``Another Round'' Sake, tears, and Mads Mikkelsen. Enjoy the clarity of life through great performances

Mads Mikkelsen's silent performance speaks louder than words

Martin, played by Mads, is in the midst of a midlife crisis. He teaches at school, but he can't seem to concentrate on his work and his lessons are not accepted as incoherent. He has fewer opportunities to see his wife, who often works night shifts, and he is worried about his job, so he can't help but ask himself, "Have I become a boring man?" He's not even sure if his two sons are listening to him properly.

Martin, a dull but earnest man, is shown to be in pain just 10 minutes into the film. What is particularly noteworthy is Mads' performance, which allows us to fully imagine Martin's feelings in just those 10 minutes. As a mature adult, Martin does not easily talk about his pain. However, as he looks at the expressions of his students and parents, and listens to the conversations between his wife and children, his expression exudes sadness, pity, and anger.

“Another Round” ©2020 Zentropa Entertainments3 ApS, Zentropa Sweden AB, Topkapi Films BV & Zentropa Netherlands BV

A memorable scene from the first half of the film is the one where the four of them meet at Nikolai's birthday party. At first, Martin refuses to drink alcohol, but after some hesitation, he takes a sip of vodka at his friends' urging, and then quickly drinks down the wine that is poured for him. Martin's uptight personality is apparent, but he smiles gently as his friends talk about their experiences at school, grimaces, and finally drinks alcohol and, in tears, pours out his pain.

In this scene, Mads plays out the gradual change that occurs inside Martin almost entirely through facial expressions, not through lines. Restrained acting speaks louder than words, and it becomes clear to everyone why Martin has to drink alcohol at school after that. Following " The Hunt ," director Vinterberg placed his full trust in Mads' facial acting.

This scene also makes it clear that this is a dialogue drama performed by skilled actors, and that the main focus of the film is to show acting. The protagonist of the story is Martin, but his three friends also have their own pain. Nikolai, like Martin, has a family, and Tommy and Peter, who are single, are both faced with loneliness that they cannot look away from. As the story progresses, the words and facial expressions of not only Mads but also the three friends, as well as their personal pain, take on important meaning.

There is an indescribable sadness in the contrast between the quiet daily lives of the four men and their wild drinking sprees. The sight of the four thoroughly drunk middle-aged men is sad because it is clear that they are not drunk because they really want to be drunk. For them, alcohol is an emergency escape from their daily lives. However, by relying too much on this emergency escape, the four men end up straying from the everyday life that is truly necessary.

A simple and rich human drama that is both clear and dark.