The plot of the Danish melodrama “Applause” is fairly standard — a substance abuser trying to get her life to gether. But the lead performance, by veteran actress Paprika Steen, is anything but standard. In fact, her performance, as Thea, a troubled but successful stage actress, is extraordinary.
Alcohol has taken a toll on Thea’s personal life. She got divorced 18 months earlier, giving up custody of her two young sons to her husband and his new wife, a psychologist.
“It’s been downhill ever since,” she admits. Now, on the wagon, the shaggy-haired bottle blonde wants to get the boys back.
It won’t be easy, because she obviously isn’t cut out to be a mom. But she does love her sons.
Director and co-writer Martin Pieter Zandvliet draws inspired work from Steen. You feel her every emotion. The film is shot in grainy close-ups, which add to the emotional intensity.