Submarino

Probably one of the least likely candidates for global feel-good film of the year, director Thomas Vinterberg's Submarino delivers a cold, harsh slice of Danish life that follows the downward spiral of two long-estranged brothers whose unfortunate choices finally reunite them at the bottom of society. Things seem destined to go wrong from the beginning: raised by a dysfunctional alcoholic mother who's eventually killed in a car accident, both boys wind up looking death, criminality, and squalor square in the face at a young age. As an adult, Nick (Jakob Cedergren) lives in a bleak halfway house in Copenhagen where he drinks beer, threatens his neighbors, and treats casual girlfriend Sofie (Patrician Schumann) with indifference. His only real connection to the outside world is a corpulent pervert who accidentally murders Sofie after friendly charity sex. Meanwhile, Nick's unnamed sibling (Peter Plaugborg) is a semi-functional heroin addict and father who manages to care for his son, Martin (Gustav Fischer Kjaerulff), in between smack-induced nod-outs. When a substantial inheritance is passed down to the brothers, what should have been their saving grace ends up being a catalyst for life-changing chaos. Vinterberg's relentlessly bleak tale is enhanced by the uninviting grayness of Copenhagen's working-class districts that provide the film's backdrop. Submarino offers no moralistic life lessons regarding the protagonists' misfortunes; the two are simply square pegs unsuccessfully attempting to fit into society's round holes. Recommended. (M. Sandlin)