I thought I had experienced everything I could in a movie theater already, that is until last night. How often would I ever get to sit behind (not literally) the film’s director as she clutches the Oscar that tonight’s movie won her?
‘She’ is of course the renowned Danish filmmaker Susanna Bier, and the occasion is Miami International Film Fest honoring her with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and the East Coast Premiere of ‘ In A Better World’. And after last’ weeks win, it is also something of a celebration too.
This gripping heartbreaking drama of two broken families deals with the very topical theme of bullying and retaliation, and how it affects us all. It opens with Anton, a divorced father, in the African refugee hospital he runs and who is eventually pushed hard enough after the violence he witnesses to break his Hippocratic oath and allow a brutal warlord to die. Back home in Denmark his teenage son Elias is the victim of school bullies, a situation left unchecked until Christian, a new boy, arrives and befriends him and violently attacks the perpetrator on his behalf.
Anton attempts to teach the boys that violence is wrong, but fails to convince them when they are all out together and he has an encounter with Lars an adult bully. Christian, driven by the anger he has after the recent death of his mother and his distant and absent father, decides that he will avenge Anton, and all of them, by an extreme measure of making a homemade bomb to plant under Lars’s car.
This beautifully crafted film that centers on these two young boys tells this substantial story with intelligence and real warmth as it tackles issues of courage and honesty head on. It’s extremely intense, completely unpredictable and acutely believable. Ms Bier’s familiar stunning intimate close-ups add a perfect dimension to the high drama …. but then again all the camerawork is superb, especially of the scenes set in Africa.
As Ms Bier acknowledged to us in her Introduction (clutching the Oscar still!) she is blessed with working regular with many craftsmen that have worked on several of her previous movies, including writer Anders Thomas Jensen, and the main acting ensemble too. And it really shows, as they work so well as a cohesive team. Christian and Elias are however played by two amazing talented young newcomers who have never ever acted before.
R.T.V. In all honesty this movie took me by surprise. I knew it would be good, but I was still shocked actually how excellent it really is. Emotionally draining, but totally satisfying, this is as near perfect as movies get.
P.S. IF the Academy had allowed me to vote I would have plumped for
Biutiful to win Best Foreign Language Film. But that was before I saw In A Better World
.
★★★★★★★★★★
Click for Trailer
Posted by queerguru at 22:30
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