It can sometimes be a little too easy to overlook the angst and inner turmoil of children, especially when the adults around them are dealing with their own anguish. And in much the same way that small conflicts can snowball into greater political wars (often at the expense of innocent bystanders), troubled adolescents can sometimes go to great extremes to get revenge on those they feel have acted unjustly.
Mikael Persbrandt as Anton and Trine Dyrholm as Marianne Photo by Per Arnesen, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
It is this type of conflict that is at the heart of the two overlapping plots of In a Better World. Originally titled Hævnen, this Danish film draws parallels between the life of Anton (Mikael Perbrandt), a doctor who spends much of his time away from home treating Sudanese refugees in a makeshift village hospital, and his son Elias (Markus Rygaard), who has recently befriended a new kid at school named Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen). While Anton is dealing with the victims of a relentless warlord, who rapes young women and maims their children at his will, Elias is dealing with bullies of a different kind who call him names and pick on him because of his buck teeth.
Christian, a troubled kid who moves to Denmark from London after his mother losses her battle with cancer, develops a bond with Elias that quickly goes from Stand by Me-like innocence to Heavenly Creatures-like scariness after Christian violently fends off the biggest bully with a knife and bicycle pump.
After Anton (upon his return home) is embarrassed in front of the boys when a minor altercation with another local father becomes unnecessarily aggressive, Christian and Elias secretly come up with a Columbine-like plot to get back at the man whom they feel shamed Anton. Meanwhile, when Anton (already dealing with a marriage on the brink of divorce) returns to Africa, he is faced with a huge conflict when the the warlord responsible for all the pain and death he has been treating shows up with a leg injury in need of treatment.
With all these fires being stoked, and with everyone involved dealing with other moral and emotional conflicts, it doesn’t take long for violence to erupt on every front, with everyone involved left to pick up the pieces as best they can. And by juxtaposing the frightening similarities between the consequences of each characters’ actions, In a Better World shows just how close humanity can often be to self-inflicted disaster.
With moving performances by the entire cast, it is apparent why In a Better World has earned so many accolades (including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film). With a previous limited release in New York and Los Angeles, In a Better World opens to wider American audiences this week.
In a Better World. Directed by Susanne Bier. Starring Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm and Ulrich Thomsen. Rated R. www.sonyclassics.com/inabetterworld.
Review by Jonathan Williams