Uno (2004)

Aksel Hennie is a recognizable face in Norwegian cinema. Perhaps his most recognizable role stateside is as Roger in Headhunters based on the eponymous novel by Jo Nesbø. Uno is Hennie’s directorial debut; he also wrote the screenplay.

Twenty-something David (Hennie) lives in a cramped apartment with his distant mother, terminally ill father and younger brother Kjetil (Espen Juul Kristiansen) who has Down’s Syndrome. David actually sleeps in the apartment’s storage space, ceding the shared bedroom to his brother.

David spends his days working at a gym with his best friend Morten (Nicolai Cleve Broch). Gym owner Jarle (Bjørn Floberg) would have his hands full with his inept thug of a son Lars (Martin Skaug) were it not for Aksel’s constant interceding to get Lars out of jams. Lars sells steriods and brings guns to the gym while holding on to his dream of becoming a cop (social commentary?). Jarle disapproves of Lars criminal missteps, not in the criminal activities themselves. Lars’s floundering illegal activities thrust David into the crosshairs of real gangsters when Lars backs out of a shady steroids deal with Khuram (Ahmed Zeyan), a deal David helped Lars secure by assuring Khuram that Lars was good for an outstanding 40,000 worth of drugs. When Lars can’t meet the deal, David is on the hook. This follows a steroids bust at the gym when David is faced with a choice that will change his life.

Uno delves into friendship dynamics and betrayal. It’s a character-driven drama and while David is no longer an adolescent, Uno plays like a coming-of-age meets loss-of-innocence meets welcome-to-the-world movie. Hennie gives us clues. The ending has problems but overall, the movie works. There’s even a subplot involving a dog but that doesn’t end well, especially if you are a dog lover.

If you like Uno and want more of Hennie and Broch, check out Buddy, another Norwegian offering starring Broch and Hennie. It’s a feel-good movie—very different from Uno.

Writer/Co-director: Aksel Hennie

Country: Norway

Genre: Drama

Run time: 100 minutes

Scale: 3

En soap (A Soap) (2006)

En soap has a black-humored backbone. Think Transamerica’s darker Danish cousin.

Salon owner Charlotte (Trine Dyrholm) absconds from the home she shares with her boyfriend Kristian (Frank Thiel). She gives him no warning and does it while he’s out of town. She brings to her new pad few possessions and little furniture. The voiceover narration tells us she is bored but does Charlotte have deeper issues? (Yes) Is she a sex addict? (Likely) Is she seeking a feeling that eludes her? (Definitely) Has she found it in Veronica? (All signs point to yes.)

Downstairs neighbor Veronica (David Dencik) is a male-to-female trans woman waiting for approval for her sex-change surgery from the health ministry. She leads a solitary life with Miss Daisy, her scruffy Jack Russell mix. She brings in cash turning tricks with men in her apartment. Her mother (Elsebeth Steentoft) stops by regularly but never for very long. She brings Veronica pâtés and pills and refers to her as Ulrik, much to Veronica's chagrin. Their mutual discomfort is palpable; each wants something the other won’t give. The family patriarch (whom we never meet) is the source of distress to Veronica (who wants to reach out and have him acknowledge her) and to Veronica's mother (who lies to her husband/Veronica’s father about having visited Veronica). After an emotionally trying visit with her dismissive and disappointing mother, Veronica attempts suicide.

When Miss Daisy’s barking, whining and whimpering keeps upstairs neighbor Charlotte awake, she charges downstairs and bangs on Veronica's door. It opens and Miss Daisy leads her to Veronica's bed where she is lifeless in her own puke. Veronica is taken to the hospital and Charlotte watches Miss Daisy. When Veronica returns and fetches her dog, she offers to return the favor.

Charlotte is brusque and offensive to Veronica. Charlotte engages in sex with random guys. She’s uninterested in anything steady or long term. Around Veronica, she’s vulnerable and unguarded and then, Charlotte lashes out and backs off. They play cat and mouse as their chemistry intensifies. Charlotte is taken with Veronica; Veronica is curious about Charlotte. Charlotte grapples with her feelings. Her defenses crack open, especially with the impending final chapter of Veronica’s transition.

