Wow! Such a good movie.

Thanks for the memories!

So much average

One of my all time favorites.

I haven't seen a movie by Suzanne Bier for about 3 or 4 years. from what I remembered Brothers was a very good movie of a shell-shocked veteran forced to kill another for his escape. This movie is one that embarrassingly sat on my shelf for a year or so on end. I consider this unfortunate because this is actually pretty good, even if it's a completely different type of drama movie.The plot is a little difficult to explain. There are 2 kids from different backgrounds, Christian and Elias. Elias' parents are getting a divorce and his father is usually an absent doctor treating people in war zones and his mother is the same but closer to home. Christian's mother recently died of leukemia and has to move from London to a Danish town (I say this because I seriously don't know if it was brought up in the movie) and they meet and through events unfolding of these 2 children, while giving focus on their families as well talks about morality and choice.The best thing about this movie is how they handle the morality and choice. First of all, it wastes no time to show "What would happen if instead this happened" it shows what happened and that was that, and I also liked how the characters while doing morally grey things are still understandable, if not likable. I mean Christian is shown seeing what kind of effect his mother's death had on him and how he sees his father as seemingly uncaring leading him to do horrible stuff like blow up a guy's car for a minor at best incident, that and I also liked how the movie tied in that with Elias' father having to treat people just in car explosions.I really have to press on because I can talk for at least another paragraph on what this movie is doing in terms of story and doing it right. The acting is fantastic. I mean the kid that plays Christian is really good as well as Ulrich Thomsen (although his performance in Brothers is better) and Mikael Persbrandt. Everyone does good and I don't think there is a single moment that feels stiff from the actors.Other good things? Well the cinematography is quite striking and beautiful at times and each of these characters feel real. If there is any complaint is that bits and pieces do feel a bit overlong and there's a plot thread that takes up a good part of the second act of the movie and while I liked seeing where it ended, in the middle of the plot thread there were many moments where I was like "We're STILL on it?!" My point is that at the beginning I didn't feel the need of why this movie needed to focus on it until the end.I'd say that Suzanne Bier is going to be a director I will look out for in the future because I haven't seen a single movie of hers so far that wasn't a satisfactory experience. I have been drifting away from drama movies recently but I'm going to say that this movie put me back into the genre. I'd say watch it because while it does talk about morality and choice it isn't edited in a way that shows other outcomes if they did it differently but it's not brought up in the dialogue that often but even then when the parents talk about bullying and how the kids react to it is done in a way that isn't just out of nowhere. I'd say check it out.

This very movie is an outstanding story from a small country we know other good movies from, like "In China They Eat Dogs" (1999) or "Adams æbler" (2005). A story about a boy new to his city and school trying to resist against being anybodys punching ball, about his new friend whom he helps out of being bullied and about two fathers and how they try to orientate within life.When Claus (Ulrich Thomsen) moves back to London with his son Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen), Christian becomes friends with Elias (Markus Rygaard), who gets pushed around by a bully and his gang at school. It happens that Christian saves Elias from being beaten up by the bully and this leads them, leaded by the rigid behavior of Christian to fight against such people, to adapt to the opinion, that revenge is the key to win and being accepted.Thats when both boys get in conflict with their often traveling fathers respectively Elias also with his mother, Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), who lives separated from Christians father, Anton (Mikael Persbrandt). Since Elias and Christian have given the bully a hard time by beating him up and now have made themselves some reputation in school, they see conflicts as a situation not to survive, but to overcome your opponent in a way he won't forget it. As things don't remain covered and police is involved as well, both boys got to deal with this happened with their fathers but they realize, that they do not agree with their view. And when Anton is pushed away by another man, Lars (Kim Bodnia, "In China They Eat Dogs") on the street in front of the two boys and Elias' little brother, both boys are shocked. But Christian is rather enraged and want's revenge. Since Elias is more introverted he has to be pushed to take further steps. Christian leads the way, which only has to be followed by Elias. As they find some fireworks in the garage, they decide to blow up the car of the guy who punched Elias' father by constructing some pipe bombs with the black powder from the fireworks.But this movie is not only about two boys blowing up things. It's also about two boys try to orientate themselves within life. About one boy, who found out, that you have to be strong and powerful, literally brutal, to overcome. It's also a movie about us adults and how we actually have our own problems we have to deal with every day. About Anton, who isn't home that much since he works as a doctor in a refugee camp in Sudan. Coming home from his job he found no hold of his son, who found a new role model in Christian. Especially by being bullied by the guy on the street, he loses respect to his son. Marianne, Elias' mother, doesn't really seem to have a very big connection to her son either. Obviously Elias is rather afraid of her then respecting her on an even level. Both parents struggle to find a way to Elias, which eventually leads them to see themselves more honest day by day.But to drive the point home: Christian is the main actor here. He leads the plot, his character is the red line of the story. William Jøhnk Nielsen does a very good job in starring Christian here. All actors have done a good job in this movie but my humble respect goes to Nielsen. Susanne Bier, director, we already know from the movie "Things We Lost In The Fire" (2007) where she already put extreme characters in front of a lens, portraying them in extraordinary life situations. By this movie she again shows her talent in big scenes without big effects. Actually that's what lies in the movie - understatement. You feel it crackle but you got to empathize with the characters. Since we, at least men, all been in a situation with a bully once, we all know how the boys feel and some might think to have done that, too. But when Anton is facing Lars at his workplace in a garage, he shows the boys how he resists this screaming and slapping guy. By just standing there and endure.This movie shows conflicts of life, with other students, with the wife, with the children and with the consequences of your own decisions. The story is well written and doesn't let much space for boredom. Susanne Bier portrays all the characters in detail and lets us enough time and space to observe. All the characters are played very well, even the teachers seem to be really "teacherish" - a very good casting that is.

