Fun Fact: Mads originally hated this scene. When he was discussing it with the director he thought it was dumb and unnecessary. Then, after dancing it out and filming it, Mads loved it and now he’s happy they kept it.
I couldn't imagine the film without this scene, but I also couldn't imagine why such a scene should be included if a only saw it in the script. It purely comes to life through its performance.
well thats not really true. Mads didn't think it would work just having him dance shot like a normal scene. He thought the dance would be better from his point of view.. dreamy.. translucent...watching it through his eyes But the director wanted it this way.
Mads is a fantastic special actor. His gymnastics and ballet academy training from his youth is evident in this exuberant scene from this outstanding film.
It depends on your interpretation. One could argue he didn't learn anything and continues drinking despite the consequences it had on his life and friend's ones as well . As if, in the end, humans will remain humans
uplifting? without a context, sure, this scene seems to be very positive, but when you actually watch the movie and understand what this scene means, It’s actually sad af
@@cumberbitch4084 You aren't getting what I had said. Uplifting in the sense- his dance, the song, the vibes and his letting go of all the sad part of his life for that single moment and just celebrating life.
@@cumberbitch4084 thats your interpretation. For me it was very positive. He overcame his vegitative state (basically auto-living, in depression, which he had in the beginning of the movie and later relapsed into) and started to live his life again. The alcohol was not the main point of the movie. Getting out of your comfort zone was.
I'm fighting a strong and bastard depression. This scene It's helping me a lot to relax my mind. I Hope One day to be able to dance like Mads and start living again
same friend same. watched with dried tears from 3 full days of anxiety and a most panicky interview. somehow the scene gives me a sense of calmness to fight the suffer everytime i watch it
What’s everyone’s interpretation of this ending? When it finished, my brother and sister said that it was such an uplifting ending, that he had learned that life was for living, and even if alcohol had caused damage, it had also allowed him to set free and finally dance; something which was once important to him. Me and my dad both saw it differently. My dad knows I struggle with alcohol, and while he doesn’t, I knew he was interpreting it in relation to me. Alcohol has damaged so many of my relationships and led me astray from the things which are important to me. I saw the ending as a sad kind of acceptance of the effects of alcohol and it’s place in society. An acceptance of our powerless to it. Just moments before Mads is on the phone and appears to have the opportunity to talk to his wife. His friend has just died and they had vowed not to continue with the experiment. But the allure of drink is too strong, it gives him this moment to dance and celebrate with the teenagers, something which will be fleeting, and will no doubt vanish once he surfaces from the water. For me it mirrored so much of the behaviour I see in myself. “Things aren’t great right now, but drinking will give me a momentary escape to be the person I imagined I’d be” but this will soon vanish, once the bottle is empty and the party is over.
It’s definitely not a “happy” or uplifting ending and people who think that really need to pay more attention to movies. It’s a fucking gut shot of an ending. He’s lost his wife, kids and friend. Probably his job too. He’s drinking again with his friends reminiscing. And here comes the fake euphoria again, so he gets smashed with a bunch of kids. A complete slave to his addiction. The saddest part is, he was texting with his ex wife (IF we believe those messages) right before and instead of running back to her, he runs for the booze. The quick cheap thrill. Please note, that after starting the dance, he sits down and pulls his phone out. We see him from behind. He texts. This is his decision. And what does he do? He goes all in. For everyone who thinks he looks like he’s a million bucks during this scene, that’s just in his head. Running the last mile and fans spraying him with champagne. Not what happens. Truth is, he’s made his decision and it’s alcohol. He will probably not die at the end but give it time and he will. The students will move on, he’ll still be downing cheap beer at the pier. It’s a MASSIVE downer ending. The euphoria you see is alcohol, the allure, the dance, nothing more. It’s also why it’s such a great scene, it finally nails the problem. I find it humorous that so many people miss it but that’s also the allure of drinking. Anyway, it’s not a fucking happy ending, it’s a horrible ending. He will be dead and alone in ten years tops.
Considering that when he starts to dance he isn't even drunk yet. I don't think the Jaeger students gave him had an effect that fast. So, the man is letting go and enjoying a certain freedom and also allowing himself indulge in alcohol as part of a celebration.