Neither is filmed outside the two apartments: Charlotte’s is sparse and bright. Veronica’s is dark and cramped. Veronica introduces Charlotte to a soap opera. Through it, Charlotte gains an understanding about Veronica and the love and acceptance she seeks. There’s a great scene where the two declare themselves boozy lightweights and get their drink on. They dance to “You Take My Breath Away” by The Knife. I loved their moves, their expressions, the moment.

En soap is depressing, leaves a lot unturned but offers hope and longing. We watch the two characters journey and grow closer. Most of their intense feelings are conveyed without words, instead using expressions, silent reactions and subtext. Both actors are expressive and possess a sensitivity that makes this movie work.

Co-writer/Director: Pernille Fischer Christensen

Country: Denmark

Genre: Drama

Run time: 104 minutes

Scale: 4

Crazy Heart (2009)

Perhaps it’s the influence of my favorite not-so-new show Nashville, but I loved Crazy Heart. Jeff Bridges can go from The Dude to Bad Blake and make an oft-told story shine.

Alcoholic country crooner Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is playing gigs across the Southwest at unknown saloons, tiny bars and even a bowling alley. With no new songs in years and his unpredictability due to his drinking, washed up Bad is living in the shadow of his former protégé Tommy Sweet, a huge star in the new wave of young Nashville.

Bad grants his first interview in years to a young, unknown writer Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal). During their interview, the chemistry is electric. Their banter is easy. They possess a comfort level unique between strangers. When Jean asks him about his four marriages and kids, the spell is broken and the interview is over. They agree to meet again the next night. The unlikely pair can’t fight the attraction. With his addiction to whiskey and her affliction for bad boys, can they forge a future?

His agent Jack (Paul Herman) presses him to write songs again and make his way back up. Jack secures him a gig headlining for Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell). It bring a crushing blow to Bad’s ego. He wants the big bucks but he can’t stand to be an opener and for the star who has surpassed him. Bad balances his life with Jean and her son Buddy, his life on the road and his drinking. He’s even inspired to write until he hits a series of snags that lead to a life-altering rock-bottom.

We don’t meet Tommy Sweet until 42 minutes in but we have heard about him so much, he deserves a drumroll advancing into the shot. The cast is an eclectic delight. The friendship between Wayne (Robert Duvall) and Bad give us perspective into the two men. Bridges as Bad comes alive on stage and provides glimpses into Bad’s past glory. (Bridges and Farrell contributed their own singing.)

Based on the eponymous novel by Thomas Cobb, the movie scored Bridges a Best Actor Oscar, Golden Globe and several other awards. Crazy Heart isn’t a new story but the writing and cast make it a worthwhile viewing. Several folks told me they liked the it despite the country music. I loved the music. If you don’t like the music, you can blame Nashville.

Co-writer/Director: Scott Cooper

Country: US

Genre: Drama

Run time: 106 minutes

Scale: 4

Hævnen (In a Better World) (2010)

Danish director Susanne Bier starts Hævnen with a father and son in mourning, following the death of the family matriarch.

Following the funeral, pre-teen Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen) and his father Claus (Ulrich Thomsen) relocate to Denmark from London. Claus will commute to London while Claus’s mother watches Christian.

On his first day at school, Christian witnesses a peer being bullied by a group of much bigger boys. The bullied boy Elias (Markus Rygaard) ends up in Christian’s class. The two learn they share a birthday, sit together and begin a friendship. After school, the bullies await Elias. Christian calmly comes to his rescue, gets a basketball pummeled at his face and ends up with a bloody mess of a nose. He goes home, escapes into his shoot-‘em-up video game. He tells his father nothing as their fractured relationship continues to worsen.

Christian returns to wield revenge and send a message to his opportunistic bullies. The school calls in Christian’s dad and Elias’s mother Marianne (Trine Dyrholm) who is upset; the school hasn’t done anything to keep her son safe from bullying and now they are accusing him of conspiring against the bully. Elias’s father Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) works abroad in Africa as a doctor in a refugee camp and is gone for long periods. He’s a pacifist and it has rubbed off on Elias who until Christian’s intervention took the violence.

On one of Anton’s visits back, he takes Elias and Christian into town. Anton gets into an altercation with a man at a park. The man lashes out at Anton. Christian seethes at the injustice and disrespect. He urges Anton to exact revenge. Anton explains that remaining calm is the right way; that peace wins in the face of violence, much the way he conducts himself against the barbarity he witnesses in Africa.

