Submarino (2010)

Two brothers meet at their mother's funeral, each in his way on a path of self-destruction, both haunted by a tragedy in their youth.

Director:

Thomas Vinterberg

Writers:

Jonas T. Bengtsson (novel), Tobias Lindholm (screenplay)

Stars:

Gustav Fischer Kjærulff, Sebastian Bull Sarning, Mads Broe Andersen

10 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gustav Fischer Kjærulff	...	Martin
Sebastian Bull Sarning	...	Lille Nick
Mads Broe Andersen	...	Lillebror (as Mads Broe)
Jakob Cedergren	...	Nick
Peter Plaugborg	...	Martins far
Patricia Schumann	...	Sofie
Morten Rose	...	Ivan
Henrik Strube	...	Jimmy Gule
Helene Reingaard Neumann	...	Mona
Dar Salim	...	Goran
Esther Hancock	...	Nabokonen Vørle
Henrik Petersen	...	Forsvareren
Lisbeth H. Pedersen	...	Sagsbehandler (as Lisbeth Holm Pedersen)
Elias Ehlers	...	Carsten
Sebastian	...	Baby

Storyline

As children, Nick and his little brother take care of their baby brother while their mother drinks herself senseless. But the baby dies, and both brothers blame themselves. Many years later, Nick is out of prison after serving time for an assault. He drinks, lives in a shelter and tries to help an old friend. When their mother dies, Nick meets his brother at the funeral. The brother, who remains nameless, is a single father to a young boy, but also supports a drug habit that is spiraling out of control. When an opportunity presents itself, he becomes a drug dealer to secure his son's future. Eventually, the two brothers meet again.

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Plot Keywords:

baby | funeral | drugs | friend | boy | 

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Taglines:

Nogle gange vil fortiden ikke give slip (Sometimes the past won't let go)

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

MK2 [France] Official site [Denmark]

Country:

Denmark Sweden

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

1 September 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Na dnu

Filming Locations:

Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nimbus Film Productions, TV2 Danmark, Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Submarino is the name of a common torture method among the world's prisons, the prisoner is hanged upside down with the head inside a recipient full of water, feces, urine among other things. The movie takes this as a metaphor because all the characters are sunk into violence, alcoholism, drug addiction and twisted sex and, in those situations, is very difficult to breathe.

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Connections

Featured in DR2 Premiere: Episode #4.1 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Everything Burns Out
Written by Thomas Olsen, Per Pedersen & Lars Grønning
Performed by The Failures
© The Failures 2007

User Reviews

The coming golden bear, possibly!

I just had the honour to watch this Danish film at the Berlin Film Festival, and I have the feeling that this could be the winner. I don't want to give anything away, so I will be very general.

What we witness is the compelling story of two brothers divided by life, united by the same tragic event. Both adrift in their sorrow, they run down their self-destructive paths, with little to fight for.

It is no big drama, though. The narration is gentle and respectful, and leaves the audience in the position of not being able to judge the characters for their almost invariably wrong choices, but with a strong feeling of compassion for all of them.

The performances of the whole cast are extremely convincing (including the little boy playing Martin)and Vinterberg's direction - unlike his previous Dogma movies - is at the service of the disturbing realism of the story, working at the same time with a beautiful composition of the scenes (the cinematography, from the very first scenes, helps going straight to the soul). Chapeau.

A special praise has to go to the two actors playing the grown-up brothers. Jakob Cedergren (Nick) in particular makes us see the fragility of his character through his eyes, despite his apparent and imposing physical strength. But the whole cast is really credible all along, both with their physical appearance and their realistic acting.

This movie, with its realistic description of the consequences and the dynamics of substance addiction, destroyed families (what a critic to the Scandinavian society, where alcoholism is a devastating plague) should be screened in every high school.

And, let's say the truth: if you don't find yourself silently weeping in the last prison and church scenes, you most likely have no heart at all. I am fighting with my tears right now, just playing the movie in my mind again.