Well said! The ending is extremely sad to me. Like you said, it is him once again accepting the fact that alcohol will make him feel good in the moment. I think the fact that it ends while he is mid-air tells us that it’s supposed to be a sad ending. It felt great until he hit the water and realized there are consequences to his actions. I’m going through the same struggle, stay strong
Love this movie! The ending is just fantastic - the way he jumps and the scene freezes, showing him in mid-air, not knowing if he'll fly or fall, if he'll succeed or fail. And that's exactly what life is about. Daring to take the leap and not knowing what to expect. Sometimes you succeed while other times you fail. Truly brilliant performance by Mads Mikkelsen! The Oscar for Best International film was well earned - though I do believe that Mikkelsen should also have been nominated (and won) an Oscar for Best Male Actor.
@@drkrishnap It's definitely up for interpretation! I feel like there's both a feeling of hopefulness for the future and relief (as if he's letting go and at peace with that). But when he texted his wife earlier, you get the sense that they're trying to work it out and get together again (i.e: "I think Tommy is rooting for us" - it brings a sense of new hope and a new beginning for them. This isn't the end). I'm choosing to interpret it with a positive mindset and say, that he made it out. But if you'd asked me a year ago, I would have come up with a different, darker interpretation of the ending. That's what I think is the beauty of this movie - it has an open ending, which people can interpret in many different ways. The scene is just so beautifully acted and shot!
@@sinebachrenleff847 didn't Tommy die..? My thoughts were "bored guys find a random reason to start drinking, depression, 2 ended up dead, yeah sounds right" 🤣 LoL Probably time to watch it again then 👍
That ending is one of the most beautiful endings I've ever seen in a movie. It was one of the most beautiful moments that happened in the middle of such a horrible 2020.
What...? He literally commits suicide. Edit @those replying The person who made the movie after his dead daughter said so. So... May be stop being idk tone deaf? English isn't my mother tongue
Beautiful ending that encapsulates the overriding massage of both the movie and Søren Kierkegaard: “To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”
Funny how people see this as happy and uplifting where I was almost crying at the tragedy of the film. He has been given another chance, but what did it cost? Everything. He really is one amazing man truly! They were all fantastic
Yup I feel inappropriate when I saw him dancing because it was a sad moment but then that what Tommy wants if he was there. For his friends to enjoy life as much as possible. His friends passed the alcoholism test and he did not. I want to know what happened to Laban. Poor thing had to watch his parent died on the boat. It's tragic.
@@mieraj.1081 Where I'm from, people actually hire these specific music instrument players and dancers, to give a proper "farewell" to the passed one. As they carry the body to the cremation grounds and such. They dance and play music along the way. So I think, like that, he's not dancing out of full joy. So it can be appropriate when we think of him as just embracing all the emotions, letting it out. Both pain and joy, in the drunken state of it all.
At first, I felt mostly happy rather than sad, cuz this guy was already coming off as a almost-suicidal teacher, not the least bit interested in life, stuck in the rat cycle, just too responsible to end it all. That age his friend died at? A lot of people often get the high cholesterol based heart attacks and die anyways. It seemed nice that instead of just sorrow, he rediscovered his passion for life, which his friend would've been really happy for, especially given how his friend knew how depressing this guy was. BUT What started to make this scene a little bit gut-wrenching for me, every time I watched it was, Knowing that the director's daughter was about to make her debut in this movie, at this scene specifically, as one of "tipsy dancing fresh graduates", She was elsewhere, her dad sent the script over, she said she loved the script so much, very excited to be a part of this, etc. She was 19yo, another vehicle's driver was distracted by his mobile phone and crashed against her car. She died while this movie's filming had only recently begun. This reminded me of, how, in the movie, in this scene, the students and the teachers, they all experience the pain from the passing of their beloved teacher, but also happiness for the young graduates at the start of their lives. In real life too, as they are all filming the ending scene, it was a beautiful movie overall, it was a joyous moment-- this dance and all. Yet, they also felt sad about how a girl, who was literally supposed to be celebrating amidst them, has left the world a bit too soon. Hence, they truly felt whatever they were supposed to pretend to feel, in that very scene. The gut-wrenching sadness, yet the glimpse of happiness and hope, all at once, in their drunken states.
