In A Better World (2010)
Certified: 14
Duration: 118 minutes
Directed by: Susanne Bier
Starring: Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen, William Jøhnk Juels Nielsen, Markus Rygaard, Simon Maagaard Holm, Kim Bodnia,Will Johnson
KRS release
In a Better World focuses on a Danish doctor named Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) who works in a Kenyan field hospital.
He wants to win back his wife (Trine Dyrholm) who is in Denmark and feels that his son Elias (Markus Rygaard) needs him as a role model.
Another protagonist of the film is Danish businessman Claus (Ulrich Thomsen), who is still in shock after his wife’s recent death and is not so attentive of his son. The latter (William Johnk Nielsen) ends up in a bullying incident.
It is the sons that bring Anton and Claus together, and make them face a reality they do not like. Christian is a volatile boy and soon he and Elias are getting into more trouble that could lead to disastrous consequences.
Winner of the 2011 Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Foreign language film, the drama crosses over well to a mainstream audience. The film is almost a study of the way children view the world; it’s also a study on grief and how one handles it.
Propelled forward by Susanne Bier’s sure direction, the film is inspiring yet feels very heart-achingly real.
It is a strong statement about the world we live in and how violence can create ripples with far-reaching effects.
The young cast is excellent, overshadowing the adult cast.
The film is bent on placing some really hard questions on its audience and though the story is tied up neatly, the questions will remain echoing in the audience’s head long after the credits have rolled up.
Ms Bier’s film Brothers had a similar effect though that film was more about wounds that seemed to never heal and left me drained. In A Better World is different as its characters wrestle with their inner demons yet one gets the feeling that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
In a Better World also makes one wonder how much the teaching and actions of the fathers impinge on the way children grow up and how this affects them in later life.
The film goes beyond being simply entertainment and offers us a glimpse of what better film-making can lead to.