The Commune (Thomas Vinterberg, 2016): Denmark | Sweden | Netherlands

Reviewed by Emma Thorstensen. Viewed at AFI Film Fest 2016.

From director Thomas Vinterberg who created films like The Hunt/Jagten (2012) and Far From The Madding Crowd (2015) comes this brilliant film about love and struggle. A typical Scandinavian style film starring actors like Ulrich Thomsen (Centurion, Season of the Witch, The Celebration) and Fares Fares (Kopps, Safe House, Easy Money/Snabba Cash).

This is a drama which plays out in 1970’s Copenhagen about a family of three who’s living in this big house with all these rooms so they decide on opening up their home, making it a Commune, interviewing a bunch of people to find the perfect leasers. In the beginning of their arrangement everything is fine, they get close and everyone’s enjoying themselves but of course, all good things comes to an end and there’s always one person to cave under pressure.. It’s a very authentic film that gives you an insight of how life really works. Both the good and the bad in life, it’s moments where our main character completely breaks apart and her life falls out of the balance it once was in and we get to see several scenes of this, which was just beautifully edited together.

The Commune has been a nominee at Festivals such as Edinburgh International Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival 2016, Chicago International Film festival, Toronto International Film Festival and of course, the AFI Film Festival 2016.

I would say that this is a feel-good-film where your mind runs through several different stages of emotion during the course of one and a half hour screening, you get to laugh with the characters, you get to sympathize with them and cry with them. This film had all the belongings that a top class film should have and it’s a true joy to get to see a Scandinavian film like this shown on the big screen in the heart of Hollywood’s film world.