Don't get drunk, why drink! Getting drunk is the most basic respect for alcohol. Of course, there are many kinds of drunkenness, slightly drunk, upper head, drunken, vomiting and falling asleep. In order to quantify the different states of drunkenness, Danish director Thomas Winterberg used alcohol concentration as an entry point to give us a "Dionysus" story of using alcohol to solve the midlife crisis. This is also the director's second collaboration with Max Mickelson, after "The Hunt".
The film, which focuses on the midlife crisis and alcoholism among Nordic men, attracted a lot of attention at the Cannes Film Festival. It went on to win four awards at the European Film Festival, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor. The highly successful "Alcohol Project" naturally became the selection for the 93rd Academy Award for Best International Film on behalf of Denmark.
At present, the film maintains a normal score of 7.3 on Douban. Western audiences with a better bar culture seem to have a "soft spot" for the film. IMDb delivered a high score of 8.0, and MTC scored 79 points.
The story entry point of "Alcohol Project" is very unique, unlike the male protagonist of "Life by a Glass of Wine", who finally chose to compromise, and "drank from the head" of the wine that symbolized "pure" feelings and cherished for a long time, forgetting everything; it is also different from the "crazy overheated" of the "Hangover" series, and returned to calm after passion.
The Alcohol Project is always thinking about how to solve life's dilemmas, and through the "experiment" approach, it almost found a solution. Although the results cannot satisfy everyone, at least it is understood that the tedious life can be released and adjusted by "getting drunk a few points" from time to time.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > alcohol and body liberation</h1>
The four teachers in the film who are in a midlife crisis reflect the plight of Nordic men in life. Martin (Max Mikkelson) is a middle school history teacher with excellent grades and is highly likely to get a professorship, but for years, his path to teaching has been stagnant for the sake of his family and life.
In the face of boring and repetitive history lectures, he was passive and sluggish, and even did not say anything before and after the class, which made the students under the podium very dissatisfied. The two children in the family also became estranged from him, and his wife worked the night shift for a long time, and the two respected each other as guests, but also looked like strangers. He felt that he had been "exiled" by this family.
Nikolaj, on the other hand, is the opposite. He married a wealthy wife with two young children in the family, and family life occupied all his living space. At school, no student wants to listen to his "self-absorbed" music lessons. He often fell into the awkward position of being self-moved, and no student could identify with his artistic taste.
Tommy is a middle-aged physical education teacher who looks the healthiest, but in fact, he is fragile and empty inside. There was only an old dog on the verge of death in the family, which also heralded his last tragic life.
Peter teaches psychology, but he is very introverted, not only can not face himself truthfully, but also does not want to enter the hearts of students, empty theory, but can not really communicate with people.
The four of them finally sat down together to celebrate their friend's birthday. They were given a short chance to relax. For the first time, the four of them "drank" together.
They suddenly discover that maybe alcohol can liberate their lives. To justify alcoholism, they began experimenting with a pseudoscientific theory. The theory is that after everyone is born, the blood is deficient in 0.05% alcohol concentration, so drinking moderate alcohol on weekdays can actually improve work efficiency, improve personality image, and help them reconnect with work and personal life.
They started with an alcohol content of 0.05%, gradually increased to 0.10%, and then higher. Different alcohol concentrations correspond to various living conditions, and also become the division of each scene in the film.
At an alcohol concentration of 0.05%, their lives immediately became "radiant". Martin was humorous and funny in class, the way he taught was greatly improved, and the students became interested in history classes.
The improvement of the four people's communication skills allows them to truly enter the hearts of this group of young people. After they gained trust in each other, the lectures became much easier and more fun. Students' grades naturally improve, and teachers' self-identity is strengthened and they become more respected.
In addition to the classroom, at home, their relationships with their families have also been repaired. The focus is still on communication, long-term family life has smoothed out passion, and everyone is finally tied together because of the bondage left by responsibility and time. Alcohol will stimulate people's adventurous spirit and nature, remove the defenses and masks of life, and let the other party see a pure and romantic "true self".
The four of them saw that their lives and work had improved tremendously because of alcohol, and they were eager to find out whether higher alcohol concentrations would bring more changes to their lives. But when the four of them went from the top to the top, they found that although alcohol liberated the body, it gradually ate their souls.
From the top to the addictive, there is only one line. Alcohol does cause change, but alcohol addiction can destroy life. The plot began to bottom out continuously, and the four people faced the gradual "disintegration" of family and work, and were powerless to fight back and lost the ability to control life.
Physical education teacher Tommy has even reached the point where she can't help herself. Faced with several people who have withdrawn from the experimental plan, he lamented, "Everything is in vain." Because alcohol can only bring about temporary changes, it can't help this group of men in a midlife crisis to find themselves, to find that kind of unfettered freedom, to return to the youthful madness of the past.
At the end of the film, Martin danced the jazz dance of his youth under the influence of alcohol and in the crowd of his classmates, and at this moment he finally found his former vitality. The film ends with an open end, Martin takes off in the air, jumps into the river, whether to soar or fall, whether to liberate or imprison, leaving it to the audience to taste and choose for themselves.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > "happiness" and "depression."</h1>
Death always makes the living doubt the meaning of life. In the film, Martin carries the coffin for his dead friend Tommy, and outside the film, director Thomas Winterberg sends off his daughter.
Director Winterberg dedicates the film to his 19-year-old daughter, Ida, at the end of the film. Ida was originally going to play a small role in the film, but lost his life in a traffic accident before filming began.
Therefore, this "Alcohol Project" is also a true portrayal of his inner state. The four male protagonists correspond to the various possibilities in the midlife crisis. The Nordic countries, known for their high welfare, have consistently topped various lists of "happiest countries". Another label for the international community about Northern Europe is depression, and more precisely – high suicide rates.
There's a joke about depression in the Nordic region, "Yes we're depressed, but thankfully we have a lot of lakes to jump on." ”
On the one hand, rather than "happy," a difficult indicator, Nordics are more willing to express their feelings about life with "content or satisfaction."
It is understood that 250,000 people in Denmark take antidepressants, about 5% of the total population. Because of the special geographical location, the night and the gloomy sky are like magic palms, holding people in their arms and suffocating.
In addition to the external environment, high welfare brings more mental problems, a kind of loneliness and confusion that accompanies great freedom. The Danes often say, "Life is so easy for me, I don't know what I want." ”
Society offers all the resources and choices, but it can't provide an answer to the meaning of life. As shown in the film, there is an indescribable sense of distance between people, and the way to eliminate the sense of distance seems to be only a moment of relaxation after drinking.
Nordic depression has actually been expressed in many films, such as Russ von Trier's "Melancholy", a woman with a happy life, but until the end of the world, to get some peace.
Oslo, 31 August is about a young man who has just left a drug rehabilitation centre. Neither the care of his former friends nor the tolerant social atmosphere could keep him. He wandered blankly in the night in Oslo. In the end, he chose to give himself another shot.
The "Alcohol Project" is also full of "self-destruction" caused by the increase in alcohol concentration. Toward death, self-hatred, passive avoidance, the same surrounding this group of middle-aged men. Only a drunk can solve a thousand sorrows.
The void of existence and the shadow of death always accompany us, but most Chinese are too busy running for their livelihoods to forget or suppress them. Heidegger said "born to die". God is dead, and we haven't found a new God yet. Maybe never find it. Nordic depression is just a microcosm of the dilemmas that modern societies face as they enter general affluence.
At that time, maybe you and I will also face the dilemma of choosing to "get drunk a few points", facing life requires courage, and escaping cannot solve the problem, so it is better to drink like Martin and dance.