By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.3 cats
Director: Ole Bornedal
Starring: Anders W. Berthelsen | Charlotte Fich | Dejan Cukic | Nikolaj Lie Kass | Rebecka Hemse
Original language title: Kærlighed på film
Country: denmark
Year: 2009
Running time: 100
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024942/
Bruce says: “**SPOILERS**
“JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY isn’t. That title is strictly tongue-in-cheek. The film begins with a prologue: three love scenes involving the three main characters – Jonas (Anders W. Berthelsen), his wife Mette (Charlotte Fich) and Julia (Rebecka Hemse) – who are part of a love triangle. The scenes are not exactly heart-warming.
“Julia and Sebastian met in Southeast Asia where they became lovers. Gradually Julia realizes that Sebastian is not the man he claims to be and, in an act of self defense, believes she may have killed him. When she returns to Denmark she is haunted by her actions and becomes suicidal.
“Jonas is a photographer by profession and he is a very laid back kind of guy, albeit a good husband and father. If he could be faulted it is his lack of attention to detail. In particular the one detail he overlooks is getting the car repaired. It stalls on the highway with the family all together on an outing and a distraught woman (Julia) in the car behind them purposefully rear-ends their car before careening off and hitting a car in the oncoming lane. Jonas rushes to help her out of the car. What he finds is a woman near death.
“Guilt drives Jonas to the hospital where he feels obligated to visit Julia and apologize. What he does not anticipate is that Julia’s entire family is on vigil and they mistake him for her boyfriend Sebastian. He is too embarrassed to correct the mistaken identity. When Julia awakens from a coma she, too, believes Jonas must be Sebastian as she happens to be suffering from amnesia. Jonas becomes obsessed with his new role and finds himself falling in love with Julia. The change in Jonas does not pass unnoticed by Mette who accuses him of infidelity. Jonas denies the charges. Soon, however, he is climbing into Julia’s hospital bed and having sex. When she becomes pregnant, he is judged to be the father.
“Frank (Dejan Cukic), a fellow photographer and close friend, tries his best to dissuade Jonas from proceeding down a doomed path. Frank does some detective work to find out more about the mysterious Sebastian, and he is the one that delivers the news that the baby is not Jonas’ but Sebastian’s. Up to this point the film is a psychological thriller. Unfortunately director Ole Bornedal takes a very wrong turn as the tenor of the film shifts from the psychological to the psychotic. For me, that ruins a near-perfect, unique story line. Nonetheless, the performances are excellent and Bordedal deserves consideral credit for the first three quarters of his film. 3.5 cats”
Thom says: “***SPOILERS*** (maybe)
“Another terrific Chlotrudis screener, that, as luck would have it, I had seen before. As much as I liked the film I didn’t realize it was a 2nd viewing until well into the film. I’m not really giving anything away to say the film begins like SUNSET BOULEVARD with the protagonist dead at our feet. What follows is delightfully bizarre, with many interpretive scenes. When married-with-children photographer Jonas (Berthelsen) might have been responsible for a terrible automobile accident where the badly hurt victim goes into a coma, he goes to the hospital where he is mistaken for the victim’s overseas boyfriend. Slowly, awkwardly he continues the lie and when the woman awakes her memory has flown & she accepts the bogus Jonas. Many noir qualities greatly enhance the gorgeously photographed film. This film agreeably lets the astute viewer fill in many of the blanks. Some critics say this was a deliberate steal from the 1993 Spanish film RED SQUIRREL, & on a similar note. An American version of this story will be directed by Marc Webb (5OO DAYS OF SUMMER). 4 1/2 cats”
Diane says: “This one gets a grand 2 cats from me. Went from intriguing and unsettling to overwrought and perverse. Loved this line from Bruce’s review: ‘director Ole Bornedal takes a very wrong turn as the tenor of the film shifts from the psychological to the psychotic.’ When Julia, standing with her crutches outside the family mansion, starts going into convulsions as memories flood back, the movie goes gothic, in a bad way. Pervasive background music makes it worse–another film that relies too much on music to set mood.
“A pity! A very good premise, strong male lead, clever cutting, and effective overlapping dialogue between the hero’s two lives.
“Let this be a lesson to all married people: wear a wedding ring.
“For a suspense story that is able to maintain its tone and empathetic characters, I recommend REVANCHE.”