Prague

Excellent little Danish film about a marriage on the verge to falling apart. Superb acting from Mads Mikkelsen, who shows that he's as home in a small setting, as in the latest Bond film.

Stine Stengade, who plays his wife, is for me a new experience, but her acting is very impressive, not least as the neglected partner in a long marriage.

The setting is a trip from Denmark to Prag to collect the corpse of Mads's father, who has lived away from his family in Prag, the last twenty, or so. Mads had waited year after year for a sign of life from his father, a visit, or just a letter, but nothing, till he is summoned to take care of his father's remains.

Unusually, for a mixed nationality cast, in this case of Czech and Danish actors and film crew, it seems to have to have worked perfect.

It could have been perfect, but a few twists in the story are not fully exploited, like did the wife have a lover, or not?! The SMSes on her mobile phone could have been a way for her to get him to react, couldn't it?! A happy ending hadn't spoiled the story, would it?

This movie is in one word great. The movie is set in a great atmosphere, and the two main characters acting is superb. It gives most people a chance to relate to one or the other sides of the troubles haunting their relationship. Several times along the movie i had a lump in my throat, and felt in contact with the main character. No scenes seem to be out of place, and the movie is by no means dragged to long. As mentioned, i could easily see elements of myself in the male character - and my girlfriend could relate to the actions - and reactions - of the female character. I have rarely left a movie-theater actually "moved" by a movie (often contemplating though), but this movie did it for me, leaving me thinking about my own relationship.

I would recommend this movie if you are looking for a good emotional movie - especially for couples - where my guess is that both of you will enjoy it.

Prague was a great setting to choose for this examination of an artistic woman married to a boring lawyer who specialises in bankruptcies. It's the city that symbolises some lost European past of a different scale and kind, and our couple are not visiting for pleasure: instead the hero has come to supervise the transfer of his dead father's body back to Denmark. Naturally, the wife is having a wild affair in Copenhagen with a randy, well-endowed, young artist, but she is still loyal to the father of her lovable young son, with whom the couple confer on Skype. It's a fascinating situation, and the director gets convincing performances out of the players, while the photography director does miracles with digital technology, creating a typically grey European winter in beautiful colours. The ambiguity that troubles the couple, causing them to mate passionately and repeatedly while having rows and freeze-outs, captures an essence of marriage that viewer-couples will find hard to resist.

As he is now there's no woman going to make this man happy.. and it's pretty much a given that a very personable, attractive, and mostly unhappy woman might realistically seek companionship with another man. Especially when considering the husband's distant, frigid personality. Did he want out?.. at times acting like he's deliberately trying to sabotage the relationship. Maybe he is.. not looking all too upset upon learning of her extended infidelity. And he has numerous opportunities here to try and win her back.. but when they talk about what they are going to do.. he ignores the question completely quickly changing the subject. Her hanging in there for 13+ years with him would have to be considered some kinda record. He had to have changed from their early years together into someone no one would now knowingly choose to be with, otherwise why would she have signed on long-term with him in the first place. The story otherwise mostly kinda works on its own. Except for the pregnant thing, that just came off a bit too convenient and contrived (a quick deliberate out for him), and actually detracted from the overall effect of the movie.. making the eventual outcome too easy. All in all though, it is a fairly worthwhile film, with solid lead performances, more notably her's (his character gets somewhat overplayed).

As Mads Mikkelsen is one of my favourite actors, Prag is one of my favourite cities, and Stine Stengade has also caught my eye in various series, so it was natural to me to watch Prag in spite of sporadic reluctance to follow films on family tensions and issues. But I was sure that Mikkelsen is capable of filling out the scenes in full, that it does not become boring or annoying, plus delightful Prague is always a fine supporting actor... So it all was, and funny moments related to grasps and state of affairs in a post-socialist country together with fast unexpected twists in the plot provided the film with additional value. Local characters were distinct as well, and all well performed, thus the Danish-Czech cooperation turned out to be smooth.

Moreover, I realised that language barrier can be overcome more easily than emotional one... If the ending were less trivial/predictable, I would have given 8 points. Now 7.