Christian cannot accept it. Already struggling with his mother’s death and feelings about his father’s behavior during her illness, his rage explodes and pushes him toward irreparable violence.

The movie examines the effects of bullying on friendships, relationships between fathers and sons, the expectations of men in society and interplay between bullies and victims. Bier is a master of digging deeply into the messy swamp of people’s compulsions, fears and desires. The acting is terrific, especially from the two young leads. Elias displays the emotive side of fear and confusion, while Christian portrays the middle-aged seething at life’s injustices from the perspective of a young man.

Director: Susanne Bier

Country: Denmark

Genre: Drama

Run time: 118 minutes

Scale: 4

Atmen (Breathing) (2011)

This offering from Austria presents a trifecta win: visually stunning, acting that makes you feel tremendous blows and unexpected highs and a profound character-driven plot.

Eighteen-year-old Roman (Thomas Schubert) is dead inside. He lives at a juvenile detention facility. His social worker/parole officer is frustrated that Roman keeps screwing up his go-sees. He’s up for another parole hearing and a job would help. He implores Roman has to care.

It’s still early days in our getting-to-know-Roman process when he hands his PO a job ad and declares that this is the job he wants—the reaction conveys all. This man who has been grumbling for Roman to get a job is dumbfounded and wonders if the serious Roman is joking.

Roman leaves very early for the first day of a trial work period at the mortuary. Roman takes in every experience as if seeing dead bodies for the first time. We learn that five years ago, he committed a crime that landed him at the detention center. At the new job, one of his co-workers alludes to Roman’s crime (we, the audience have yet to been enlightened) and hazes him.

Roman learns bodies are heavy, they stink and there is a process involved in this work. What shakes up the plot is the day he handles a corpse sharing his surname. We learn that Roman doesn’t know his own mother’s name. The mystery deepens.

Schubert, as Roman, carries Breathing. His loneliness is heavy and he shares this burden with the viewer. He’s sweet, he’s hard, he’s hurt. Breathing takes its time telling us the story. The dialog doesn’t bore us with filler. When Roman meets his mother Margit (Karin Lischka) for the first time, she’s testing a mattress at IKEA. They converse as if polite acquaintances. Their real conversation goes down in the IKEA cafeteria. It’s a darkly comedic yet gloomy moment. (Makes you wonder how many pivotal conversations germinate over Swedish meatballs or seafood salad?)

Another rich aspect is experiencing what gaining freedom looks like to a teenager who has been raised in institutions his entire life. Each outing—each train ride to work, each house he visits to pick up a dead body, each item in people’s home and even the inside of IKEA—is a rebirth. And, Roman’s expressions convey this. You experience freedom as Roman deconstructs it. It’s an incredible experience to capture for an audience. I watched it twice and no detail is there by chance.

One detail was opaque. Roman swims on his own in the pool at the detention center. The other boys don’t swim until he is done and I don’t know why. Does it mean they won’t swim with him or is there a reason he must complete his laps alone? Additionally, the European furlough system is shocking to an American used to our system where offenders are locked up and not released until the sentence ends and with little preparation for the outside world, employment and assimilation back into society.

Breathing is simple yet profound. The writing is strong and the cinematography is lush and impressive—many shots able to pass as exquisite photographs. It’s the acting, though, that will sock you in the heart. You feel Roman’s loneliness, his pain, his mother’s shame. You warm to the parole officer in the end because any of these characters could be you. I’m not a criminal, a parolee nor was I a teen mother but Breathing made me feel what they experienced.

Here’s a nice morsel. If you saw, the award-winning Austrian movie, The Counterfeiters, you will recognize the director of Breathing, Karl Markovics, who played the lead role.

Writer/Director: Karl Markovics

Country: Austria

Genre: Drama

Run time: 94 minutes

Scale: 5

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

We Need to Talk About Kevin confronts taboo topics: a mother’s inability to bond with her child and a mother dealing with the aftermath of her child carrying out a school massacre. Told in flashbacks, you are tipped off early that something awful has happened. The clues come together for the disturbing conclusion.