Susanne Bier's Hævnen (In a Better World), similar in style to her 2006 film, After the Wedding, is a drama with elements of suspense; the film takes place in both the barren, beautiful desert landscape of Africa and the lush, green, Danish terrain. Bier juxtaposes the scenery while paralleling the situations and relationships experienced in both settings. The film discusses the issues of what is right, what is wrong, and what is legal; the choice between violence and compassion; the relationships between parent and child, husband and wife, and childhood friends. Morality and mortality occupy the better part of the film, with little if any humor to diffuse the nearly constant tension. Bier creates a tragedy that nearly reaches Grecian proportions, but manages to scale it back just at the end, leaving an implausibly happy conclusion. The film begins in Africa. We meet Anton, a Swedish physician who works in a village in an unidentified African nation where the community is constantly terrorized by a faction of violent rebels and war mongers. The terrorist leader is called 'The Big Man;' his modus operandi is to mutilate the genitalia of young women and girls in the village, merely out of sick curiosity. His group commits a series of atrocities that Anton and his medical assistants are forced to face. Following this scene, we see a young boy giving a eulogy; he rejects his father's embraces and words of comfort, and generally wanders around impassively. The two move in to a new home, and the boy, Christian, takes the smallest room farthest from his remaining parent. At this point, Bier's almost documentary style filming becomes apparent. The camera, evidently hand-held, shakily zooms in as it cross-cuts from son to father in a stilted conversation that leaves them both isolated and despondent. Following this, Christian's father takes him to his new school; as Christian removes his bag from the trunk of the care, he notices a boy attempting to walk through a pack of adolescent thugs bent on making life miserable for what appears to be their usual victim. The boy, Elias, is a Swede, whom his peers not-so-fondly refer to as 'Rate Face,' due to his overbite. But it becomes apparent that he is largely despised not for his face but for his nationality. He is an outsider; Christian is something of an outsider, himself – often alone and very much embittered after his mother's passing. Watching the boy relentlessly attacked, Christian steps in to protect Elias only to be attacked himself. From then on, the two boys bond in shared experiences of violence and vengeance; furthermore, Elias is the son of Anton, the physician; his parents are separated due to his father's infidelity, and Elias lives with his mother and younger brother. Issues of morality begin to take shape, as we come to see the disparate characters within the two boys and Anton emerge. Elias appears to take after his father, Anton, unwilling to take part in confrontation, particularly of the more violent sort. Violence, Anton argues, does not guarantee you a victory. Sweet and unsure, Elias is simply not a violent character and is easily bullied and cowed. Christian, in contrast, has an obsession with death and a seemingly insatiable desire for violence and revenge. He attacks without hesitation. His father, whom he blames for the death of his mother (a victim of brain cancer) is often the victim of Christian's assaults. Christian doesn't have patience for passive acceptance: "I can't be bothered with people who give up!" He seems to make it his mission to turn passive Elias into the angry, aggressive boy he himself has become. Violence ensues. The law comes in to play. The boys protect each other; the parents try to encourage honesty and discourage retribution, while experiencing and exploring the same emotions their children are forced to face. When Anton encounters 'The Big Man' for the first time, he must decide what is "right," what is compassionate, what is deserved. Elias must make the same decisions facing his bullies and even his friend, Christian. And Christian must make these decisions facing the world – the ultimate bully, which stole his mother from him.I found this film compelling in many respects. I felt the relationship between the two boys was thoroughly explored and well-portrayed. The relationship between Anton and his wife, Elias's mother, is never fully developed, and the conclusion to their conflict seems tacked on and unrealistic, as does the resolution to the village's conflict with 'The Big Man.' Overall, the movie is at times very moving, but leaves something to be desired.

