Ayechan Oo "In a Better World" or "'Hævnen" is directed by the Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier and written by Anders Thomas Jensen. This Academy Award winning Danish film is a profound character study film, and it delivers an important message of revenge as a painful and worthless behavior which can cause you and your loved one pain.The film opens somewhere in Africa which a lot resembles Sudan. In the opening scene, Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is working physically and mentally challenging job as a doctor in a refugee camp. Most of Anton's patients are pregnant women whose bellies are being cut open by sadist warlords. The brief introduction of Anton's character working in the middle of inhumane acts, and brutal situations gives sarcastic meaning of the film's English title "In a Better World". Anton balances his time commutes back and forth between Africa and his home country Denmark, where he creates a bond with his two sons while trying to save his marriage with his semi-estranged wife who is also a doctor in a local hospital. Their eldest son, a 12-years-old Elias (Markus Rygaard) gets easily picked on by the bullies at school because of his vulnerability, and largely because of his Swedish background. In the class, Elias meets with a new student Christian (William Jøhnk Juels Nielsen). The two teenage boys become good friends after Christian takes a revenge on a main bully (who is twice his size) for all of his injustice assaults towards Elias in a bloody attack. The film's Danish title 'Hævnen' translates into English as 'Revenge' which resembles Christian's 'an eye for an eye' attitude.Elias and Christian share unhappy childhood. Elias doesn't want his parents to get divorced as he loves his father very much while Christian acts rebellious manners towards his dad followed by the recent death of his mother. When Anton is back in his country, he usually takes his boys and Christian out with him. One day, Anton was forced to involve a small argument with a rude local mechanic and he was irrelevantly punched, but Anton could easily forgive him considering that guy as a jerk. Christian witnessed the entire incident; there is only one thing in his mind: revenge. Despite the fact that this Oscar winning film focuses only on two fathers and their sons, it speaks about the real social issues, moral dimensions of each individual, and psyche of people conditioned by a series of incidents they've encountered. In this film, revenge is viewed as a negative excessive behavior which can harm yourself than taking pride in it. Anton believes in forgiving, and teaches his sons not to be violent. Yet, he finds himself caught in an incident to use an act of cruelty to a man in refugee camp in Africa in the form of a revenge. Director Susanne Bier's intense drama is well deserved for 2010's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. "In a Better World" features powerful moments, and impressive camera-work from cinematographer Morten Søborg for all the scenes both in Denmark and Africa. The essence of cinema is editing, and the editing in this film is superb. Ms. Bier intelligently delivers an exciting storytelling with the use of brilliant spatial and temporal editing to create a suspenseful meaning. All the actors including the child actors give incredible performances tied up with intense emotions until the end. I was amazed by how natural the child actors are to deliver such complex characters who are dealing with the dilemma of good and evil. No doubt this film's motive of forgiveness appears to be an extraordinary story that seems to appeal to the academy voters.

CinemaClown Winner of Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, In a Better World (also known as Hævnen) is a Danish drama that tells the story of two separate families, which is going through a tough time and focuses on the budding friendship between their two kids, who are equally troubled by what's brewing inside their homes.Co-written & directed by Susanne Bier, In a Better World explores the themes of revenge & forgiveness and is crafted with care & dedication. The screenplay handles the dynamics of the two families quite well, sensibly portraying their separate conflicts but it's the friendship between the two kids and how it's handled that makes up for the picture's best part.The technical aspects are nicely executed with its camera capturing every location in fine detail while also making commendable use of its warm colour palette, Editing unfolds the story at an unhurried pace thus letting each moment run its course, and the performances by its entire cast is top-notch for every actor has done complete justice to his or her given role.On an overall scale, In a Better World is an intriguing study of friendship, isolation, domestic troubles, vengeance & its consequences and covers the moral issues faced by people of all ages at some point in their lives. Brilliantly directed, elegantly written, sincerely performed, wonderfully photographed, calmly paced, In a Better World makes a strong statement about the complexities of human emotions, is powerfully moving at places, and definitely deserves a wider audience. Thoroughly recommended.

punishmentpark The big problem with'Haevnen' is that there are too many 'incidents' lined up in a row in an all too easy manor. Strictly speaking, all these things could have happened, but crammed together into a two hour film it's just too much - a miniseries would have been the least - if only to get to know the characters a bit better. But this being a film, the director could have more wisely chosen to build on / around just a few tragic incidents (and coincidences)...The acting, the settings, the atmosphere, they're all pretty good, although I didn't care for some of that 'shaky' camera work. And a few of the incidents (for instance, the doctor taking the children to the garage owner and that same doctor leaving Big Man behind with the angry crowd) stood out in a positive way, even within that fatted script.Good? Bad? ...Somewhere in the middle; 5 out of 10.

KyrKyr After you watch this masterpiece you will realize that the English title of the film is more proper and it contains the whole meaning of the film and the thoughts which the film left you with.We follow a mature kid, Christian, who recently lost his mother and he struggles to overcome the loss although he wants to look like he did. Parallel a doctor in Africa, Anton, separated with his wife in Denmark but he visits his two sons. A grown man maybe more innocent than a child and a model of the virtuous man.We watch stunning the two stories as the time comes when the characters are pushed to their limits facing moral situations. There is the time where the two stories coming across. Anton realizes how much the evil has grown in this world and although he is a peaceable man, situations and people push him to his limits. From the other side Christian being detached and reactive with the people beside him, he realizes that he doesn't appreciates what he already has, the love of this people and that he was unable to deal with it.A tremendous work of moral intensity and emotions by one of the greatest Danish directors, Susanne Bier and a great selection of actors that each one individually gives a great performance (impressed by the two kids performances and the mother's break out scene).Although the director herself says that "the film is not a messaged film but only a kind of statement", I would say that I can detect that the film leave us with something. It teaches us that the real power is inside us and by realizing this we can all fight and hope for "In a Better World".