Kevin (Ezra Miller) isn’t an easy child. He enters the world crying and doesn’t stop. As he ages, he resists her relentless efforts to play, engage and be her son. He refuses to potty train, so at a late age, Eva is still changing his diapers. He creates a schism between Eva and Kevin’s father, Franklin (John C. Reilly). She looks to him for support; Franklin doesn’t see the gravity developing: Kevin is a sociopath. He victimizes his mother and when little sister Celia (Ashley Gerasimovich) is born, Eva is unable to protect her from Kevin’s wrath. You think Franklin is spared in Kevin’s manipulative system but Kevin has cast him for a different part.

We Need to Talk About Kevin elicits discomfort and helplessness. It seems to ask, what would you do? Eva’s frustration is palpable, but I wondered if anyone else was noticing that Kevin was off. Would Kevin get away with his behaviors at school? We never hear how he’s doing at school or about friends. Does he have any friends? These details are too important to ignore. We know little about Kevin’s life outside his relationship with Eva. Is it realistic that Eva would be the only one to feel his wrath? What about Franklin’s zeal in getting Kevin more powerful bows, even after he’s hurt his sister? Would he be this clueless? Seems implausible that Franklin shows little concern. This is where it feels more like a horror flick.

This is Eva’s story. It gives insight into how parents of perpetrators of mass killings might get treated in the community afterwards. The acts against her are extreme and cruel, considering what you learn at the end. The movie is based on the eponymously named 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver. The book likely delves into and mitigates my aforementioned beefs. There’s a lot about this one that kept me rapt until the credits, but the story has its holes.

Director: Lynne Ramsay

Country: US

Genre: Drama

Run time: 112 minutes

Scale: 3

10 timer til Paradis (Teddy Bear) (2012)

It was sheer coincidence that I noticed this Danish offering in the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival listings. It caught my eye because it sounded reminiscent of Dennis, the short film about a shy Danish bodybuilder with mother issues. Turns out the short is the basis for this feature-length film.

Dennis (Kim Kold) is 38, lonely and unable to get a second date, much less a girlfriend. He takes his recently-married uncle’s advice to go to Thailand and find a lady. He sneaks off telling his pint-sized yet overbearing and controlling mother, Ingrid (Elsebeth Steentoft) that he’s heading to Germany for a bodybuilding contest.

In Thailand, Dennis’s efforts result in call-girl types. When he meets Toi (Lamaiporn Hougaard), they struggle with Dennis’s feelings of being objectified. This, however, is nothing compared to the tumult that erupts when he returns home (with a tan) and fesses up to his mother that he met a girl. She proceeds to tell him he must end it immediately. Dennis defies her. When she eventually learns the truth in a mall lingerie shop, it’s his chance to claim his freedom but is he strong enough to finally stand up to Ingrid?

Teddy Bear suffers from an unfortunately translated title but it’s an excellent character study about a tortured man. Kold embodies Dennis so well, you forget you are watching fiction.

The Hulk has nothing on this behemoth.

Co-writer/Director: Mads Matthiesen

Country: Denmark

Genre: Drama

Run time: 91 minutes

Scale: 3

Okuribito (Departures) (2008)

An unemployed cellist stumbles upon a new career. Departures might makes you cry one minute and laugh the next. It shows how a man  be opposed to an idea only to discover it’s exactly what he needs.

Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) dreams of being a renown cellist but is dashed when his orchestra disbands. He’s left unemployed and in debt on his world-class cello. On a lark, he suggests to his wife, Mika (Ryôko Hirosue), that they move from Tokyo back to his hometown; where his mother passed on and left him the family home two years prior. Mika is on board and they start over.

He finds a cryptic help-wanted ad, applies and is hired on instinct. As an encoffiner, he prepares dead bodies for burial. Daigo faces many obstacles—the job isn’t easy, you can never predict death and he is shamed for his profession (so much so he doesn’t confess his job to Mike right away). Eccentric Ikuei (Tsutomu Yamazaki), Daigo’s boss and mentor becomes a father figure and through him, we learn Daigo has complicated feelings toward his own father.

The burial ritual is lovely. The body is cleansed and dressed and the family bids farewell. The survivors’ reactions reveal the conflicted relationships, complex issues and unresolved feelings left in the wake of death.

