Film detail | In a Better World

Days of Danish Cinema

Country: Denmark
Language: Danish
Subtitles: České
Directed by: Susanne Bier
Year: 2010
Length: 119`
Rating: 15
Screenplay: Anders Thomas Jensen
Director of Photography: Morten Soborg
Music: Johan Söderqvist
Edited by: Pernille Bech Christensen, Morten Egholm
Production: Zentropa Entertainments

Synopsis: Swedish physician Anton works in a field hospital in a refugee camp in Kenya. From time to time, he returns to the Danish town where his wife Marianne works as a doctor in a hospital. Their marriage is in crisis and their son Elias is being bullied at school. The widowed Claus and his son Christian move to a family house in the town. Christian is suffering from the loss of his mother and feels estranged from his father. Christian stands up for Elias at school and the two become friends. Anger and rage lead Elias to fight injustice with violence, which results in tragedy. While our heroes in Denmark face the minor evils and common maladies of civilization, Anton encounters horrible suffering on a daily basis in Kenya, where he learns his limits as a human being.

Susanne Bier: Susanne Bier (1960) is a screenwriter, director and producer. She is a graduate of the National Film School of Denmark. She made her start in feature-length format with the film Freud Leaving Home (Freud flyttar hemifran..., 1990), which ushered in more successful and award-winning productions, including the dramas The One and Only (Dere, Eneste ene, 1999), Brothers (Brodre, 2004), Open Hearts (Elsker dig for evigt, 2002), After the Wedding (Efter brylluppet, 2006) and In a Better World (Haevnen, 2010).