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In a Better World

Hævnen

Denmark, Sweden

2010

113 Min
Color
2.35:1
Danish, Swedish, English
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
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DIR Susanne Bier

PROD Sisse Graum Jørgensen

SCR Anders Thomas Jensen

DP Morten Søborg

CAST Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen, Markus Rygaard, William Jøhnk Nielsen, Bodil Jørgensen, Kim Bodnia, Martin Buch, Toke Lars Bjarke, Anette Støvelbæk, Paw Henriksen

ED Morten Egholm, Pernille Bech Christensen

PROD DES Peter Grant

MUSIC Johan Söderqvist

SOUND Eddie Simonsen, Anne Jensen

Toronto (Special Presentations), Abu Dhabi (Narrative Competition), São Paulo (International Perspective), Sundance (Spotlight), SXSW (Festival Favorites), Transilvania (Supernova)

Synopsis

Few directors have addressed the issues of the past decade as courageously as Denmark’s Susanne Bier. With the much celebrated Brothers, she raised troubling questions about the First World’s relationship with the Third. After the Wedding pursued this subject further, contrasting the conflicting demands of the domestic and the societal. Her latest, In a Better World, explores similar terrain while offering a devastating critique of masculinity.

In a war-torn African nation, physician Anton (Everlasting Moments’s Mikael Persbrandt) confronts a steady stream of tragedy and loss. Much of what he faces can be traced back to a vicious and sadistic local warlord. Back home in Denmark, his estranged wife, Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), is concerned about their eldest son, Elias, who is picked on mercilessly by the class bully, Sofus.

When new kid Christian arrives in class, he and Elias bond over a mutual hatred of Sofus. Surly and vicious since the loss of his mother, Christian is hardening into a rigid and ferocious manifestation of masculinity. His heartbroken father, Claus (Ulrich Thomsen), is finding it impossible to cope with Christian’s behaviour. The volatile situation is exacerbated by Anton’s return home and by an encounter between Anton, Elias, Christian and a violent, bullying mechanic (_Pusher_’s Kim Bodnia).

At the heart of the film is the issue of male responsibility, specifically what it means to stand up for yourself and others. Troubled and confused by what he faced in Africa, Anton has no credible response to Christian’s demand that he answer the mechanic’s abusive behaviour in kind. The painful, dangerous rift between Christian and Claus, and the growing distance between Elias and his distracted parents, only makes the situation worse. Left alone to solve their problems, Elias and Christian grow even closer. As their clandestine acts of vengeance become more drastic, the film builds to an almost unbearable intensity. Far more than a mere exercise in suspense, the film raises essential questions about a world that has grown increasingly complex. –TIFF

Director

Original

Susanne Bier

Director and occasional scriptwriter Susanne Bier essayed a series of helming assignments in her native Denmark during the late ‘90s and early 2000s, that clocked in as lucrative and popular enough to kick-start a highly respectable career for the filmmaker. Though Bier’s credits officially date back to 1992, she achieved her first significant breakthrough in 1999, when she directed The One and Only — a well-received romantic comedy about dating, marriage, child-rearing, and adultery. That film reportedly grossed a heftier amount than any picture in Danish history; a follow-up, the Dogme 95 drama Open Hearts (2002), brought Bier her first international crossover hit and paved the way for much additional success. Shot according to Lars von Trier’s hyper-ascetic filmmaking rules, it told of two couples whose lives become hopelessly and tragically enmeshed following a severe automobile accident. Bier’s Danish-language drama Brothers(2004) explored the feud that… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 50 wall posts.
Picture of Fabio Di Felice

Fabio Di Felice

3May13

Fotografia eccezionale per questo bellissimo film della Bier. Nonostante il titolo originale (che tradotto dal danese suona come: La vendetta) sia molto più azzeccato, anche quello scelto per la versione nostrana (tradotto dall'inglese per qualche strano meccanismo che non afferro) rende bene il senso della lotta "passiva" contro il male in tutte le sue forme. Il personaggio del medico è stupendo. 4*

Picture of MadDog

MadDog

11Jul12

Shame on The Academy for choosing this over Incendies.