It's just Scandinavia and Denmark in a nutshell, a country that do not even have stray dogs living in the streets. It's like living on another "planet", having it's own issues but being disconnected from the darkest of darkness in this World. Being born in Scandinavia is kind of like having won "the lottery of life".
@Jk .. Denmark is now far beyond any progress any other nation has made so far on this planet. It's the country that has been rated the least corrupt country in the World since 2012, except for 2017 when we came in 2nd behind New Zealand. I suspect the main reason being that multinational corporations hold no political power around here and you do not need to be rich to get elected for parliament. In fact, you have no chance of getting elected in Denmark, if you do not comply to the unwritten "Jante law" (you are no better than the rest) and if you do not act like a 'next door neighbor' or a relative, so a "God bless" rhetoric at the end of a speech or trying to seem like a strong man, rich and on top of the World will do you no good, but only make sure that you do not get elected due to lack of humbleness. And then you are not only entitled to a college University education for free, but are actually paid up to $850 a month to study, to keep the younger generation well educated and enlightened, which is something that especially the real "owners" of the USA and their rich and corrupt puppet politicians would not like, because they are only interested in obedient workers receiving "handouts" to barely being able to make living and are not interested in highly educated people able to think for themselves and demand a better life.
I am watching this scene as I now struggle with a massive change in my life, sitting alone in a dorm room in Copenhagen. This gives me hope and maybe I'll visit this scene in a day or two!
This small ending sequence is what basically made the film for me. It could've ended earlier, and it would've been a good film warning about the dangers of alcohol abuse, like what Trainspotting was for heroin. But these final scenes, seeing that he still has people to fall on, that his wife misses him, that he is able to find enjoyment in life in spite of the tragedies that have befallen him, it's just beautiful. It ends up making a very powerful statement not only about alcoholism, but about life in general. The man is finally able to break free from shackles that he had imposed on himself, and this sequence demonstrates it perfectly. Mikkelsen breaks into dance, something that we knew he is talented at throughout the movie, but something he was very reserved about and never wanted to show. He downs a bottle like a madman, but no longer as a person who is controlled by the bottle but rather as the one who is *in* control of the bottle. He has finally regained his agency and feels free and happy, knowing that he *is* capable of more. Words really cannot do this ending justice, this film could've easily ended as misery porn, but instead it chose to take the opportunity to tell the story of a man who was lost but found himself, of a man that so many of us could relate to. I don't think I've felt this strong of an emotion watching the end of a movie since Breaking Bad or Evangelion, and the entire movie itself is a masterpiece. I'm just so glad that I got to see this movie, easily one of my favourties
Yeah I totally agree. I'm glad that this movie touched very well on the bittersweet nature of alcoholism rather than just being a one-sided and frankly dishonest focus on just the downsides of alcoholism. Getting drunk can and often times is undeniably fun. Yes, it definitely has its plethora of downsides, but to dismiss the upsides because of that is just absurd imo. I think that having a nuanced view on the reality of alcoholism is the best way to tackle it, rather than just doing some silly black and white BS "misery porn" as you put it.
Obviously we see that once he started drinking as an "experiment" things were good at first then they get tragic... I haven't seen this movie in about two years.... but I remember this ending VIVIDLY. The thing that puzzles me about the ending is... HES STILL DRINKING OBVIOUSLY... And he's having a ball OBVIOUSLY. So what's the conclusion here? Did he find the balance to life by drinking socially.. and knowing alcoholism can and will kill you as what happened to his friend ... That's kinda what I got from it initially. But after reading all these comments..IDK what to make of it. Awesome scene... YES. But does anyone have a conclusive answer to this ending??!
@@p__kingg There isn't a conclusive answer I'm afraid. Just look at that last freeze frame. Is he flying, the optimistic hopeful ending? Is he falling into the waters that took his friend, the pessimistic, tragic ending? It's up to us to decide.
The way this scene is set up against the backdrop of a morbid and depressing situation and yet the ending feels so gratifying. Imo the movie puts us in the perspective of the character completely as they drown out and dance their grief away so do we.
