Do We Really Need Another Round of Another Round?
"That's a great film you've got there. It would be a shame if someone were to... REMAKE it"
"Once you overcome the 1-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films."
— Bong Joon-Ho
Last week heralded the news that America had been waiting for. Chris Rock is directing an English-language remake of Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg’s Oscar-winning film about a group of Danish college professors trying to drink their way into personal and professional fulfilment.1
My previous draft of this post described the decision as “baffling”, but, in truth, the rationale is obvious: sweet, sweet moolah (🤑).
Artistically, the decision appears strikingly nihilistic, even in the context of Hollywood’s love/hate relationship with ‘world’ (i.e., non-American) cinema.
Remaking a film signals that it needs to be in English to be accessible to English-speaking audiences. Another Round is hardly inaccessible. It received an international theatrical release and is available on various streaming services. Its star, Mads Mikkelsen, is well known internationally, appearing in the James Bond, Star Wars, Marvel, and Fantastic Beasts franchises (the last one still counts) and as the titular Hannibal in the NBC series. Yes, the film has cultural specificity to Denmark, but its exploration of middle-aged ennui and existential despair has a legible, universal quality that goes down smoother than an ice-cold Carlsberg.
The film's nuanced sensibilities, earnest yet playful; candid but non-confrontational, may prove difficult for a US remake to replicate, let alone replace. Although the inevitable ‘alcohol can be bad actually’ arc is a tad rushed, on the whole, Another Round is a character piece rather than a morality tale. Perhaps unfairly, I have less faith in Chris Rock’s remake to handle this with Vinterberg’s deftness.
Despite my pearl-clutching, there are a couple of reasons to be optimistic. Vinterberg, a wonderful director, hopefully received a nice juicy wad of cash, which he can use to embark on even more ambitious projects.
The film may even be an artistic success alongside a financial one. Remakes are not prima facie bad. In an ideal world, they reimagine the original's themes and ideas to resonate within a new cultural context. They should enrich, not eclipse, the source material, sparking interest in the original film among new audiences. Being a cluelessly parochial Englishman, Another Round’s commentary on Danish drinking culture largely passed me by.2 It’s here that the US remake could do something interesting, using the same plot to say something specific to America’s relationship with alcohol or its education system.
Anyway. Enough with the rant. Here are six reasons you should watch Another Round this weekend:
It’s undefinable. Funnier than a drama, yet more severe than a comedy. It presents an existential crisis in an uplifting manner, explores the destructive power of alcohol without moralising, and serves both as a character study and an ensemble piece.
Mads Mikkelsen is cooking. Mikkelsen's feline features and quiet menace often see him typecast as the villain in American films. Effective though this is, he’s at his best when he’s allowed to be vulnerable. Another Round uses his calm interiority to devastating effect, hinting at and occasionally unleashing cavernous emotional depth.
The ending. No spoilers! If I saw the final scene without context, I’d likely hate it. Instead, it has become one of my favourite endings in recent memory.
It’s cathartic. Another Round’s journey to the dark depths of its characters’ souls and, in some cases, through to the other side, hits hard. Tragically, director Thomas Vinterberg’s daughter died in a car crash during production. Vinterberg later said: “It was always a film about embracing life, but because of this tragedy, it became a film about embracing life on a magnitude we did not anticipate.”
It’s not a lecture. Don’t worry — you can watch this film with a beer and not finish feeling like a bad person. While it does have a point of view, the film is far more interested in its characters than it is in imparting a moral agenda.
It’s funny. Another Round has been called a dark comedy, which isn’t quite right. But it genuinely is funny in parts, not least the multiple scenes of four middle-aged nerds letting loose, which are consistently entertaining without ever becoming slapstick.
Technically, the remake was first announced in 2021. After a long period on ice, more details, including Chris Rock’s involvement, were released last week.
That I found the film enjoyable without this context proves my point regarding accessibility.
I fear that in this day and age books like The Great Gatsby and movies like The Sting couldn’t be made. The MBA-laden priests have sacrificed creativity at the altar of profit.