Snow Therapy

Greetings again from the darkness. No one has sung the words "I'm a MAN" better than the great Muddy Waters, but even he would have been unable to bounce back from the ramifications of the split-second reaction of Tomas when things go awry at lunch.

Writer/director Ruben Ostland delivers an intriguing and thought-provoking look at gender roles and the definition and expectations of masculinity, especially within a family. What makes a real man? What is a hero? Is our predilection of survivalist or protector hard-wired into our DNA? And what happens to a relationship when the foundation of respect crumbles? Would you believe this film tackles these emotional issues, and does so in such a brilliant manner, that we often find ourselves chuckling (albeit with a tinge of guilt)?

A family vacation in the French Alps takes a turn when, while lunching on a veranda overlooking the ski slopes, a controlled avalanche goes wrong and the café is threatened. Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke) grabs his phone and goes scurrying for protection, while his wife Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli) covers the kids and calls for his help. Both are instinctive reactions, and while one recalls George in a "Seinfeld" episode, the other is more in line with what we expect from a parent.

While the avalanche turns out harmless and the family members are physically fine, the emotional shockwaves of Tomas' actions reverberate through the family ... and even through another couple (Kristofer Hivju, Fanni Metelius). There is a exceptional dinner scene with the two couples which brings the issue to a head, and it's excruciatingly painful and funny to witness. It's terrific story telling and filmmaking and acting.

This is Sweden's submission for Best Foreign Language Oscar, and it must be considered a favorite so far. Though I'm not a huge fan of the final 15 minutes, that doesn't take away from the questions as the characters try to come to grips with the situation. Really nice contrasts between dark humor, disappointment and broken trust.

I knew nothing about Ruben Östlund's "Turist" ("Force Majeure" in English) when I started watching it, so that made it more intense. I interpreted the movie as a look at instances when people suppress unpleasant things, only to see dangerous situations force them to face reality. The approaching avalanche foretells the repressed issues that the family will have to address, and the question of how to flee a dangerous place functions as a good plot device.

We often stereotype Scandinavian movies as slow, and this is no exception. But mind you, the slow pace allows the story and the characters to thoroughly develop, and the music really sets the stage. The alpine setting may look pristine and idealistic, but what transpires over the course of the movie is nothing of the sort.

I recommend it.

This was billed as "wickedly funny" and a "dark comedy" but I never laughed once. It's not a terrible movie, but it is decidedly not funny. It's borderline depressing much of the time to be honest.

Force Majeure attempts to find deep meaning in a husband's failed response to a sudden crisis. A family's routine ski trip is thrown into turmoil when he responds poorly to an apparent avalanche. The movie is largely a character study of the aftermath. The problem is that it is one of those movies with virtually no sympathetic characters. As such it's a bit of a difficult watch. It is hard to join the movie in its search for meaning, when the main characters are so alienating and off-putting. Even the kids in the family aren't particularly sympathetic. Further, the movie attempts to wring way too much melodrama out of a relatively minor incident. For me it was more tiresome than enlightening. Finally, I thought some of the plot devices were amateurish; too many plot twists depended on cell phones not working. While I appreciated the film's ambition, it did not work for me.

A slow-burn relationship drama that just explodes with brutal honesty and awkward tension. The comedy is so frickin dark and I love it. This film is definitely very thought-provoking and worthy of analysis, so simple yet crucially fundamental.