Departures is a serious (and comedic) movie about death, finding your path and excelling despite the pitfalls you encounter. It won many awards including the Oscar for Best Foreign Film of 2009.

Director: Yôjirô Takita

Country: Japan

Genre: Drama

Run time: 130 minutes

Scale: 5

Entre nos (Between Us) (2009)

Entre nos is a character development film about immigration gone wrong. Based on a true story about a mother and her two children newly landed (presumably illegally) in New York from Colombia. They have reunited with husband and father Antonio (Andres Munar).

Mariana (Paola Mendoza) is devastated when Antonio abandons her and their children—10-year-old Gabriel (Sebastian Villada) and six-year-old Andrea (Laura Montana). Their lives downward spiral. They lose their apartment and must scavenge for food and money.

This uncomplicated story is poignant and positive. Despite not speaking English and despite the loss of stability, Mariana and her children navigate their impossible situation. They survive each crossroad with the help of several strangers. The movie postscript provides details on what happened to the real-live characters. (You don’t, however, learn what happened to Antonio and whether or not any of them ever saw him again.)

I loved the Colombian angle: the familiar accent, the Spanish lexicon and the food. In the bonus materials on the DVD, the directors detail the step-by-step instructions for on making empanadas. Yum-yum.

Co-writers/Co-directors: Gloria La Morte and Paola Mendoza

Country: USA

Genre: Drama

Run time: 80 minutes

Scale: 3.5

Savage Grace (2007)

Savage Grace is an uneven and slow slog. I’d go as far as calling it boring. It shocks you over and over but in between, the unsympathetic characters provoke anything but distaste, revulsion and confirmation that people with too much money are miserable wagons.

This disturbing mess tells the alleged true story of Barbara Daly Baekeland (Julianne Moore) and Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane); the latter the heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. They have a son, Antony (Eddie Redmayne), who is doted on by his mother and ignored by his father. The family travel the world mingling with persons of high social caliber. Brooks is irritated while Barbara is in her element pushing Tony’s accomplishments onto the annoyed guests.

(Spoiler Alert: Read at Your Own Risk!)

Tony’s interest is mildly peaked when he meets hot Spaniard Blanca (Elena Anaya) but that doesn’t stop him from sexing it up with his male buddy (see picture). Barbara pushes Tony and Blanca to sleep together, but soon Brooks runs away with Blanca leaving wife and son behind never to look back. Tony is crushed by his dad’s abandonment and his “inheriting” his mother, her depression and her suicidal tendencies.

Many lurid events follow: Barbara takes up with a gay man. They  engage in a ménage à trois with Tony. Tony is numb as his mother’s keeper, confidante and sometimes lover. I wasn’t expecting the final scene where Barbara mounts her son, has sex with him and asks him if he came. When he says no, she gives him a hand job. Once done, they get up and contemplate what to order for dinner. Tony stabs and kills her. After nearly eight years in a psychiatric hospital, Tony is released and moves in with his maternal grandmother. Within a week, he stabs her. She survives but Tony goes to Rikers Island where within the year he’s dead by suffocation with a plastic bag (it was uncertain if it was a suicide or murder).

A fucking mess.

Director: Tom Kalin

Country: USA

Genre: Drama

Run time: 97 minutes

Scale: 2

The 27 Club (2008)

The 27 Club is a study in sadness told in flashbacks during a cross-country road trip. Elliot (Joe Anderson) is reeling from the death of best friend and bandmate Tom (James Forgey) just after Tom’s 27th birthday. The two grew up like brothers in a dysfunctional home before finding success as the band Finn.

As Elliot starts on his road trip from LA to Joplin, Missouri, to take care of his dead friend’s last request, the alcohol, drugs and shock of losing his best friend prove too much. Hungover, he stumbles into a grocery store; following an altercation, the cashier calms a flustered Elliot. In turn, Elliot offers the cashier $10,000 to drive him “east.”

