Just Another Love Story

This may not be my favorite film of all time, but it was definitely a great watch in the theater! It was like an exceptionally twisted version of the romantic comedy "While You Were Sleeping." I loved the blue-and-green cinematography as a backdrop for such a black plot (which, by the way, I thought was entirely coherent and interesting). The filmmaker definitely took some risks you wouldn't see in a Hollywood film, but I thought they payed off. The overlay of simultaneous action images was aesthetically pleasing and allowed forward action to continue while giving clues into the character's mysterious past. I think what really made the film for me though, was the concept of the basic human (and especially American) need for MORE. No matter how perfect a life may seem, it is never really enough. Trying not to spoil the plot, there are some actions that would normally make the character seem like a jerk, but he is still very easy to sympathize with because we all have the same driving desire for satisfaction. I think the original Danish reviews had it right. While some of the violence and nudity may not be completely vital to the plot, it all adds up to a great modern-day film noir.

This is the type of film noir Robert Mitchum and maybe Bogart loved to play in: convoluted story, intricate plot twists, and… "always a woman", as Jonah (Anders Bethelsen) mentally intones while dying, on his back in the rain, and reflecting on how it all started – an opener that's a great tribute to Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950) with Joe (William Holden), dead in the swimming pool, his spirit entertaining similar thoughts and regrets.

Jonah is no screen-writer though: he's a crime-scene cop, a photographer, a husband with a wife and two kids, and is already deep into his mid-life crisis. Like many angst-ridden men of his age, he wants more. Well, along comes distraught Julia (Rebecca Hemse) who inadvertently smashes her car into the rear of his, with wife and kids onboard (what a technical triumph that smash-up was!). Julia lands in hospital, almost blind, remains in a coma for a short while and, when she wakes, she has little or no memory. Jonah, while visiting her, is mistaken for Sebastian (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), Julia's fiancée from Hanoi. Quick as a flash, Jonah dives into the deception because now – stupid sap – he thinks he's in love...

If you can accept a venture of that magnitude by an otherwise intelligent cop and father of two cute kiddies, then accept what follows as a clever take, perhaps even inversion, on the traditional femme fatale scenario. Sure, you already know he's dying but – who fired the shots? The answer, as in all excellent film noir, comes only in the few seconds that precede that deliciously dark opener. Before you get there, though, the plot has enough false trails, macabre cop humor and misdirection for you, to keep you glued to your seat. Moreover, like all good narratives, nothing is ever as it seems. In that regard, I'm reminded of the murder of luckless Lester (Kevin Spacey) in American Beauty (1999), ironically gunned down in his house, blissfully unaware of who did it and why.

Technically, the structure of the story and photography is brilliant, with the first twenty minutes giving the viewer a series of scenes and dialog in a seemingly discordant sequence. As the plot continues, the editing of sound and picture then assumes an ironic register and tone, as the dialog from one scene might play over a scene that opposes or deconstructs the other. It's a narrative technique that's quite effective and, best of all, it's not overdone. You'll know it when you see it.

The acting and direction are superb, no question. The special effects during fight scenes grittily and graphically hit this viewer between the eyes. Moreover, I think the editing displayed true mastery of narrative flow and cohesion. And the music score fits like a glove. Overall, this is one of the most satisfying and entertaining efforts in this genre for many years. But, is it believable? Well, given the propensity for most of humanity to do stupid things for love, I'd say that's a no-brainer.

Recommendation – run to your video store and get it. Nine out of ten (nobody ever gets ten from me).

December 4, 2013

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." I wish I had a dollar for every occasion when that thought has crossed someone's mind. But first some background. Is modern life in an affluent European country (with its taxpayer-funded health, education and welfare) rather too comfortable, rather too safe, rather too unchallenging, rather too dull, for some individuals? Our ancient ancestors developed genes for taking risks, sometimes awful risks, simply to survive. Julia Castlund, daughter of a wealthy publisher, ought to be able to settle down to a life of fulfilment and contentment in modern, enlightened Denmark - but no, she's a fidgety, rebellious risk-taker, with a history of perilously unsuitable boyfriends. The latest news her family has had from her is that she's roaming round the Far East - Cambodia or Vietnam or somewhere - and her current love interest is a Dane she's met out there called Sebastian (no details as to what he does for a living).

Meanwhile, in the heavily mortgaged suburbs, Jonas lives in a comfortable home with his nice wife and two lovely children. He has a steady job (not very well paid) as a crime-scene photographer for the police. Jonas wouldn't do anything irrational or impulsive - would he? If there's one thing he's learned in this job, it's that horrific outcomes sometimes occur when people make impulsive choices, perhaps quite "trivial" choices. And one of the reasons why bodies end up on a slab in the morgue is "love gone wrong" - be warned. There's a sharp disconnect between Jonas's agreeable domestic life and the ghastly events he has to photograph: mutilated bodies, murdered children, etc.

