Danish filmmaker Thomas Daneskov presented his latest film Wild Men at Motovun Film Festival 2022.
Wild Men opens with an unsuccessful hunter being lured to a supermarket by a candy wrapper. At first, it is unclear if we are watching an enactment of the middle ages or Back to the Future with Vikings. Why else would this grown man be dressed in animal furs and want to trade a bow and arrow for a sandwich? Well, brace yourself. Because no question will get an expected answer.
Three lonely men; each carrying the burden of his own crisis, cross paths in Thomas Daneksov’s second feature. The aforementioned one is Martin – desperate to detach himself from technology and the modern world. Unless it means he needs to give up his iPhone, of course. Soon to be his sidekick is Musa – an unlikely car crash survivor and drug dealer about to strike it rich. Well, unless his colleagues find him first. Close at their heels are Martin’s exasperated wife and experienced police officer Øyvind adamant to put the whole story to rest.
Daneskov toys with a very trendy idea in Wild Men. What if paleo wasn’t just a diet, what if it was a lifestyle? For Martin, it soon becomes apparent that it’s a lifestyle real men can no longer survive. Through Martin’s gawky attempts at roughing it up, Daneskov shows us exactly how he feels about it all.
Being a real man isn’t an easy concept to pin down and Martin, bless him, tries again and again. When he fails at hunting, he tries at first aid. Musa is only partially grateful. Still, he inspires Martin with a story of a mythical place. A community in which everyone lives according to the laws of nature away from the chokehold of modern society. Martin is sold on the idea until he orders some food and is given a choice between cash and card. His disappointment turns to rage and he and Musa continue their search for happiness alone.
Wild Men has definite Hunt for the Wilderpeople vibes until it shifts somewhere midway into (according to my notes at the time) Nocturnal Animals. This shift happens when Musa’s accomplices catch up to him. Now the stakes move from dissatisfaction and embarrassment that fuel Martin’s escape from the middle class to literally deadly territory. Although in the long run, who’s to say both of these situations aren’t equally deadly?
At the end; finally, there is a quiet moment shared between Martin and Musa. It isn’t played for laughs and they aren’t being chased. They are just two friends on a train journey sharing a sandwich. And somehow after all the ups and downs we know they found a friend that they needed.
