druk tr. another round ✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

druk 
9/10
dir thomas vinterberg 
available free w. eng subtitles here

(quick summary; spoilers below. four danish teachers attempt to raise their alcohol level 0.05% every day from wake til 8:00pm to test the social and psychological effects of a perpetual drunken state)

From left to right, Magnus Milling as 'Nikolaj', Mads Mikkelsen as 'Martin',
Lars Ranthe as 'Peter', and Thomas Bo Larson as 'Tommy'

In the beginning, sober-Martin is always isolated from others. His relationship to his wife is based off of a dusty legislation, debt, and apathy, his sons do not look at him, and in the dinner scene he is only shot in close up or in shadow, never with the other three in the light that comes to those who wish to be seen. Only once he gets drunk, he begins to be included in the light, in the group. He is recognized as a felllow man.
 

Mads Mikkelson as 'Martin'

When he cracks the mickey, it could almost serve as an advertisement. It’s sharp, crisp snap, the nurishing slush of the honeying elix, the confidence of a new man emerging from the grimey school toilet. Perhaps with a drop of vod you could dig up an old lessen and have the gall to project your voice and be humourous- but closing the blinds and speaking poetically does not make a group harmonize. This too, is a trick of the alcohol- the world becomes brighter and perfect, but only for you. To your sober companions only your behaviour changes- you cannot manifest talent. Only modify your disappointment in mediocrity.

Martin (drunk) teaching his history class

There exists a perfect intersection of ego and greed- ego being of course, the idea that alcohol is the one entrance into a heightened version of the self, which, peeled back, is only a delusion seeking to soothe a deep insecurity. Another is the greed, the idea that more is good. Not unfounded- after all you only feel your greatest the shot before you spill your guts on the pavement. The greed is what keeps you addicted. You feed only the ego- all dying things are willing sacrifices, all prosperities feed the cycle. You drink so you can be comfortable, you drink more so you can be charming, you become an alcoholic so you can live in a constant state outside of self consciousness. Which is fine for curing the hole in your heart- but quite sickeningly perfect for enlarging it.


An alternative poster for Druk, Martin is pictured floating
in a glass of whiskey 

You forget your pre alcoholic state, and willingly. You were a bore, a virgin, a hack. Now you are everything. Take a way the alcohol and what’s left but a deflated suit of skin? You know because it tells you this. This is the ego. You need the suffering, you need that social lubricant, you need to be able to look at yourself in the mirror, at any cost. This is the greed.

note on the cinematography as they descend into greed:


When Martin suggests to up the dosage, he is once more cloaked in shadow, separated from the group. In fact, a wide shot between him and them, in this crowded hideaway, is a rarity.


Mads Mikkelson pictured (blurred) in the background


Lines spoken by Martins (Mikkelsens) collegues
In his initial rejection of “the point of oblivion” Martin is once more isolated from the group, seen only as a blurred figure coated in sunlight at the other end of the room. Of course, in his jealously and curiosity (greed, shown by his close face, hearing only the satisfaction of his offscreen companions) does he join their Icarian play.



(image exerpt from film) Soviet Leader Brezhnev (left) U.S President
Nixon (right) share a drink, 1973

The Greats serve a perfect excuse for this greed- Tchaikovsky, Hemingway, Johnny Cash. They all drank themselves to death and they were marvels of the human capability. What we do not realize is that suffering provides nothing more than a rotted lens. flashes on the screen of world leaders, lawmakers, congressmen. the rulers of the world. making perfect fools of themselves. We forget this most of all- it is a foolish thing to stake your faith on the piety of chemical reactions. It will not make us good. It will not make us great. It will only change the flicker between the pink beast that lays rest between our rushing drums. It is nothing more than a lilting tempo- nothing more than a riddled, pulsing, sickness. Than a stumble and a cry and a wash. If we subscribe to the belief that to be alive is to relish the senses our bodies provide, then to alter this state past the point of function is in itself a rejection of life. Bash your nose on the wall why don’t you. Kill your wife why don’t you. Save the world why don’t you. You won’t feel it. You won’t remember.


The characters discuss raising the daily intake of alcohol

We think we are better than people, than addicts, because we see ourselves outside of them (there is a definitative cultural aspect to this- as a child of europeans i have been drinking since before i had any consciousness of what alcohol was or did. this constant drinking is the very thing my family claimed kept us from delving into alcoholics- because we drank every night, we would learn moderation. of course this is baseless. of course i still drink anyway). Alcohol is an unloving god but her blessings are a blameless sugar. 


From left to right, Magnus Millang, Lars Ranthe, Mads Mikkelsen

There is something so enticing about milking this slow killing magnifier. What they don’t, won’t tell you is self destruction, any kind, but especially alcohol, is the most fun thing. You want to understand the depths and heights of humanity? Read an idea or a retelling of one thing. To reach it you first must die and rebirth yourself. You can reach enlightenment, find a ruined world to build yourself, become enriched in a horrid, passionate love. Or, you can drink.


Madds Mikkelson, portraying 'Martin'

The terrible thing is that maybe our greatest selves can only emerge in this altered state. Maybe some of us aren’t meant to be pure. Maybe as we grow old recapturing past selves is all we can do, all we should do. But mostly it’s not. Mostly it’s futile and stupid. Mostly you end up making a fool at the supermarket, mostly, always, it is a lie (or if you're mads mikkelsen, you end up looking totally hot while your friend plays the piano half-naked in a dive bar. mostly it’s a lot of fun, too.) As seen with the philosopher, the greed can and will kill you. But not directly. That would be too kind. It kills everyone around you and it wears your face to bear its shame. A rotten thing you know. 

Magnus Millang in the role of 'Nikolaj'

The musician plays naked, the gym teacher steals, and the philosopher cheats at games. Martin trust falls into a crowd of strangers- this is his oblivion. Earnest faith in others. Martins rock bottom being carried inside by his son- once more, his vulnerability (both psysical, in his injury) and emotional, in their knowledge of his devotion to alcohol. And his knowledge that everything wrong with him can never be fixed this way. And it never will. We get one shot of everyone- battered, cold, cloaked in shadow as the experiment comes to a grand close. 

From left to right, Lars Ranthe, Mads Mikkelsen, Magnus Millang, Thomas Bo Larsen 

The thing of it is though, sometimes alcohol does make us better. It makes us nicer. Easier. Louder. It allows ultimate ease at the cost of ultimate confidence, and mostly that is good. And I am no preacher of moderation- perhaps reckless indulgence is the only way to assure balance of personal failures and triumphs, if only in extreme pendulums of rotten behaviour. Maybe we should look at each ebb and flow as individual- good things and bad things in the end are really only instances of emotion. In no way must they be compared or combined into a dull glaze over ones time. 


Mads Mikkelsen, pictured center

All in all, Druk portrays an inticing, nuanced tale of cultural alcholism, aging, and reinventions of the self. With each passing day, I become more grateful for the films creation.