Through a Glass Darkly: Alcohol in Another Round

“It worked. Alcohol made you all fired up and laid back at the same time.” - Tommy to Martin in Another Round. 

When Danish Thomas Vinterburg made Another Round (Danish title - Druk), a unique exploration of his country’s relationship with alcohol, he may not have been aware of how relevant its messages concerning the pros and cons of drinking would be to a wider European audience. Although the UK consumes a higher level of alcohol per litre (11.4 to Denmark’s 9.7) drinking culture in both countries is prominent enough to feel like an integral part of their respective national identities. Drinking excessively seems like a right of passage to lots of young people and in Denmark where the legal drinking age is 16 compared to the UK’s 18, beer is available to buy in high school cafeterias for those old enough to do so. Anybody familiar with what a high street in the UK looks like in the early hours of a Friday and Saturday morning will know for many people binge drinking is something of a nationally recognised pastime; one that has led to a steady increase in the number of alcohol related deaths countrywide and a general sense that drinking excessively is something people do to unwind without thinking too much about how this relates to physical or mental health – let alone what this says about our relationship with alcohol as a people or a country. 

The main characters in Another Round are high school teachers approaching the latter half of middle age feeling as if something is missing. Martin (Mads Mikellson) approaches a nervous breakdown and a mid-life crisis. His subsequent melancholy has caused his wife and children to become alienated from him. He is even castigated by his students and their parents for the boring, unexciting way he delivers his classes and his apparent lack of interest in History, the subject he teaches. It’s clear that somewhere along the line he has lost motivation and the spark for living, becoming dull and introverted as a result.  

During a meal out to celebrate a fortieth birthday, the group discuss their respective situations and decide that to inject some joy and excitement back into their lives they will attempt to live out their interpretation of a philosophical theory proposed by Norwegian academic Finn Skårderud which suggests that as humans are born with a blood alcohol level that is too low, a small amount of booze should be consumed throughout the day to feel the positive social effects of mild drunkenness without becoming fully intoxicated. The aim is to remaining perpetually relaxed, confident and free from the troubles of being sober. The group use breathalisers to measure their blood alcohol content throughout the course of the day, slowly replenishing whenever the amount appears too low. The results are discussed in an essay written by one of the teachers who aims to test the theory in a clinical sense to document the effects and how each member of the group react. 

It would be easy for the films detractors to accuse Another Round of glorifying alcohol consumption as the group’s lives are shown to quickly improve; conversation flows more freely, their behaviour is more jovial and spontaneous, they become more fun and exciting to be around. All of their previous worries and concerns seem trivial as they steadily adopt the relaxed, carefree mindset of the slightly inebriated and their confidence and outlook on life generally becomes more positive. Alcohol even appears to help repair the broken relationship Martin has with his family and his students become suddenly more responsive to their lively and creative new teacher who no longer delivers classes as if he doesn’t really want to be there. 

This isn’t so much Vinterburg irresponsibly presenting alcohol consumption as an unambiguously positive experience, more like an honest attempt to portray how moderate drinking can be used as an effective social tool to take away the anxiety and stress of everyday existence. As Martin’s students become more engaged and their academic performance begins to improve this is largely attributed to the fact that their teacher has ceased to be a stuffy, unengaging sober person and more like someone the students can look up to and admire – not solely because of his alcohol consumption, which he seems to conceal effectively from those around him during the first few weeks of the experiment, but because of his bubbly and likeable personality which was always there to begin with but alcohol has merely brought to the surface after becoming dormant at the onset of middle age. 

Drinking is presented in Another Round as closely intertwined with Danish and European culture and despite the obvious imperfections of the main characters and their behaviour the film is by no means negative or cynical interpretation of the Denmark’s national identity – just as Another Round doesn’t present a wholly negative view of alcohol consumption. The students in Martin’s class are bright, inquisitive and multi-racial; reflective of the modern Danish state. They sing their national anthem without protest and are the first to question their teacher’s lack of motivation before responding enthusiastically once his teaching style becomes more animated. As students they too participate in heavy drinking which Martin teases them about. His attempt to teach his class about the great historical figures that also enjoyed alcohol doesn’t feel like Martin attempting to ease his guilt for his own problematic drinking but merely a new method of making his students get a better grasp of history and the role played by alcohol in the lives of people that shaped the modern world. 

Perhaps inevitably the situation appears to deteriorate for the group after the experiment’s brief period of success, the specific point being when the group decide to test their limits and drink themselves to oblivion during a night out, scenes that prove be both extremely funny and sad in equal measure. It shows the theory has backfired - alcohol has tricked the group into believing it was the miracle cure for ending their respective problems, reverse their social awkwardness and turn them from stuffy middle aged men into fun and vibrant human beings – the same way it tricks the thousands of people across the globe that drink alcohol excessively for the same effects. But when the group convene to debrief at Another Round’s conclusion there is no attempt to overemphasise the dangers of drinking too much, a message it successfully conveys previously by presenting the group’s fall from grace once they begin to take their experiment too far. There is instead an honest message, familiar to most people that consume alcohol in moderate to large quantities, that drinking sociably without excess can vastly improve social situations and generally work quite successfully as a tool for increasing confidence providing limits are adhered too. 

There is clear rapport between the group of teachers which comes across so successfully during many scenes that Another Round becomes completely relatable to anybody with a group of friends that like to drink. Those familiar with Danish film and TV will recognise many of the actors that all deliver fine performances both drunk and sober. The multi talented Mads Mikkelson is exceptional and deserves his recent breakthrough into the Hollywood mainstream. The actors were said to have been able to portray the stumbling, awkward behaviour of drunk people by watching videos of people under the influence and did not actually consume excessive amounts of alcohol together on set which is testament to their respective skills and professionalism. 

Another Round largely presents a positive and optimistic view of Denmark, its people and culture along with the role played by alcohol within its society. It is interesting to contrast the film with Vinterburg’s debut film Festen (1998), made according to the rules of the Dogme 95 manifesto he established with fellow Danish director Lars Von Trier. Like similar radial film movements created in other European countries, Dogme aimed to move away from traditional methods of filmmaking that were seen as artificial and dishonest and instead make films that were as realistic as possible, empowering the director above all else. As Another Round focusses on the Danish professional class, Festen instead looks at its monied classes, portrayed as existing separate from modern Danish society. The result is a cynical and harrowing representation that resembles a documentary because of its stripped back production methods and use of hand held cameras. More of an emphasis is placed on depicting what the filmmakers are trying to convince you is actually unfolding events rather than relying too much on editing, music and special effects.  Another Round feels generally more optimistic and doesn’t feel the need to emphasise on “realistic” elements of filmmaking - the premise alone is real enough to anybody who drinks alcohol, has used it to enhance a social experience and is interested in making the most of its benefits without experiencing the negative consequences brought about by over-indulgence.

In Another Round, by adopting filmmaking techniques that are more mainstream and switching the spotlight from the bourgeoisie in Festen to the Danish middle class and honestly recording the latter’s flaws, Vinterburg has ensured critical and commercial success (Another Round was awarded an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film) whilst staying true to the Dogme 95’s commitment to tell an authentic and relevant story that comments on a particular aspect of his country’s culture. The film has cemented Denmark’s reputation for producing cinema of exceptional quality.