REVIEW: NASHVILLE (SHORT) ★★★★★
NASHVILLE (23 min.) is directed by Danish actor, director and screenwriter Jesper Vidkjær Rasmussen and written in collaboration with actor Thomas Nielsen who plays the lead role in the film. Jesper Vidkjær Rasmussen experienced tremendous success with his former award-winning short film RIDERS (2015) which had its international premiere at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival. Nashville released in 2022 seems to be following in its footsteps earning a much-coveted slot at the shortlist for the Danish Academy Award ‘Robert” which is equivalent to the American Oscar, The French César and the British Bafta.
The story is about the young ROBERT (Thomas Nielsen) returning home to Denmark for Christmas straight from Nashville, also known as ‘Music City’, to help his father, PREBEN (Jens Jørn Spottag) and sister, KARINA (Rikke Bilde) with the final preparations for the local lottery - an important yearly gathering for the folks in this small Danish, almost village-like, town. Robert, who is trying to make it as a country musician in Nashville, begins his visit at the local cemetery paying tribute to his mother who died just a few months ago. Almost like an ominous sign as to what follows later in the story, his father calls during this intimate moment to scold his son even before the long-awaited family reunion.
Upon his return Robert walks right into the final preparations of the lottery and Robert wearing his cowboy hat symbolizes the difference of the vast country of the USA compared to the small, local town and the mindset that follows perfectly embodied by Robert’s father who desperately tries to keep himself together in a toxic brew of sadness and grief due to his wives passing and the bitter resentment towards his son, who “left” the family to pursue his career in the States. While the evening progresses, the father tries to keep a lid on his boiling emotions with a steady stream of alcohol – to the raising concern of everybody attending the lottery.
The father who is hosting the lottery as per usual is sitting behind his table at the stage spewing his increasingly embarrassing remarks at the local friends and neighbors when he finally cracks and is forced to leave the show. Robert who reluctantly feels compelled to take over from his father decides to speak the only language he can premiering a brand-new song dedicated to not only his mother and sister – but ultimately his father as well.
The film’s emotional climax comes in the form of the well-crafted song ‘Lost and Found’ (written by Kajsa Vala) which is beautifully performed by actor Thomas Nielsen who lenders his captivating voice to this tender moment that drives a powerful statement right through the heart of his grieving father and everybody present in the room - as well as the audience to the film itself.
Probs goes out to Jens Jørn Spottag’s brilliant portrait of the father who slowly, but surely sinks into a pool of despair and self-loathing, but who is experiencing a sense of hope when the sound of his son’s embracing voice catches him from the neighboring lottery room.
Jesper Vidkjær Rasmussen succeeds in delivering a non-sensical short film firmly rooted in the knit tight community of a small average Danish town, but at the same time injecting a highfalutin country dream into the mix to mend the shimmering sadness that surrounds what’s left of the small family.
