The Commune review: Danish director Thomas Vinterberg returns to his homeland with this triumphant intimate portrait of 1970s Copenhagen.
An extremely solid and involving comedy/drama led by the sublime Trine Dyrholm. The Commune review by Paul Heath, (Berlin Film Festival) February 2016.
The Commune, or Kollektivet to give it its original Danish title, tells the story of Erik (Ulrich Thomsen), a lecturer in architecture at the local university, his wife Anna (Trine Dyrholm), a TV broadcaster who presents the evening news, and their 14-year-old daughter Freja (Martha Sofie Wallstrøm Hansen).
We are first introduced to the trio as they are shown around a massive house in the suburbs of the city of Copenhagen, a house far too big for the three of them, but beautiful in stature, and steeped in personal history. It turns out that the house is Erik’s childhood home and it has seemingly been left to him by his late father. The family must decide whether to sell the house, or move in, the latter of which they won’t be able to sustain as they wouldn’t be able to afford the bills. In order to make ends meet, Erik and Anna decide to turn the house into a commune, and set about interviewing friends and acquaintances to come and live with them.
Once the new group settle in, Erik falters, and he ends up straying into a relationship with one of his students, Emma, played by Helene Reingaard Neumann, and falling in love. Emma eventually ends up moving into the house with the rest of the commune, causing immense issues among the camp, obviously between Erik and Anna, but most of all on their highly impressionable young daughter who looks on aloofly.
Embarrassingly, I wasn’t au fait with the work of filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg and am ashamed to say that I still haven’t seen The Hunt, the celebrated 2012 movie starring Mads Mikkelsen, or even his 2010 Berlinale competition entry Submarino – something that I will be looking to remedy. The director is best known to western audiences for last year’s redo of Far From The Madding Crowd, though he’s returned to his homeland for this feature, a deeply personal and semi-autobiographical tale set in the 1970s.
This intimate drama studies personal desires, solidarity and tolerance, loss, heartbreak, community, individuality, freedom and tradition in a time when things were very different.
Vinterberg has assembled a cast that deliver a glorious ensemble performance led by Trine Dyrholm‘s sublime, though intense turn as the tormented Anna. She wins our sympathy very early on due to the terrible way she’s treated by her husband, and gradually unleashes one of the best performances we’ve seen this year. As a viewer, we are so intimately involved with her situation, and go with her on her journey as the tragedy of losing everything around her becomes a heart-breaking reality.
With an extremely witty script, superb direction of his actors, who give spot-on performances, as well as the use of a great score and accompanying soundtrack – including a superb, though tragic use of Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Vinterberg has supremely aced this absolute treat.
The Commune is currently playing at the Sydney Film Festival.
The Commune opens in UK cinemas on the 29th July 2016.