Mads is such a brilliant actor and watching him all this years, I truly believe he is also a good and decent human being ! He will always have my support, I adore him.
I watched this movie a few days ago. I was just searching for a good film, read a few lines about it and decided to give it a go. I was engrossed from the start. The story keeps you engaged and it gets better and better, providing a roller coaster of emotions. And then the ending was just brilliant. The acting by Mikkelsen is superb.
Remember when I was watching this film and this scene came up. I was having feelings i've never experienced before. I was on the verge of tears, yet questioning a reason for it. God damn Vinterberg really knows how to be emotionally impactful. My all time favorite director no questions. One of the best movies i've ever fuccin seen.
Man, I can't remember happily cheering but ugly sobbing at the same time. It's such a powerful scene, understanding the fragility of living but choosing to releasing yourself to the happiness of your vices in life. This movie earned the Oscar Best Picture of 2020
Katharsis. This is how I felt during that scene. Cried like a baby and I am 38 years old. Cause I understood it. You need to have some life experience to get this masterpiece.
you need to watch the whole movie to really understand the emotions behind that dance. The struggles, hesitations & sadness he goes throughout and ultimate build-up to this moment.
Everytime I see this video I feel happy, it makes me laugh. It represents the gathering of friends, enjoying freedom, dancing, laughing, screaming, embracing each other, drinking beer, far from all troubles of the world, just being together celebrating Life. One of my favorites film scenes. Cheers!!
This movie, and especially this scene, took a part of my hearth. I watched it yesterday and I know I’ll need many days to recover. That’s the forth time it happens to me, in 45 years.
Каждый раз, когда пересматриваю этот отрывок из фильма, выпадаю в осадок. Какая боль от потерянного времени и ушедших лет! И в то же время искренняя и какая-то безрассудная радость текущего момента!
Best dance scene in a movie? In that it’s completely organic; it tells a layered story on its own; it emerges from the world of the movie, while transcending it at the same time. Man, it’s great, and every few months I have to pull it up just to take it in in all its glory.
One of those rare scenes that set your heart alight. Great movie, but this made it for me, and I knew it would win an oscar. Personally I think it was the best film of that year.
Polite reminder that Mads Mikkelsen was a professional dancer when he was younger, trained in ballet, and (when prompted by an interviewer) could still do a solid triple pirouette at the age of 52 in his socks.
I can't stop tearing watch this scene. As we get older, there are many hardships. But at those times, I surrender my body to good music and dance, dance.
I bought the film in a Danish store back then. I have to be honest and say it still touches me today. It's funny, serious and humorous at the same time, which is what makes it particularly good. In my opinion, no matter how many years go by, it will always remain my favorite :) ; ) :)
this movie exceeded all my expectations when I watched it yesterday, the movie is wonderful throughout, but this ending. broke me, but without making me cry, he breaks the mood of sadness in a genius way, first with text messages from his ex wife, then with students who thought they would forget their teachers as soon as they left school, but there they were celebrating happy with their accomplishments, and they receive their old teachers so well and happy they start to celebrate anyway, with that the protagonist still felt, even with his colleague calling him to dance as before he still kind of dances a little, but still sad about his friend's death, he sits down, looking at the port where his friend had a boat, he remembers the conversation they had, and then he starts to feel happy and starts dancing. for me in this part he thinks: life is like this we can't live perfectly, but we can live the best we can. what an amazing movie i can't get it out of my head since i saw it yesterday
I actually think this scene sums up Martin’s character development. For the entire movie he’s seen as incredibly lonely and yearning for something else. He’s finally able to break out of this with his a few wake up calls, Tommy’s death and his wife almost leaving him. It took these obstacles to get through to him to let loose and live his life without hesitation. The celebration in this scene is unbelievably addictive and I can’t help but feel like I’m apart of it. Although I see the point where he didn’t learn and continues to abuse alcohol, I can’t help but to look at this from from an optimist perspective. This is clearly the happiest we’ve seen him and it’s no coincidence after the texts from his wife. Also worth noting how he refused to dance for the entirety of the movie apart from this scene. Honestly a great ending and full of hope, and extra brownie points cause of Mads’ sick moves!!
