Review of In a Better World (2010) by Ann S — 03 Sep 2011

Sure it can become overwhelmingly preachy and sentimental, but this provocative film from Danish director Susanne Bier (After The Wedding, Brothers) In A Better World, which won the 2001 Oscar for Nest Foreign Language Film, is a movie that gets to you. Mikael Persbrandt us Anton, a divorced doctor with a son, Elias (Markus Rygaard) he frequently leaves in Denmark while he works in Kenya with women suffering severe traumas.

In his absence, Elias forms a bond with Christian (William Johnk Nielsen), a quick tempered boy whose father has closed off emotionally following his wife's passing. When Elias is bullied at school, Christian intervenes and the results are tragic. Bier contrasts the harrassment Elias experiences with Anton's obstacles. It's ambitious, and doesn't quite execute its points so effectively, but why hate on Bier, a true film artist, raising such potent moral and ethical questions. Bier means to get to us on many levels, and she succeeds.