Reel Rewind: “Submarino”

For two brothers the road to redemption is paved with sorrow, alcoholism, drug abuse, jail, and a namesake. In “Submarino”, a film whose physical atmosphere is an overcast of grays and dinginess, the adult lives of two Danish brothers emotionally personify the atmosphere with their own overhanging cloud of despair. For Nick and his little brother (hereafter, LB), the road they traveled began in their childhood with a constantly drunk mother and a newborn baby brother. Though Nick had already begun drinking before the tragedy, it no doubt led him to becoming an alcoholic and LB to becoming a drug addict. The guilt they felt would overwhelm them throughout their lives.

But now their mother died and her funeral brings them together after years apart. It is after this event that we follow Nick’s current life – still drinking and living in a half-way house after serving a jail sentence for assault. – and then, over that same time range, from LB’s current life – still shooting up and living with his young son. Nick’s world consists of a stark apartment, a woman to whom he is sexually attached, but emotionally detached, and the very disturbed brother of the woman he loved (and still does) when he was sent to jail. For me the most unsettling aspect was Nick’s neglect of his self-inflicted injured hand – the deliberately unhealed wound to go along with the always raw emotional one. For LB, a social services worker and a daily fix control his life, with the nutritional needs of his son suffering as a consequence. LB loves his son, but trying to provide for him by becoming a drug dealer is such a bad decision that will take him from his son’s life forever.

I don’t have a problem viewing an alternatively presented film, if I know beforehand that it has a story structure of a different nature – makes the viewing easier. I’m not sure that “Submarno” benefits from a dual storyline – the brothers’ lives are not that divergent. Both are clearly suffering from their childhood demon, though they both have loved. But if the reasoning behind the structure is to present the brothers one at a time to the viewer for a better understanding of each brother, then that’s fine. There is very little in this film that is pleasant – most of it is disturbing and destructive – but I did say this was a road to redemption and so at the end there is the beginning of a second chance, though only for one brother.

Film Facts: Director/Writer: Thomas Vinterberg, Writer: Tobias Lindholm, Novelist: Jonas T. Bengtsson, Cinematographer: Charlotte Bruus Christensen, Editors: Valdis Óskarsdóttir, Andri Steinn, Musician: Kristian Eidnes Andersen, Producers: Birgitte Hald, Morten Kaufmann, Production Companies: Nimbus Film Production, TV2 Danmark, Sandrew Metronome Distribution Sverige AB, The Match Factory, Swedish Television, Canal+, Nordisk Film ShortCut, Kameraudlejningen, Lysudlejningen, Mainstream, Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond

Film Type: Drama, Cast: Jakob Cedergren (Nick Torp), Peter Plaugborg (Nicks lillebror), Gustav Fischer Kjaerulff (Martin Torp), Patricia Schumann (Sofie), Helene Reingaard Neumann (Mona), Morten Rose (Ivan), Kate Kjelbye (Ana), Lisbeth H. Pedersen (Sagsbehandler), Dar Salim (Goran), Henrik Strobe (Jimmy Gule), Elias Ehlers (Karsten), Sebastian Bull Sarning (Nick Torp som ung), Mads Broe Andersen (Nicks lillebror som ung), Finn Bergh (Fængselsbetjent), Length: 105’, Language: Danish, Countries: Denmark, Sweden, Year: 2010
Film Trailer
Denmark release date Thursday 25 March 2010
United States release date not set as of this post


Images:
Lest: Jakob Cedergren as Nick Torp and Peter Plaugborg as lillebror from the website outnow.ch
Center: Graphic interpretation of “Submarino” created by Adrean Darce Brent
Right: “Submarino” poster from the website kinobank.org