IN A BETTER WORLD – The Review

It’s always interesting to a foreign perspective on an issue making headlines here in the United States. Bullying in school has been a topic of discussion here very recently in the wake of several suicides of children who were taunted over sexual orientation. I wonder if schools in Denmark have the same problems? The winner of the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film, IN A BETTER WORLD answers that question. It also tackles the problems of war lords in impoverished African countries. This film attempts to connect several forms of bullying.

The film begins in Africa where Anton works as a traveling physician to several villages. Complicating his duties is a local warlord who cuts open the bellies of pregnant women in order to find out the gender of their babies. Anton is barely able to save the life of a young woman who is rushed into his make shift clinic. In London, Christian, a boy around ten years old, is reciting a poem at the funeral of his mother who lost her battle with cancer. He and his father Claus are moving to his grandmother’s home in Denmark. At his new school Christian witnesses another lad, Elias, being picked on by a pack of boys lead by the taller Sofus. In his new class Christian shares a desk with Elias. After school the pack returns to taunt Elias. When Christian speaks up, Sofus  smashes his nose with a basketball. That night he lies to his father about the injury. Elias returns home to his mother Hanna and his kid brother Morten. Later they pick up his father, Anton, from the train station. There we find out that Anton and Hanna are separated. The next day on the school playground Christian sees Sofus follow Elias into the rest room. Christian follows and as Sofus grabs Elias, Christian sneaks up from behind and pummels Sofus with his bicycle tire pump. As Sofus writhes on the floor in pain, Christian pulls out a hunting knife, grabs Sofus by the back of the head, and threatens to kill him if he bothers either of them again. The boys soon dash away and Elias hides the knife. Presently the police are called in, then the parents of the two. The boys tell the principal that they will not fight anymore. Days later Anton takes his sons and Christian out for a day of boating. Whole getting some ice cream Anton hears Morten fighting with another boy at the swing set. As Anton pulls the boys apart, the other boy’s father, Lars, rushes up. He screams at Anton and slaps him in the face. The boys are stunned that Anton refuses to fight back. Anton explains that this is how wars are started and that he’ll not stoop to that man’s level. Later the boys spot Lars parking his work van near the auto body shop. When Christian finds some old fireworks in his grandparents’ garage he enlists Elias in a plan to exact revenge on Lars. Soon Anton is back in Africa where that same warlord who had been mutilating young women comes in to have his wounded leg treated. Should Anton help ” the big man’ ? And what will happen to his son’s scheme with Christian?

IN A BETTER WORLD tackles the difficult issue of how to respond to a bully. How much defensive force is too much. The young boys give strong, sensitive performances especially William Nielsen as Christian whose stoic face hides the intense pain of losing his mother. Mikael Persbrandt has the most complex role as Anton. At home he must decide to set a non-violent example to his sons while dealing the dissolution of his marriage. At work it’s the constant flow of patients and what to do about this brutal warlord. I appreciated the African scenes, but they take away from the compelling story of the two boys back home. The film is well acted story of the ways people can choose to deal with conflict.

Overall Rating: Three Out of Five Stars