Eventually the great winner of the movie is Anton, the father of the Elias. And this is the main message the movie carries on. As i was over and over involved into the movie I was asking myself what is between the 2 different behaviors, getting revenge or adopting a more peaceful approach, the most successful one. And that is a question that recurs often in my life and I answered myself that I am towards a more peaceful approach as well. Or well I guess it may not really be if not entirely about this, at least surely not only about that. Indeed as Anton gives Bigmen to the angry crowd, there it is a successive development to the peaceful approach. And there I thought that there may be a natural order of the things, whereby they are settled, even if that may assume a more violent aspect. But maybe there is a sound and valid reason for that. And I found an enlightening explanation that is consistent with a sort of red line, linking or better, going beyond the mere juxtaposition between the 2 behaviors, getting revenge or answering with the other cheek. And that enlightening explanation lies in Anton's person. He, regardless the situation, the persons involved, the possible consequences of his actions, well he did what was the most fitting with his inner, personal "rules of living", rules is not an appropriate word according to me in this occasion, but I mean by that that there are certain values he believes in and that those guide him through life and his actions. And these values are those that he attempted to teach to the 3 kids when he went to visit the violent man working with the cars. Alongside a peaceful approach, his utter dedication to his job, meant as saving life, again regardless the persons involved, or what they did. Exactly as with his peaceful approach, regardless what the other person did to him. And also the fact that he kicks Bigman out of the camp is linked with him following his inner personality, with him doing what he feels like. So offending that woman, and thus touching his life-mission, saving people, plus profoundly disrespecting her, these inner values are what prompted in him that harsh reaction. Which is thus not to be linked with a desire of revenge. Was it revenge he would have not hailed Bigman. And well these 2 opposite are finely and wisely represented by the 2 main characters: Christian is the blind desire of revenge and Elias the peaceful approach, however both with some lacks: Christian is blind in it and Elias passively suffer bully ism, leading this to a likely inner sufferings, not that it's his fault to suffer bully's but well a reaction may be good, in order not to suffer that, maybe well surely not as strong as Christian's (even if successful, at least in that case, but proved to be wrong with the violent man, for instance, OK it was much bigger, but the concept behind was the same, a great reaction). What anyway leads Christian in his desire of revenge is his inner pain, his inner anger, and resentment towards the father, so he channels unsuccessfully such issues through others, with that feeling of revenge. So what will go over these 2 approaches is indeed represented by Anton, the person that wisely adopt a peaceful approach, obtains respect and goes thus further. And all these three situations are indeed represented by the three characters. And Anton is the one that could calm down Christian.So that's the profound aspect that is the core of the movie. And the allegories in the movie, calling the profoundity of the issues are really superb. So these 3 behaviors, plus the combination between Africa and Denmark was really successful and that gave us the extent to which Anton's approach is successful, regardless facing a crazy boss of African mercenaries or some violent man in his town. All in all the movie was really well done, and well very well acted. Christian's actor is really good. Well I gave this movie a 9, totally deserved that. And plus there are many other interesting things in the movie. Really a profound movie. And the message carried is so clear and successful, Really a movie that makes u think and reflect, about also how to conduct your life. It indeed made me proud of thinking that I adopt a peaceful approach but also more with Anton's approach, one for which, you may be peaceful but the knowledge of being right, of being on the side of the good, gives you so much power that no punch, no slap would ever give you. Because once you'll take action, that action will be so strong in its consequences that the person that was treating you bad, won't even have the chance to reply. And that is exactly what happened to me recently and it's very very similar to when Anton kicked out of the camp big man. Really.