European Films

The debut film of Icelandic director Dagur Kári, Nói Albinói told the story of a somewhat out of the ordinary young man who tried to navigate the difficulties of life in a small community somewhere on the Icelandic coast. The tale, filmed in saturated blues, greens and whites and permeated with a raw sense of black humour was a hit with arthouse audiences all over the world. Kári now presents his second feature, Voksne mennesker (Dark Horse), again about a somewhat out of the ordinary young man who tries to navigate the difficulties of living in his community. This time, however, the story is set in Copenhagen, the bustling capital of Denmark where Kári went to film school and the saturated hues have been replaced by a crispy black-and-white photography.

Daniel (Jakob Cedergren, in an acerbic performance) is a graffiti artist who has not paid a bill in a long time. His tax accountant tells him that, officially, he has declared to have earned in four years what most people in Denmark would earn in half and hour. Daniel does not seem particularly bothered by this fact and takes one problem at the time; he does not worry about paying the rent until he is actually thrown out of his studio. His friend Roger (Nicolas Bro), has a paid job at a hospital, though he dreams of becoming a football referee. He thinks Daniel is a great friend who perhaps should just learn his lesson every now and again, at least until both of them fall for the same girl, the mysterious Franc (Tilly Scot Pedersen). She declared she loves Roger, but she might have been under the influence of drugs. A carefree former model still living with her nutcase mother, Franc is the female version of Daniel. But alas, carefree days do not last forever and the three of them will have to face their responsibilities sooner or later.

Kári shows us the adventures of these three separately (do they do intersect of course) and at one point the director takes a big deviation to tell the story of a mid-life crisis of a judge who worked on a case against Daniel involving illegal spray painting. Except for the judge’s story, which is so different in tone and message, each story on itself would have been a cute short film filled to the brim with intelligent observations and humour. But juggling all these elements has made Voksne mennesker a muddled film that is occasionally brilliant but incoherent as a whole.

 

Technically the film is a visual feast. Cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro uses the black and white format with such playfulness that it seems as if he had invented the technique himself and is still surprised by its possibilities. One single shot in colour, from Daniel’s point of view, is both revealing and heartbreakingly stunning and conveys exactly the sentiments that Daniel would have felt at that moment. It is a shame that Kári did not stay closer to his sympathetic oddball protagonist for the entire film (much as he did with Nói), because it would have perhaps transformed the occasional moment of brilliance into one of the best films of the year. 

 

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