Thomas Vinterberg
Un altro giro

"Art has this particularly great quality: it does not tolerate lies"

This phrase attributed to the Russian author Chekhov could be the key to approaching the film "Another Round" by Thomas Vinterberg (one of the leading figures in modern Danish cinema, along with Lars von Trier), which deservedly won the latest Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Indeed the theme addressed is nothing less than the use and abuse of alcoholic substances, from which the great themes of life can descend.

In essence, we are in a Danish high school where four teachers (impeccably portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Lars Ranthe, Magnus Millang) are united by a lack of enthusiasm in their teaching profession and by a dull and unsatisfying family life. One day, one of the protagonists reads an essay by a Norwegian psychiatrist named Finn Skarderud, who claims that humans are born with a blood alcohol level 0.05% lower than it should be. If one wants to compensate for this deficit in order to become more socially poised and brilliant, there is no other way but to consume alcoholic beverages in a targeted and controlled manner. The idea immediately sparks interest and enthusiasm among the four teachers, who notice the positive effects of the therapy. And since the premise is that by doing so, one is in full control of the situation (as in, we drink and are not consumed by alcohol), the experiment continues, extending the drinking hours (from 8:00 in the morning until evening, whether on an empty stomach or not), and the situation begins to deteriorate. Eventually, it will be necessary to avoid disastrous consequences both for health and public and social aspects.

Unfortunately, this newfound sobriety from our heroes will not prevent tragic events, such as the suicide of one of the teachers, caught in flagrante delicto of drunkenness and dismissed by the school authorities where he taught. But it remains the case that, however you look at it, completely giving up alcoholic beverages in Northern and Central European countries is only a pious illusion (and the open ending of the film is very enlightening in this sense...). Just to say, if you want to commemorate a friend who has committed suicide, why not go to lunch after the funeral and toast (not with water, of course) in his honor? And what about the young high school graduates who, according to good tradition, celebrate the outcome by downing liters of beer until they are dazed?

In short, the customs and habits of those who live in cold-climate countries are well known (how can you be surprised if Russians drink vodka like it's water? And what about the English who, leaving the office, stop at the pub for a pint of beer before going home?), but the whole story effectively elucidates what the so-called euphoria (from the Greek word ekstasis) induced by alcohol entails. It is literally being outside oneself, getting lost in a limitless horizon, and it is precisely at this juncture that one perceives what the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (often quoted in the film) defines as anguish (angst). That is, the stupor induced by freedom, the disturbing awareness of being able to choose, among many possibilities, what to make of oneself.

The four teachers, dissatisfied with their middle-class existence, delude themselves into thinking they can improve their condition by diving headfirst into alcoholic therapy, but the risks are too high. One cannot but agree with Kierkegaard, who reiterated that each of us should accept ourselves because all human beings are fallible, and in doing so, we learn to love life and those around us. A difficult lesson to learn, but this is simply the reality in which we are immersed.

The path of alcohol, as old as the world (so much that in ancient Greece, wine was equated with the nectar of the gods), can only soothe the pain of living and is tacitly tolerated if it does not exceed the modest permitted quantities. Therefore, one must be careful with the consumption of certain beverages (perhaps when young, one might get drunk to experience the bitter aftertaste of an alcoholic malaise) and never forget the Latin fathers' maxim: "in vino veritas."