film is a suffocatingly middle class take on class conflict. Very soppy and pettily bourgeois. Politics doesn't really exict, love triangles are the only thing that matters (smh).

The supposed radical activist crumbles at first signs of pressure and is depicted as some kind of edgy attention-seeking high school student, Effy-Stonem-is-into-politics-now, wow!

The most harrowing story is, apparently, one of an inconsolable widow of a cop, boo-hoo, MORE violins to the soundtrack!

And also, it looks like an old communist is not that different from a narrow-minded middle class policeman's wife because all he really cares about is clinging onto a woman, any woman. And if it doesn't happen he's fine with betraying his ideals and comrades.

The whole movie is one big facepalm. The ending credits music almost had me laughing cos' I recently rewatched a cult Spanish teen drama Three Steps Above Heaven and it ended with the exact same type of score - an indie pop song in English with some sOuLfUL female vocals. I mean, it's ridiculous! For a ~somewhat~ crime drama to have THAT as a soundtrack!

Anyway, you want to watch something Danish about political activists and their personal dilemmas, watch Blekingegade (The Left Wing Gang) instead. The story is based on true events, and although VERY similar in parts, it's told from a different angle, in a much more compelling way.

YAWN YAWN YAWN! Ask any so called intellectual movie-critic, and he or she will say that this movie is oh so great. They will say that this movie deals with the dark side of man, with moral dilemmas! That might be true, but at the same time this movie has been seen many times before in Danish movies. Make up something new! Per Fly has been said to be a genius. Yeah well, if a genius is a person who can copy, then he is. The existential themes of this movie is not something new, Kierkegaard and the Sartre (just to mention a few) have written about this a long time ago. And what is up with Charlotte Fich! She is a Drama Queen in this movie. I understand the role she plays, I just don't believe in it. She overdoes it!

The story centers on a social studies high school teacher. Hes married and has been having an affair with a former student. Hes an old communist and the student is a radical, inclined towards hard-line activism. We might perceive him as her ideological father.

We learn already in the beginning of the film that the student has taken part in an action against a weapons manufacturer, where a policeman ended up dead somehow. The question is how and why, how to deal with it and what the consequences will be? We follow the teacher as he tries to come to grasp with what has happened. He is dissatisfied with his marriage and finds his safe middle class existence lacking. So he latches on to the wings of his love for the young student, and her convictions, and takes off, on an Icarus ride towards societies boundaries.

Its the old 'Crime and Punishment' theme again, set to a Danish middle class and political background. It deals with questions of guilt, romantic love and the meaning of politics. If bombs are killing thousands in Iraq, is it so odd when someone dies in Denmark? Is the main character a thrill seeker, out for the rush of a young woman's love and fiery convictions? Is there any meaning in punishment? How much guilt should one be feeling?

The film weeds a tangled web of morality, desires and politics. However, it is not as tangled, or perhaps not as well untangled, as it could have been. The motives for the different actions undertaken are never really elaborated on. Rather the film is often quiet. Perhaps that is part of the point, a low bass-like sound is humming all through the movie, like a constant, gnarling feeling of guilt. But it still feels like something is missing in the character description. We also understand quite soon what direction the plot is taking, the contours are a bit obvious. It is not hard to predict the moral of the story, or the fate of the school teacher, far ahead of time. Still, it is a compelling and thought-provoking film in many ways. The acting is highly believable and we understand the main characters aggression against petite bourgeois existence as well as his loneliness and sadness over losing it.

Also Id like to give props to the most explicit hand gliding-Icarus analogy since '24 Hour Party People'. Real good stuff. That should be used in even more films, I think!

Cinematically, Per Fly's film contains all the elements of excellence accompanied by good performances rendered by the cast. Opening sequences signaled that the audience was on board for a good ride, unfortunately the ride ended all too soon. If this was not part of a trilogy I would have walked out after 30 minutes.

Scandinavian films are known for quiet story telling which I usually appreciate, but this is just badly paced. That low hum within the soundtrack must have been the sound of paint drying on what could have been a good picture. One would think that four screenwriters could deliver a compelling story-line, maybe therein lies a problem.

Considering the high quality of Fly's previous entries in the trilogy ("Bænken" & "Arven") he should have stopped at a duo or hired a objective Editor. Twenty minutes less running time may have provided a tightening and focus necessary to hold our attention. At least it would have made for a better paced film which may have found an international audience. Sadly, Drabet misses the mark of excellence by approximately half a kilometer of footage.