In a Better World by Susanne Bier - Movie Review Example

? Film Analysis Essay- In a Better World by Susanne Bier Introduction: ‘In a Better World’ is a masterpiece directed by the Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier. This film has earned the 2011 Academy Award for the best foreign language film. The movie is written by Anders Thomas Jensen that revolves around the sense of right and wrong, prevails in the liberal western society. The main theme of the movie projects the central idea with grace without shedding blood as it happens in stereotypical movies. Background of the Movie: The movie revolves around the story of two families. The movie discusses the life of a doctor, Anton, who lives far away from his home servicing in a Sudanese refugee camp. His separation from his wife Marianne has made an impact on the lives of his two sons, specifically their separation has influenced on the life of his 12 years old son, Elias, who becomes the victim of school bullying. On the other hand, we have a life of Christian who has just shifted back to Denmark from London with his rich-businessman father, Claus. Both of the men are suffering from the death of Christian’s mother, who just died due to cancer. Christian accuses his father for hiding the real state of his mother’s condition till the last moments. With so much anger that is buried deep inside him, he confronts Elias’ oppressors. On one hand, the boys were trying to overcome the schoolyard bullying and, on the other hand, Anton is dealing with a challenging situation in the Sudanese refugee camp. His problem revolves around a person who terrifies his people by cutting open the stomach of the women he sexually assaulted and impregnated in order to verify the gender of his child. Anton is not sure whether he should or he should not save the life of such person. Theme and Story of the Movie: The theme of the movie revolves around justice, equality and freedom. Susanne Bier has projected the long-forgotten ethical and moral standards in this movie by projecting them through different characters. On one hand, we have Anton who is in a problematic situation of saving a warlord, who has enough terrified the people and the women by cutting open their bellies and indentifying the sex of the child and on the same hand, we have Christian, who is an angry young man that saves the life of Elias from his tormenters. The whole idea revolves around how Anton fulfills his commitment with his profession and how Christian establishes freedom for the young guy. The story also revolves around the complexities that have surrounded the relationships in the society. For instance, Christian relationship with his father, Anton’s with his wife and the emerging friendship between the young Christian and Elias. It projects that how relationships can influence a person’s life and how strong or weaker a person can become with or without a sincere relationship in his life. These are few of the things that people and society, in general, lack today. The Message Conveyed Through the Movie and the American Society: Though the greater proportion of the movie revolves around the Third World settings, but Susanne Bier has tried to convey the international message of love, peace, justice and equality all over the world. School bullying is a common incident that occurs in American society and majority of children are bullied by their seniors. These children become so much afraid from their tormenters that they hardly tell their parents about the bullying incidents. Susanne Bier has pinned the same idea through her movie, where Elias being bullied by the other school mates, hardly speaks up about the incident with his mother. Every year majority of children become the victims of school bullying in America. Secondly, according to the director, she has seen and met enough doctors in her life servicing in third world countries where they were supposed to treat the warlords, same as the one depicted in the movie. The movie is based on realities that are the part of everyone’s society. The director has tried to convey the idea that one can face the cruelty without becoming a beast oneself. From Direction to Screen Writing, Film Editing and Acting: Together, Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen have mutually collaborated in projecting the message rightly through their efforts in direction and screen writing. Both of them, has tried to compare and contrast the two scenarios, in Denmark and in Sudan, just to highlight the bitter realities and moreover, to emphasize that adults may also suffer and become open to different problematic scenarios in their lives; sometimes they have to deal with the unpleasant situations. But their idea of combining the two storylines together can be considered as superficial and distasteful. Susanne Bier and her screen writer have resembled the circumstances and lives of the young boys with the vicious horrifying rapist and murderer. The repeatedly shift in the storyline from African plotline to Danish setting generates the idea that efforts of the Sudanese to survive in the toughest conditions are not equal to the moral weight of the young boys’ minor problems. Those problems gradually turn into serious ones as the rage and anger in the young Christian increase that compel him to take revenge on his enemies but without destroying the essence of the film, the director has turned the film into safe movie making. This is an emotional movie without any serious errors. The performances by the actors are just fine, the movie holds some of the very emotional scenes and performances and as the story progresses, the director has raised some interesting yet, thought provoking questions. The movie covers the general idea of relationships, the connection between different relations and human struggle to survive the death and win the life. The director has tried her level best to convey