Do you ever wonder if certain Scandinavian movies get on the U.S. arthouse circuit simply by virtue of being Scandinavian? The Danish title of this thriller translates literally to "Love in the Movies". Danish writer and director Ole Bornedal kicks off his movie by three clips advertised as "love scenes." In quick succession: One, a dying man, Jonas (Anders W. Berthelsen) lies in the rain as a howling woman kneels over him; Two, the same couple attempt nookie in their matrimonial bed, but fail; Three, a near-naked sexy young couple in a third-world hotel room. The woman, Julia (Rebecka Hemse) is about to shoot her boyfriend through the chest. No lack of passion there.
Next thing we know Julia is back in Denmark, in a car speeding along a highway. She is on the run from traumatic events that transpired in Southeast Asia. Jonas and his wife meanwhile are in their car, with their two kids safely strapped into their seats in the back. Then, Wham! Jonas and family narrowly escape death as Julia's speeding car misses them by an inch and explodes into another car just in front of them. Julia lives, but ends up blind and in a coma. Meet-cute.
Jonas can't get Julia out of his mind. He visits her in the hospital where her family believes he is the boyfriend Julia met in Southeast Asia. Jonas goes along with them on this and starts spending all his free time at her bedside. He becomes obsessed with her. A young woman in a coma is infinitely more thrilling than the wife, kids and mortgage back home, after all.
So it goes. The femme fatale attracts the middle-aged family man. Fragmented memories of the love-of-her-life abusive former boyfriend hover. This can't end well. Peril comes to Europe, from the East. Could this be the director's clever way of highlighting clichés in film? Perhaps, but likely not. Not a bad way to spend two hours, but Tarantino it ain't.
