Film: Just Another Love Story
Release date: 5th October 2009
Certificate: 18
Running time: 100 mins
Director: Ole Bornedal
Starring: Anders W. Bertelsen, Rebecka Hemse, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Charlotte Fich, Dejan Cukic
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Studio: Revolver
Format: DVD
Country: Denmark
Ole Bornedal, director of the superb Nightwatch, turns his hand to the crime thriller genre, but delivers something closer to Danish neo noir with Just Another Love Story. A master of suspense with a true artist’s vision, Bornedal attempts to breathe new life into a genre which has been reborn and revived so many times already.
Jonas is a crime photographer, trapped in a world he no longer understands, and the mire of family life. Escape comes in the beautiful form of Julia, a woman on the run, and the car accident that puts her in a coma. Feeling responsible for the accident, Jonas visits Julia in hospital only to be confronted by her family who mistake him for her boyfriend, Sebastian.
Although initially reluctant, Jonas steps into the role of Julia’s Sebastian, and when she awakens, blind and with no memory, he continues the charade, relishing the escape - and falling in love in the process.
As Julia’s memory starts to return, however, Jonas finds his fantasy unravelling around him, and he soon finds out that playing Sebastian is a dangerous game…
Just Another Love Story is anything but the thrill ride the DVD marketing would have you believe. It’s a dark and measured noir with some superb visual flourishes. From the opening rain-soaked introduction to the character of Jonas, we are treated to some quite stunning imagery. The bleached palette offers us a moody alternative black-and-white, and Bornedal uses the colours and surroundings to great effect. The bland interiors that mirror Jonas’ feelings about his life are beautifully contrasted by the large-scale construction work being carried out outside of his apartment, symbolising hope for the future; and the long corridors and shadows of the hospital, eerily reminiscent of Nightwatch, which hint at uncertainty and danger.
Arguably the most effective scene in the film is the accident which puts Julia into a coma, and offers Jonas the chance of a new life. We see the accident from two different perspectives. First we follow Julia, never straying from a tight shot of her face. As the car rolls, we roll with her, in balletic slow motion, as glass floats around her, her hair flails, and her skin is lacerated repeatedly. It makes us feel as though we are watching an accident through a snow globe, and it contrasts drastically with the raw brutality of the accident seen from Jonas’ point of view. The effect of this scene, and in the storytelling up to that point (the introduction to each character with the title card reading “Love scene no.1, no.2 and no.3”) serves to distance the viewer from the characters. Unlike Nightwatch, where intimate close ups of tactile objects, slow tracking shots and the use of score and sound are used to draw us in, here we find ourselves as spectators rather than accomplices. It is here that we are presented with the film’s main problem.
As in all good film noir, we follow characters on a downward spiral. Presented with a dystopian vision of modern life, and characters in desperate need to escape, we watch as they tragically take actions that serve only to deepen the nightmare around them. This can only work if we care about the characters, and in the case of Just Another Love Story, we simply don’t. The blandness of Jonas’ life, while visually evident, is never truly believed. His frustration is obvious, as early on we see his attempt to make love to his wife thwarted by his children who want to sleep with them, but this doesn’t go far enough to explaining why he decides to take the path he does. In our position as spectators, we aren’t given enough to work with in order to feel anything for him.
Likewise in the case of Julia, we are not presented with enough to care about what she has been through, and what is going to happen in the future. From the outset, we know that she is a victim, but the character is sadly lacking in dimension, and as a consequence we never get to know her well enough to distinguish her from any other forgettable cinematic victim. In the same way, we do not get to see enough of Sebastian to truly despise him, and so his appearance does not bring with it the tension that should form the climax of the film. Instead, his appearance simply acts as a way of ending Jonas’ fantasy, and an excuse for some graphic violence rather than a truly meaningful confrontation.
The performances in the film are mixed. As Jonas, Berthelsen spends much of the film looking lost, and Nikolaj Lie Kaas does little to elevate the potentially incendiary role of Sebastian above stereotypical psychotic gangster. Rebecka Hemse is given little to work with in the role of Julia but fares admirably. The supporting cast manage to make more of an impact. As Frank, Jonas’ policeman friend, Dejan Cukic has some entertaining scenes, and is sadly not explored deep enough as a character. Likewise, Charlotte Fich as Jonas’ wife, Mitte, manages to at least evoke some emotion from the audience as she tries desperately to work out exactly why things have all gone wrong. Her pain and confusion in the supermarket scene give rise to one of the rare moments in the film when we actually care what is happening to the characters.
Just Another Love Story isn’t all about unsympathetic characters. It is beautifully shot and stunning to watch in places; and the narrative unfolds at a very deliberate pace, managing not to drag too noticeably. The visual brilliance of Bornedal perhaps does just enough to elevate this from average fare to watchable noir, but only just. For the most part, however, it is a hollow experience with great potential that is never fully realised.
While competent, Just Another Love Story’s ironic title turns out to be very apt. It’s hard to forgive the contrivances when faced with such unsympathetic characters and, despite the visual flair, Ole Bornedal and his cast are largely unable to breathe life into the script, and fail to give us anything of any real substance. It will take considerably more to topple Pusher from top spot of Danish crime cinema. RM
