A Day and a Half Review – 2 Broken Parents & A Cop
After being stood up twice by his estranged wife, an armed man kidnaps her from a medical center in hopes of reuniting with his toddler daughter. A cop gets entangled in the hostage situation and tries to broker a deal with the kidnapper.
Inspired by real events, the Swedish film “A Day and a Half” (original title: En dag och en halv) starts off on a tense note and might give some viewers second-hand anxiety. Directed by Fares Fares, who co-wrote the script with Peter Smirnakos, the 90-minute movie begins by introducing the primary character, Artan (Alexej Manvelov), in a documentary-style footage. The camera movement is shaky as it follows Artan climbing the stairs of a medical center. He then impatiently approaches the counter and demands to see Louise (Alma Pöysti), whom he claims is his wife. When the receptionist asks Artan to take a token and wait like the rest of the patients at the center, a wave of restlessness sweeps over him, and Alexej Manvelov portrays the behavioral aspects of a nervous, impatient man so well that you already begin to suspect that something is going to go awfully wrong. Minutes later, he pulls out a gun, threatens to kill Louise, and spreads panic across the medical center.
Director Fares Fares also stars in “A Day and a Half” as police officer Lukas, who tries to defuse the hostage situation and attempts to negotiate with Artan. An obstinate Artan continues to keep Louise at gunpoint and asks for an unmarked car, then makes Lukas drive them to his daughter. The rest of the film follows how the hostage drama unfolds. Given the limited settings of the tale, the cinematography is stark, realistic, and almost looks like you are watching a live news report. The story morphs from a simple kidnapping to a claustrophobic car ride, where the problems between the couple are laid bare, and you start feeling terrible for the cop who is caught in between the two.
My interest in the story began to dwindle after the first half, especially when it becomes clear that both Artan and Louise are problematic characters. It’s frustrating to see a significant amount of police force of a nation dedicating their efforts to solving a domestic dispute gone wrong. As the plot progresses, the story swiftly explores the damaging effects parents can have on their children. Artan feels like he is a victim who has been abandoned by his wife and alienated by his racist in-laws who don’t consider him a worthy husband, partly because he is an immigrant. Unfortunately, Artan, through his hasty actions, only validates his in-laws’ prejudice and hatred towards him. For the entire nation, he is the villain, a crazed immigrant who storms a healthcare facility to kidnap his wife and then gets on his way with a gun to kidnap his own toddler.
Alma Pöysti effectively portrays the disheveled Louise, who is constantly held at gunpoint throughout the movie and is scared out of her wits for most parts of her nightmarish ordeal. Alexej Manvelov as Artan is quite convincing as an ordinary man landing himself into a soup with the police force due to his impulsive thoughtless actions. Artan is prime example of headstrong patriarchal men, who think they own their wife and children. There’s a scene where Artan threateningly asks Louise why she isn’t wearing their wedding ring, even though she has served him divorce papers. “We are still married, I haven’t signed the divorce papers yet,” he asserts. It’s bizarre that men think they can ‘fix’ their marriage with violence and threats. But well, there’s “Stockholm Syndrome”, so Artan isn’t all too wrong in thinking he has a shot at reconciliation with his wife, despite putting a gun to her forehead for an entire day. Pun very much intended.
Despite its crisp runtime and the story events unfolding over just a day and a half, as the title suggests, the movie feels too overstretched and would have been more apt as a one-hour episode for a fictional crime series. However, for those who love tense realistic dramas, this could be an interesting watch.
You can stream “A Day and a Half” (En dag och en halv) on Netflix.
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