Maximilian Y. and Nicole86 like this

Picture of MadDog

MadDog

11Jul12

[SPOILER!] The way the story was moving, I did not expect a sucker punch happy ending.

Picture of Maia

Maia

24Jun12

Strong acting and pretty shots can't make up for The Whitest Movie in the History of Ever. Even brunettes can't catch a break in this one. Only blondes can achieve subtlety and/or nuance.

  • Picture of Orlando

    Orlando

    8Jul12

    So you basically think this is a bad movie because the actors are blond and white? I think it's not a stretch to believe people like that live in Denmark. Plus one of the families was Swedish.

  • Picture of Maia

    Maia

    10Jul12

    I think this is a bad movie because it's melodramatic and predictable. The pedestal-by-the-sea she built out of Land's End catalogs for wealthy, blonde professionals just added (presumably) unconscious classism and racism an overly long snorefest.

  • Picture of Dan.

    Dan.

    25Jul12

    Melodramatic and predictable, thats fair - it's not your cup of tea. But where the hell does classism and racism come into play? The movie had absolutely nothing to do with such things, stick to the story that's told and stop 'presuming'

  • Picture of Maia

    Maia

    30Jul12

    The movie absolutely presented a world where the only people that show depth, conscious, or internal conflict were white collar and blonde. Africans and blue collar workers in this movie are basically subhuman. I did not presume that part; I didn't imagine it. It's there. I presume that the director/writer didn't *intend* to show off their ingrained prejudices. They managed to do it without intent. I am being generous with that. Maybe it *is* intended to dehumanize the poor, pitiable non-blondes of the world.

  • Picture of Maar

    Maar

    17Mar13

    go back to the drawing board, maia. i can't tbh.

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Fans

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Articles

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W184

European Film Award Nominations

By David Hudson on November 5, 2011

Lars von Trier’s Melancholia leads with eight.

read article
W184

TIFF 2010. Special Presentations (2)

By David Hudson on September 25, 2010

We'll be moving along a lot more swiftly in this second round than in the first. Ready, set, go. "In A Better World is another strong entry

read article

Win A Copy Of Oscar-Winner IN A BETTER WORLD On DVD / BluRay!

By Twitchfilm.com on December 17, 2011
Susanne Bier’s Oscar-winning In A Better World hits shelves in a DVD / BluRay double pack on August 30th and Sony Pictures Classics wants you to have a copy. We’ve got one copy of the release to give away……
read on Twitchfilm.com

Susanne Bier Is IN A BETTER WORLD

By Twitchfilm.com on April 29, 2011
Danish arthouse darling Susanne Bier – director of Brothers, After The Wedding and Open Hearts – resumes her long standing relationship with screen writer Anders Thomas Jensen with Haevnen or In A Better
read on Twitchfilm.com

Susanne Bier Is IN A BETTER WORLD

By Twitchfilm.net on July 28, 2010
Danish arthouse darling Susanne Bier – director of Brothers, After The Wedding and Open Hearts – resumes her long standing relationship with screen writer Anders Thomas Jensen with Haevnen or In A Better
read on Twitchfilm.net

Lists

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Reviews

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Em Um Mundo Melhor, de Susanne Bier

By Leonard​o Mascaro on March 29, 2012

Sabe quando você sai do cinema sabendo que acabou de assistir à um grande filme, mas por algum motivo não conseguiu se envolver? Foi o que aconteceu comigo logo após a sessão de “Em Um Mundo Melhor”…  read review

OF the earth

By MR. Univers​e on January 15, 2012

Anton is a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark, and his work at an African refugee camp. In these two very different worlds, he and his family are faced with conflicts…  read review

In a Better Cinema

By Ricardo Rodrigu​es on April 3, 2011

‘In a Better World’ takes place in a small-town Denmark and a refugee camp in Africa. Anton, a swedish doctor, lives between his home and a refugee camp in Sudan. He and his wife, Marianne, are close…  read review

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