If Jonas is going to keep this family car, he really ought to spend some serious money on it - it's been giving a lot of trouble. On a busy road it conks out, and he can't get it started again. A preoccupied driver, going fairly fast, swerves to avoid this obstacle and collides with a vehicle coming the other way. The driver is Julia. What's she doing back in Denmark? Now she's in intensive care. Jonas feels responsible, guilty. He goes to the hospital, but he's not allowed to see her because he's not "family". She's in a coma, and several family members are gathered around her bed. Jonas has a bright idea. He gains entry to the room by pretending to be Sebastian (it seems like a good plan at the time). The family are delighted to see him - partly because he looks like a normal sort of guy, and not one of the weirdos that Julia usually dates. "Talk to her, Sebastian. See if you can get her to wake up." And she does wake up, sort of, with amnesia and seriously impaired eyesight, her face hacked about by broken glass, and with tubes stuck in her orifices. And Jonas falls in love...

He does what? You make one silly little "mistake", and your whole life has to spin out of control? Apparently so. Jonas obtains this suitcase that Julia had in her car. A police colleague tells him about an Interpol notification: it looks like Sebastian was shot and killed in Hanoi - but why? Some bad guys were after him? The title "Just Another Love Story" is ironic. It's more than a love story, it's more than one love story, and at least one of its love stories is decidedly unusual. On the other side of the coinage of love is death, nightmare, a journey to the underworld, a ride to that slab in the morgue. It's not clear that anything is going to be inevitable - until it happens. And then you can see the inevitability. For the alert viewer, there are some nice "Now I understand" moments, and some nice "Ah, that's what must have happened" moments (you may have the opportunity to see this movie twice). All this and more - much more. Altogether, a thoroughly satisfying film.

This movie is in my opinion a great leap forward for Danish Film.

The many different levels it works on simultaneously - seem to encapsulate the feeling of someone being in way too deep and over his head while not being able to untangle himself from something dangerous, exciting and alluring.

The film proficiently portrays how making one split-second decision can take you in to increasingly deeper and more serious waters - pushing you to make choices about your life you never knew you dared.

The acting is superb, especially the head first passionate plunge of the relationship between Rebecka Hemse and Anders W. Berthelsen juxtaposed with the secure home-life that Mette (Charlotte Fich) provides, represents and desperately fights to uphold.

The editing and pace of the film grips, moves and pushes you into all sorts of different reactions and places, while the gorgeous visual palette of the cinematography is second to none in my opinion. Dan Laustsen must be a member of the absolute elite working in Europe today.

I throughly enjoyed this film, and would not hesitate in recommending it to any moviegoers out there who enjoy being challenged, moved and thought-provoked when taking in a film.

Go see it!! C

This movie is everything that reminds me why I love movies. I came across it unwittingly as I stood outside a remote movie hall in New York and was drawn to its English title, "Just Another Love Story". One glance at the poster told me it was anything but that. A man, stands with a gun drawn over a dead man in a pool of blood. Time wasn't wasted. Tickets were bought. Seats occupied.

The movie begins like promised with a series of numbered love scenes. Except that it was hardly love. It begins with the protagonist's narrative of how it all ends and then we are thrown into his life, abruptly as we come in terms with the brutality of what he does, boring mundaneness of how he lives and how he is suddenly, unwittingly drawn into a passionate love, an exotic fantasy and a forbidden life that he claims as his own.

And as we follow him through a sensory overload of events, we are both repulsed and strangely attracted to his actions. The guilty pleasure of enjoying something really despicable. There is always a woman, the protagonist says, and there is one here. One, we are as much mesmerized with, as is the protagonist. Cleverly written, the characters often dwell in the intricacies of metafiction. A woman and a mystery are the ideal ingredients of a movie, one of the characters says sarcastically. A good shot, says the protagonist in another scene which is a classic film noir shot if any ever is.

The background score is brilliant, alternating between a slow haunting acoustic guitar, to a symphony of sorts as we move through the protagonist's life. The script is fresh and pulsating with energy as we laugh one second and are repulsed the very next. If a movie can make you grimace, laugh and bite you nails with apprehension and wonder at the intelligent sharp exchange of dialog, it is one that has managed to make its mark. This particular movie has surpassed the mark.

Acting by the lead characters is ace. The confrontation scene between the protagonist and his opposite number is fletched out stunningly. Fragments of each life are shown to you, and as you put everything together and move towards what is a stunning climax, you realize somewhat surprised, that this movie is exactly what it promised to be.

Just another love story.