Vitals

Mads Mikkelsen as Martin, inebriated history teacher

Copenhagen, Spring 2020

Film: Another Round
(Danish title: Druk)
Release Date: September 24, 2020
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Costume Design: Ellen Lens & Manon Rasmussen

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy 60th birthday to Mads Mikkelsen! Born November 22, 1965, the Danish actor rose to global prominence for his performance as the villainous Le Chiffre in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale and as the title character on NBC’s Hannibal, though his most celebrated performance may be as the depressed schoolteacher Martin in Thomas Vinterberg’s 2020 comedy-drama Another Round—originally released in Denmark as Druk and honored in the United States with the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

“I don’t know how I ended up like this,” Martin tearfully shares with his three friends during a birthday dinner for one of them, reflecting on his lack of professional motivation and feeling alienated from his family. After discussing psychiatrist Finn Skårderud’s theory that humans need a continuous buzz to overcome their natural 0.05% blood alcohol deficiency, the four teachers resolve to maintain a steady intoxication through their work week.

Martin’s colleague Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen) recalled during the dinner that the young Martin he had met years earlier was “just a little shit” who took jazz ballet dancing lessons—foreshadowing the film’s exhilarating finale of Martin’s exuberant, cathartic seaside dance.

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What’d He Wear?

Aside from the dark suit and burgundy shirt he wears for his friend’s fateful birthday dinner, Martin spends most of Another Round in a rotation of plain or plaid button-up shirts over T-shirts until the final act, when he sports an all-black tailored ensemble for the funeral of a friend. While a funeral is among the few events where a gentleman might appropriately dress in such somer tones, there’s still something unmistakably John Wick-esque in his stark, black-on-black aesthetic—though his culminating action relies more on fancy footwork than firearms.

Martin’s dark suit actually appears to be a lightweight charcoal-gray wool in the classic two-piece format. The single-breasted jacket is tailored with a two-button front, pick-stitched notch lapels, a welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, four-button kissing cuffs, and double vents at the rear.

The suit’s matching flat-front trousers have side pockets, button-through back pockets, plain-hemmed bottoms, and belt loops where Martin wears a simple black leather belt that closes through a square silver-toned single-prong buckle.

Martin’s plain black cotton shirt has a spread collar, plain button-up front, and adjustable button cuffs. As his cathartic dancing reveals, he goes without an undershirt. The look is finished with a black silk tie, fastened in an increasingly loose Windsor knot.

The appropriate black leather cap-toe derby shoes that Martin wears with black socks for the funeral are switched out (behind the scenes!) in mid-dance for all-black sneakers that would have aided Mikkelsen’s movements during Martin’s spontaneous acrobatics.

On his left wrist, Martin wears a simple stainless steel dress watch, defined by a minimalist round white dial and black leather strap. This understated design evokes the clean, affordable elegance of Danish brands like Skagen—fitting for a Copenhagen history teacher.

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What to Imbibe

It all started with the Imperia vodka to accompany the caviar at dinner, followed by a Jerome Chezeaux 2011 burgundy that loosens Martin’s confession. By the following workday, he’s slugging Smirnoff in the bathroom.

By the third day, Another Round briefly becomes a celebration of the Sazerac cocktail, which Nikolaj introduces by telling his friends “the jazz musicians in New Orleans created it to look like a watered-down cocktail” while muddling sugar cubes into several dashes of Peychaud’s bitters, coating their glasses with a centiliter of absinthe, and ultimately pouring in the five centiliters of bourbon and topping with an orange peel to benefit from its fragrant oil. This overindulgence marks a turning point for the four, who generally reach low points that jump them back to sobriety.

It has likely been months since Martin last had a drink when he, Peter, and Nikolaj raise a beer to toast Tommy’s memory after his funeral. When Peter asks “what would Tommy have done now?”, the trio head to a seaside restaurant and order Juvé y Camps Cava with their shrimp.

Outside, among the recent graduates they taught, the sparkling celebration continues as Peter and Martin are passed a bottle of Cavalier Blanc de Blancs Brut to drink from. Martin follows it with a can of the Danish beer Royal Classic, handed from one of the graduates who are also drinking Carlsberg and Heineken.

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How to Get the Look

John Wick? No, Martin Druk.

• Charcoal lightweight wool suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button jacket with pick-stitched notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button “kissing cuffs”, and double vents
  • Flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black cotton shirt with spread collar, plain front, and button cuffs
• Black silk tie
• Black leather belt with silver-toned squared single-prong buckle
• Black leather cap-toe derby shoes
• Black socks
• Stainless steel dress watch with minimalist white round dial on black leather strap

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.