Frame to Frame
Hostile Terrain Made Beautiful
What does the average film lover think when you mention Danish film?
My money’s on director Lars von Trier. That wacky, slightly diabolical, yet effortlessly intriguing Dane makes controversy just happen. But there are other Danish filmmakers who are of a completely different ilk, yet entirely deserving of von Trier’s renown.
Susanne Bier is one such filmmaker. Her Academy Award-winning film In a Better World is a beautifully shot drama, which raises important debates on aggression, obedience and ethics.
The story revolves around two Danish families and spans across two continents. Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is a doctor working (or volunteering; which exactly isn’t made clear) in an African camp while his estranged wife Marianne (Trine Dyrholm, in a riveting performance) and two sons try to live a normal life back in Denmark.
Claus (Ulrich Thomsen) recently lost his wife to cancer, and together with his son Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen) moves back home to Denmark to stay with his mother while Christian starts school.
There, Christian befriends Elias (Markus Rygaard), Anton and Marianne’s 12-year-old son, who is a target for bullies. At their respective homes, the boys deal with the usual preteen angst peppered with hardships that come with the loss of a mother and an absent father.
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Meanwhile, the African camp keeps receiving casualties from ‘Big Man,’ a local kingpin, who plays sickening games with pregnant women. From beginning to end, one’s attention is fixated on the screen so much so that an obsessive-compulsive person would forget about germs for the two hours.
Bier does wonders to give equal focus to all the principal characters, making this very much an ensemble piece. Contained in one package, this film is a coming-of-age story, a tale of revenge (the film’s original title translates to “Vengeance”), a meditation on ethics and a debate between two sides of the same coin with the question “How to deal with hostility?” engraved on it.
In a Better World ends up being a film club’s dream movie on account of the hours of conversation and debate it riles up.
While the film is no doubt intellectually nourishing, it is also beautiful to boot. Bier splices in scenes of nature, the turning of windmills and gorgeous Scandinavian landscapes that will have you planning your next all-out vacation and pondering the symbolism on screen simultaneously.
The acting from all the key players is impeccable and the themes are as universal as those of Milton’s Paradise Lost. In short, In a Better World has all the boxes checked to become a timeless classic. If it gets any of the recognition it deserves, the film will make Bier’s name stand out for years to come.
In a Better World opens in theatres April 29
