yris2002 Review of In a Better World

In a Better World (2010)

Solid direction and performances for a cold but positive picture

[7/10 · 2 June 2011]

A very cold representation of the terrible peaks violence can reach, in every part of the world, no-one, in any part of this world, seems to be safe from it: being it in the heart of an Africa raped by bands of criminals, being it in the heart of a bourgeois Danemark, there's some violent instinct that produces only damage. The director Susanne Bier uses a very minimalist and steady direction that leaves no room to the unnecessary, but only to the crudity of what is being displayed, and the actors, too respect this cold perspective: good and solid performances, both from the adults and the young. Positive parental figures find it so difficult to raise their children teaching the value of respect and non-violence, and the good has to make such an effort to prevail, that we feel sometimes overwhelmed by this difficulty. However, the movie gives space to optimism and hope in the end, an end which was criticized by some detractors who found it too easily feel-good, in contrast with the general perspective of the picture. I do not agree with them, finding it necessary to counterbalance a reality of violence, which does exists, with a reality of positive people, which does exist, too. This helps the movie vehicle a positive message, to adults but also to a younger audience, which needs and look for, also inside cinema, good examples and messages of hope to grow up.