I stumbled across this film on late-night television and found quite a little treat. Coming from Denmark, 'Arven' continues in the Dogme 95 tradition of handheld video cameras and naturalistic lighting to create a very intimate little drama about a man who's pressured into taking over the family company after his father commits suicide. Gradually, the pressure sees his life unravel and his relationships disintegrate with great emotive power.
Starring the great Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen, perhaps most well known for the excellent 'Festen', the film jumps between Denmark, Sweden and France, and across several years to reveal the story of a man, Christoffer, forced to give up his own dreams (he owns a restaurant in Stockholm and is married to a beautiful theatre actress) to support the survival of his family's steel firm. Along the way he is forced to fire his brother-in-law, who spread rumours about the company after missing out on the top job, and as a result, alienating his sister and wife who, despite their having a child together, is pushed further and further from him as his work priorities take over from his personal happiness.
The acting is great on all fronts, with a slight theatrical style rather than exact naturalism, but this suits a story which so closely resembles a Shakespearean tragedy. Christoffer's mother is very Lady MacBeth-like in her ambitious drive and constant urges for success and brilliance from the reluctant Christoffer. She shows little remorse when his sister decides never to see them again, and is even colder towards his wife, Maria, who distracts him and pleads for their life back in Stockholm. The main pressures on him concern an essential merger with a French firm, which coincides in his full breakdown and his drunken attempted rape of a housekeeper and self-injury from falling into a glass table. The rocky road to this point is conveyed with great tension and drama, and the characters are all brilliantly developed.
Danish cinema is very strong at the moment, even after the initial success of the Dogme films has passed. Director Per Fly is definitely worth investigating for anyone interested in Danish cinema, and 'Arven' won several awards, although by the looks of it, his other films won even more so I'll definitely be investigating further. If you liked 'Festen', a highlight of Danish cinema, then you'll also love this, another emotional family drama. If you haven't seen 'Festen', you really, really should.
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