Prag follows a middle aged couple in the midst of a crumbling relationship from Copenhagen to Prague with the goal of picking up the body of a dead relative. Cold and stony Christoffer is played by the bogglingly talented Mads Mikkelsen (Last seen crying blood tears and playing Texas Hold ‘Em in Casino Royale , but much better in other Twitch favorites Adams Apples, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, Bleeder and The Pusher Trilogy), who has been estranged from his dad for more than a decade and is working on alienating his wife (she has already taken the liberty of having an affair). Picking up the last earthly remains of his father is more a civic duty than a sense of emotional closure. As the couple gets a bit of the Lost in Translation vibe from the foreign Czech Republic hospitality, they try to quietly hash out their differences while completing the bureaucracy to obtain the body.
What makes Prag an exceptional film is that the story telling strategy employed by director Ole Christian Madsen involves filming facial expression and body language more than plot points and dialogue. Anyone who has at some time or another been involved in a crumbling relationship is sure to recognize the signs on display; even as the performances from both leads are models of subtlety and restraint. Some light and dark comedic touches keep the film from any sort of bogging down that often plagues films such as this, say French talkies. But the blend of denial and melancholy (or emotional suppression) of Christoffer plays like a quiet warning to anyone involved in a relationship and the film turns over many permutations of “do we really know another person” - spouse; child; parent; lover; friend. That there is no tidy wrap up or even growth of the main character makes the film consistent to play out things far more real than a typical film of this type. The gorgeous backgrounds of Prague provide an ironic romantic backdrop to the proceedings. That much of the Danish cinema that I’ve encountered over the past few years (it has certainly been a fun national cinema to watch) is either over-the-top black comedy or gritty and bloody violence, Prag’s quiet and detached nature is a breezy change.