The Bench

Baenken (Denmark)

By GUNNAR REHLIN

A Zentropa Entertainments production, in association with the Danish Film Institute, Scanbox, DRTV. (International sales: Trust Film Sales, Copenhagen.) Produced by Ib Tardini. Directed by Per Fly. Screenplay, Per Fly, Kim Leona.
 
Kaj - Jesper Christensen
Jonas - Marius Sonne Janischefska
Liv - Stine Holm Joensen
Stig - Nikolaj Kopernikus
Kim - Jens Albinus
Lars - Lars Brygmann
 

An involving story and a powerful performance by lead Jesper Christensen make the gritty melodrama "The Bench" an assured feature debut by 40-year-old director Per Fly. The realistic depiction of the world of an alcoholic looks likely to be a turn-off for most ticketbuyers, however, so pic's brightest future lies on the fest circuit and in sales to quality webs.

Kaj (Christensen), once a highly regarded chef, is now in his early 50s, a lush living in a council flat in a Copenhagen suburb. Proud and ornery, he constantly argues with the friends he meets on a public bench every day for part of that day's drinking.

Liv (Stine Holm Joensen), on the run from an abusive husband with her young son, Jonas (Marius Sonne Janischefska), rents a room nearby from the strange Kim (Jens Albinus); Kaj realizes that Liv is the daughter he hasn't seen or spoken with in 19 years. After trying to avoid her, Kaj invites Kim and her son for dinner and reveals the truth, which she doesn't take well.

Things go awry between Liv and her landlord, forcing her to seek help from the very man she's trying to escape; the renewed contact with her estranged husband (Lars Brygmann) results in a brutal beating. Kaj, meanwhile, is trying to drink himself to death -- but is awakened by a desperate call from Liv, asking him to care for Jonas while she's hospitalized. The stage is set for the final act, in which Kaj gets a chance to redeem himself.

Shot in a gritty, Dogma-like style, using real locations, film expresses Kaj's desperation by evoking a claustrophobic feel, with most of the action set in confined spaces. Lead character's alcohol abuse is also shown in an upfront way, to the point where he starts vomiting blood from too much drinking.

Realism is enhanced by the moving, utterly convincing perf of Christensen, who manages to convey both the self-loathing of this once dignified man and the stubbornness and pride that even years of hard drinking have not been able to erase. Other actors are fine, although overshadowed by the charismatic Christensen.

Camera (color), Jorgen Johansson; editor, Morten Giese, music, Halfdan E; art director, Soren Gam; sound (Dolby Digital), Mick Raaschou. Reviewed at Haugesund Film Festival, Norway, Aug. 26, 2000. Running time: 90 MIN.