The Inheritance (Arven)
By: Mark Runyon | Category: DVD Archive | 08/12/05 | 12:18 AM
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 Grade: A |
Genre: Foreign Drama
Summary: The Inheritance is a great film that really grows into its complexity well. Christoffer proves to be such an interesting character. Toiling around in his head is a full time job.
When I was in London last month, my path just happened to pass through Leicester Square several times, and I saw the Brits version of the multiplex theatre. There are massive billboards sprouted above them advertising the hot film of the moment from War of the Worlds to Batman Begins. When I surveyed the movie times, I discovered something very peculiar, a boatload of films I had never heard of. Now I consider myself a pretty savvy filmgoer, keeping up with the myriad of indie releases and the foreign features, but here was an entire crop of films I'd never heard a single inkling about. I guess I always pictured Hollywood as the 400-pound gorilla, and film development in other countries as more akin to cottage industries. It was a good wake-up call to my sheltered cinematic view. Since I got back, I've made a concerted effort to try to unearth some of these foreign jems, which brought us to my last review, Downfall, and the highly compelling Danish drama the Inheritance. I don't want to hear any whining about reading a film. Wouldn't you rather see an interesting foreign film than a droll domestic one? Did I just paint myself into a corner, more or less disavowing American cinema? |
Arven, as it's known in its home country of Sweden, is the tale of Christoffer, played by Ulrich Thomsen (The Kingdom of Heaven, The World is Not Enough). Christoffer occupies the perfect existence in Stockholm. He has a gorgeous wife, Maria (Lisa Werlinder), who is a rising actress on the stage. He owns a successful restaurant and is laying down plans to open his second. His father busts the bubble of his tranquil existence when he commits suicide, leaving the family steel business without a heir. It was a business Christoffer once tried his hand at, yet had to flee as it wrecked his health and ate away at his relationships. The obligation to his family and the thought of hundreds of workers losing their jobs becomes too much for him to turn his back on. Maria is rightfully worried. She reluctantly moves with him to Denmark for what is promised to be a two-year stint to get the company solvent enough to unload it to a foreign buyer.
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| The Inheritance |
Starring: Ulrich Thomsen, Lisa Werlinder, Ghita Norby, Karina Skands, Lars Brygmann & Peter Steen
Director: Per Fly |
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| View the Trailer (Quicktime) |
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The cutthroat world of business immediately clamps in around him, and his personality molds like soft clay to fit the pervasive ugliness. Betrayal attacks him immediately from someone very close, and he slaps it down like an arrant fly. The bankers are ready to call the loan, questioning the transition of leadership, and he pours every waking minute into slicing off the extra fat to push the hulking business towards profitability. All the while his wife, the one thing he truly cares about, is quietly inching away, repulsed by this creature he's slowly morphing into.
This film reminds me of the Godfather in many ways. Not so much the blood leaking out of every character or paddling Fredo out to the middle of the lake (well, now that I think about it...), but more so about how the stifling sense of obligation towards your family can shield you from seeing potentially bad decisions charging at you. Christoffer knew from the moment they asked him that he was telling fate to stick it, yet he does it anyway. Strangely though there is a part of him that embraces being the ruthless business mogul. He thrives on the power and though he fears losing his wife, there is little question that it's a soul sucking high for him. The mother is ten times worse than he, weighing the mountainous guilt on his shoulders until he succumbs. She navigates the destiny of his life like some demented sea captain. To her, the business is the lifeblood of the family, and her love is conditional on where you stand on the corporate ladder.
The ending is one of the most engrossing finishes I've seen on a film in some time. Immediately after finishing it, I had to go to the Net to see what others were thinking. On the IMDB forum for the film, there were 20 people with 20 different views speculating Christoffer's motives. How is that for a complex closing moment? I have to say, as a watcher, I didn't like it. I muttered something under my breathe about him being the most frustrating character I've ever seen. What the ending does do is create a brilliant complexity that elevates a pretty good film to a really sharp one.
This is a great film that really grows into its complexity well. Christoffer proves to be such an interesting character. Toiling around in his head is a full time job. Don't just take my word for it. Arven won six Danish Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Per Fly. Simply put, it's a complex picture of family, duty and power as one man struggles to find a balance while everything that he cares for withers on the vine.
Buy or rent the Inheritance now.
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