the ideas of morality and equality through various scenes. The scene where the doctor is stuck between his moral conscience to treat a vicious rapist and murderer and his inner self highlights the commitment of a doctor towards his patients regardless of anything. Important Sequences in the Movie: The film embodies moral commitment and ethical approach that we can observe in the character of Anton, a doctor. The most important part in the entire film is the one, where the warlord comes to Anton’s clinic in a Sudanese refugee camp to seek treatment. It is the most crucial part in the movie where Anton has to fight with the human inside him as a doctor who is committed to his profession and work. Regardless of any revenge, he provides the warlord the treatment he deserves as a patient from a doctor who strictly conforms to his profession’s code of ethics. Secondly, we cannot miss another important sequence in the movie, where the garage mechanic gets involved with Anton in a dispute after their children quarrel with each other on swings, and Anton backs out of the dispute and refuses to get into any sort of fight. His action of backing out from the fight highlights his turn from his pacifism to Gandhian philosophy. Anton’s actions provoke Christian that he should do something to take the revenge on his enemy. And, therefore, both the young kids; Christian and Elias plans on creating their own pipe bombs after school by using gunpowder and other explosive materials gathered from disposed fireworks and getting instructions from the Internet. These are few of the most important sequences in the film where on one hand, there is an adult person who refuses to participate in any sort of fight with the other person and on the other hand, we have young lads who are keen to take revenge to satisfy their souls for being discriminated by the other people. These sequences has raised many questions in the minds of people which make them to think that is violence and taking revenge is more important than forgiving someone? Is there any justice? Why violence and brutality have become the essential components of the human character? Are compassion and forgiveness worthless? The Connection between the Filmmaker and the Film: In a Better World reflects the philosophy and ideals of Susanne Bier on ethical values and morality that are eliminating from our society day by day. Bier has emphasized on bringing dramatic changes in someone’s life through her movie. Her movie reflects her beliefs that how life can influence someone’s life in different ways. Bier has emphasized on the value of forgiving the other people with compassion and dignity that makes a person believe that humanity is still alive in this world. The film reveals her ideology about ethics and guilt conscience that prevail in almost every society. Like her other movies, Bier has projected the same idea of emotions, relations, their value and morality in this film as well. Bier stands as the strong supporter of family values, relationships and ethical actions that are the basic characteristics of human personality. In a Better World is the kind of melodrama that speaks about the realities of life without shedding blood. Like her previous movies, Bier has stressed on projecting and conveying emotions through her work in a way that they spell-bound the audiences without distracting their attention. A Film with Danish and Sudanese Settings: Bier has used international community, traditions and culture as essential components of her framework for the film. Bier has intertwined the tale around the family lives of people in living in different countries, their professions and bound by the boundaries and distances. Bier has projected the family values and relationships that are considered as the essential part of Danish society quite well in her movie. In Denmark, people emphasize more on family values and building the bond between them as compare to other things. At the same, Bier has revealed the violence, the human struggle between life and death, tribal violence, and miseries of the Sudanese people in her movie. She has tried to expose the miseries of the third world nation to the developed countries through her projection which has successfully gained the world’s attention towards Sudan and likewise countries. Bier has contrasted the lives and circumstances in warm Africa with those of chilly Danish green meadows. The movie provides a complete insight on the difference between the lives of the people from a third world country and a developed country. It is so obvious to analyze the miseries of Sudanese people that Bier has tried to expose through her lens and the way she has skillfully captured their norms and traditions, societal obligations and moral standards. Conclusion: Susan Bier has raised the most thought provoking ethical dilemma through her Danish melodrama, In a Better World that revolves around the lives of people living in two different countries under different circumstances. The movie received the Oscar’s Award for the Best Foreign Language Film. The movie reflects Bier’s ideas on morality, ethical values and violence that have surrounded the walls of human characters. The movie revolves around different people suffering from different dilemmas; a father battling with his profession in a remote troubled area of Africa, his son being bullied at the school and a young guy filled with rage and anger, who eventually becomes the mentor for the doctor’s son at school. The central idea of the movie revolves around is it necessary to take revenge or just forgiveness can solve many issues? Bier has left the questions on the audience to decide which is one is the most human side of the immortals; to forgive and forget or to revenge and satisfy your soul for being discriminated? Which one is more human? Works Cited: Bier, S. In a Better World. Denmark. Sony Pictures Classics (US) (2010). Read More