Blu-ray In a Better World [Blu-ray/DVD] [Canadian; French] (Blu-ray 15789578),
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In a Better World [Blu-ray/DVD] [Canadian; French]

  • Blu-ray/DVD
  • 2 discs
  • Region 1 USA/CA (info)
  • Two Danish schoolchildren -- one meek and unassertive, the other angry and vengeance-prone -- forge a friendship with ugly consequences in this cautionary tale from director Susanne Bier. The story opens with physician Anton (Mikael Persbrandt, working abroad in a Kenyan hospital, where he's routinely treating female victims of a psychotic thug known as Big Man (Evans Muthini). Anton himself suffers from a dysfunctional home life, given his emotional estrangement from his wife (Trine Dyrholm), and his desire to set a positive example for son Elias (Markus Rygaard) -- the physician longs to mend both relationships but finds this difficult given his frequent absenteeism. Meanwhile, another family suffers from equally grave issues: Claus (Ulrich Thomsen) and his son, Christian (William Jhnk Juels Nielsen), move from London back to their home country of Denmark; Claus is still reeling from his late wife's recent death from cancer, and father and son find it more and more difficult to connect with another. But Christian has much deeper issues than simple filial alienation -- an almost pathological addiction to retribution that manifests itself in a knife-wielding attempt to protect new friend Elias from a local bully. Elias and Christian become fast companions, but as they do, it draws out a level of rage in both boys that threatens to culminate in shocking, terroristic levels of violence.
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  • Credits
    Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen, Markus Rygaard, William, Johnk Nielsen
  • Critic Reviews
    4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n artistically mature work with pitch perfect performances....This heartbreaking family saga demonstrates Bier's talent for mixing political themes and personal dramas into rich and substantial storytelling rare in movies."
    Box Office

    "Bier displays an intuitive grasp of where the strongest dramatic moments are in a given situation and a fearlessness about putting them on-screen."
    Los Angeles Times

    3 stars out of 4 -- "IN A BETTER WORLD is an emotional powerhouse....It's a big subject, fraught with traps, but Bier means to shake you and does."
    Rolling Stone

    "[A] fine example of Susanne Bier's talent for weaving together accessible domestic melodrama and issues of ethical awareness of the world beyond our doorstep." -- Grade: B+
    Entertainment Weekly

    "Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier's IN A BETTER WORLD raises a number of intriguing questions about the true meaning of masculinity....It's a tight piece of craftsmanship."
    Movieline

    4 stars out of 5 -- "[With] accomplished performances...Nielsen proving particularly effective as the youth whose grief manifests in chilling outbursts of anger."
    Total Film

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