Elliot is strikingly reminiscent of a young, sleep-deprived Kurt Cobain while the straight-laced, nameless driver looks like a young Leonard Nimoy. For the late-bloomer driver, this journey becomes his coming-of-age experience. The two merely co-exist as Elliot wrestles his demons. Anderson’s Elliot emotes with his haunting expression—mirroring the pain and turmoil from within. It isn't until they pick-up hitchhiker Stella (Eve Hewson, daughter of U2’s Bono) that the two begin to bond. Although she recognizes Elliot from Finn, she doesn’t immediately acknowledge nor share the information.

The 27 Club contains little crescendo and ends quietly. While soulful, it feels like a freshman film effort, which doesn’t harm the story. The emotional journey through Elliot’s mourning is symbolically interlaced with scenic American landscapes to nibble on.

Writer/Director: Erica Dunton

Country: USA

Genre: Drama

Run time: 84 minutes

Scale: 3.5

Beginners (2010)

As of late, I am winning too, Charlie Sheen. On a winning spree of movies, that is.

Beginners is a love story—part rom-com, part dram-com. Introspective Oliver (Ewan McGregor) falls in love with Anna (Mélanie Laurent) in the months following his father Hal’s (Christopher Plummer) death. Oliver absorbs himself in the memories of his father coming out after 45 years of marriage to Oliver’s wacky mother, Georgia (Mary Page Keller).

Shortly thereafter, Hal reveals another doozy as Oliver continues examining his own life and why all of his previous relationships have failed.

The movie has a winning personality—uncommonly witty yet humble. Extremely well cast. One reviewer stated that McGregor gets better with age; I couldn’t agree more. I’ve admired him since Shallow Grave and Trainspotting but haven’t felt bowled over by him again until now. He plays Oliver with genuine compassion and warmth as he supports Hal, even getting a kick out of his discoveries in his new lifestyle, such as house music and falling in love. There are no recriminations or angry declarations—this isn’t that kind of movie. Rounding out the stellar cast is Arthur (Cosmo), Hal’s charming long-haired Jack Russell terrier. Arthur holds his own opposite the speaking characters. He even gets subtitles. It’s brilliant.

Beginners is a semi-autobiographical, based on writer/director Mike Mills' experience with his own father coming out. Mills uses old photographs and random images to help visualize parts of the story. He also presents LA scenes. Instead of the usual frenzied and sprawling, you get a peek at the tranquil spots in its neighborhood landscapes.

This one is a gem that shouldn’t be missed.

Director: Mike Mills

Country: USA

Genre: Drama

Run time: 105 minutes

Scale: 4.5

Venkovský ucitel (The Country Teacher) (2008)

If I’d read the concept for The Country Teacher, I’d have canned it on grounds that the story could not have been pulled off without demonizing the protagonist for his lack of judgment and the teen boy’s mother her choices. Instead, the viewer is presented with an emotionally tangled, confusing and uncomfortable situation that winds out of control.

Peter (Pavel Liska) leaves Prague to teach science in a countryside school. He wants to spread his wings away from his mother, a fellow teacher at the school. Soon, he builds a life in the country village. He befriends Marie (Zuzana Bydzovská), a dairy cow farmer with a young teenage son, Lada (Ladislav Sedivý).

(Spoiler Alert: Read at Your Own Risk!)

The Country Teacher works slowly. Peter is anguished—he’s in the present but not exactly in the moment. Marie is similar. She’s a strong but sad person in search of love and connection. Early on, Peter declares that “Chance is the mother of change.” The statement foreshadows and sets the tone. When Peter’s his former lover unexpectedly shows up to win him back, Peter tells him the truth—he never loved him. He sets out to ruin Peter’s new existence and this leads up to an entertaining catalytic scene. There’s an outdoor party. The town is there dancing to a terrific band (who I’m still trying to identify). As the band plays the chords to the punk rhythms and the townies are dancing, I wanted be at the party dancing with them despite the brimming conflict and tension.

The movies highlights unrequited love, loneliness and forgiveness. Almost all the characters are in love with someone who doesn’t/can’t love them in return. Lada’s girlfriend Bara is the exception: she gets what she wants and doesn’t seem to long; she’s a symbol of hope. The ending doesn’t quite deliver. Peter has metamorphasized but it happens too quickly. Are people are capable of forgiving themselves and others and learning from it, especially in these circumstances?

Writer-Director: Bohdan Sláma

Country: Czech Republic

Genre: Drama

Run time: 112 minutes

Scale: 3.5