|
In A Better World
| Released |
19 August 2011 |
| Director |
Susanne Bier |
Starring
|
Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen, Markus Rygaard, William Jøhnk Nielsen, Wil Johnson |
Writer(s)
|
Susanne Bier,
Anders Thomas Jensen |
| Producer(s) |
Sisse Graum Jorgensen |
| Origin |
Denmark |
| Running Time |
113 minutes |
| Genre |
Drama |
| Rating |
15A |
|
|
Danish melodrama.
This film won the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the Academy Awards this year. This particular category has an infamous reputation for getting it wrong over the years, with the snubs for A Prophet, Downfall and Amélie among the most egregious examples. The brilliant Brazilian gangster film City of God wasn’t even nominated for best foreign language film, despite being nominated in four other main categories. The incompetence or corruption of the judging panel is such that when a film wins, it gathers more suspicion than credit for the victory. So how does Susanne Bier’s effort measure up?
Bier’s film begins in Sudan where Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) works as a doctor in a refugee camp. Though Anton is Swedish, his home is Denmark but he’s having problems in his personal life as he’s separated from his wife Marianne (Trine Dyrholm). Their son Elias (Markus Rygaard) is being bullied at school but things look up for him when Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen) joins the school. Christian has recently moved back to Denmark from London with his father Claus (Ulrich Thomsen) after his mother died from cancer.
Christian stands up for Elias to the school bully but finds himself attacked as well. So he plans a fairly vicious revenge attack on the bully. Though they get into trouble with the police for the attack, the boys largely get away with it. They become close friends but things take a more serious turn when Anton is bullied by a local thug in a minor incident in front of Elias and Christian. A peaceful man, Anton wants to just forget it, but the furious Christian sees it as a sign of weakness and wants to take revenge on the thug. Meanwhile, when he’s back in Sudan, Anton has a crisis of medical ethics when he chooses to treat a local warlord who’s responsible for a series of sadistic attacks on local women.
Basically the whole film is a meditation on revenge and when violence can be justified. Like a good Scandinavian liberal, Anton teaches the children that violence is never the answer. However, he finds himself deeply torn about his principles, especially when confronted with the monstrous warlord.
It’s fair to say, this is a high quality production. It’s well written and beautifully shot, making good use of the natural beauty of the Danish landscape. The performances are very good especially from the two child actors William Jøhnk Nielsen and Markus Rygaard. It’s let down somewhat by an ending that ties things up a little too neatly. It’s also a little preachy and being Scandinavian there’s a little too much pensive staring out of windows at fjords. You could also make the point that the arguably more interesting part of the story set in Sudan is given less time than the relatively minor problems back in Denmark.
Overall though, this is a classy piece of melodrama and just about justifies its Oscar.
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Jim O’Connor |
