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Review: Hævnen (In a Better World) (2010)
This was a pretty interesting movie. I'd recommend it as a good drama film with a pretty rich story.
Spoilers.
Story
I'd say that the story was about how harrassment, revenge, and death affected the various people in the movie.
Elias was often bullied at school, and Christian was the first one to stand up for him. His way of deterring the lead bully, Sofus, was to beat him and threaten him with a knife.
Elias' younger brother Morten had gotten into a fight with another boy at a playground. Their dad Anton then got into an altercation with the other boy's father Lars, who slapped him. Anton sought out Lars again but just got slapped again. Then Elias and Christian decided to make a bomb to destroy Lars' car. That bomb ended up wounding Elias pretty badly.
While in the refugee camp, Anton often encountered patients of the local warlord. When the warlord himself was hurt, Anton initially helped him (as an instinct of being a doctor, I suppose), but after he made a disgusting comment about a patient who'd died, Anton dragged him out of the camp and let him be beaten to death.
It's hard to talk about the story as a whole because of all of the moving parts. However, I think the two main characters were likely Christian and Anton, especially considering how Anton was the one to stop Christian from jumping off of the silo at the end of the movie. Anton was the one who explained to Christian how to healthily cope with dith.
Production
The overall presentation of the movie was good. Nothing really stood out as being bad. The shots that were included in the movie were pretty memorable.
Characters
Christian
Christian seemed like a child who wasn't over his mother's death because he thought his dad had wanted his mother to die for malicious reasons. He redirected his negative feelings into violence and revenge, beating the bully and getting back at Lars.
Beating Sofus seemed to solve the problem of deterring him away, so I think that was why Christian's behaviour escalated to be more violent and aggressive. He was only stopped in his tracks when he really thought that he'd killed Elias. It hurt him when he thought that his dad had wanted his mom dead, so I think he also couldn't live with the fact that he would've caused his friend's death.
Only Anton had any idea where Christian might've been, and he had to explain to him how to better cope with death. I think that Christian realized that his misunderstanding with his father was clouding the fact that his father still loved him, and definitely loved his wife. Seeing that love can still exist among pain probably gave Christian the courage to meet with Elias.
Claus
Claus was Christian's father. Christian was under the impression that Claus wanted his wife to die all along because he no longer loved her. Claus tried to explain to Christian that he only wanted her suffering to end. At the time, Claus' words went through one ear and out the other. In Christian's eyes, his father hadn't supported his mother to the very end and that was despicable to him.
In the end, after Anton saved Christian from the silo, I think Christian realized that his father wanted his mother to meet her end not out of hatred but actually out of love, that she was suffering in a way that was too painful to live through, unlike the grief that he was living through that could be overcome.
Elias
Elias was perpetually bullied at school, and Christian stood up for him, though through violent means. Elias was very timid, and only with Christian's urging did he start to be a bit more daring.
Elias panicked when he saw the mother and daughter near their car bomb and his instinctual response was to run out and drive them away. Unfortunately, he was hurt very badly, though fortunately not killed. He also forgave Christian because he felt that he had to take some responsibility too.
I think what Elias took away from this experience was that he had to stand up for himself, but violence was not the way to do it.
Anton
Anton was facing two battles, one back home in Denmark and another in the refugee camp in Sudan.
Anton was trying to convince Christian, Elias, and Morten that he didn't feel anything after Lars slapped him. Obviously it didn't look like nothing to the kids. In fact, such a thing was probably slightly frightening to them. However, as an adult, Anton was able to just let such things slide off and be ignored, whereas kids aren't able to compartmentalize and prioritize that way. I truly didn't think that the confrontation with Lars bothered Anton too much, and the only reason he sought him out was for the kids' benefit. Anton himself was a non-confrontational guy, but I think truly think he just felt that Lars was a guy who didn't matter.
In the refugee camp, Anton initially agreed to treat the warlord because that was his job as a doctor. As long as the warlord didn't cause problems within the medical camp, I think he figured he could ignore the other terrible things he was doing (again, compartmentalizing). However, when the warlord said some disgusting things about the dead patient in his operating room, that crossed a line for him. He was tired of pretending that he didn't despise the warlord for what he did, and he drove him away, not batting an eye when the other patients at the camp beat him to get back for the terror he inflicted on the village. I think that if Elias and Christian had seen their father do this, they wouldn't be so worried about his ability to stand up for himself. I think Anton just had a habit of sticking to his role and not wanting to cause a big commotion unless he had the authority to do so.
I'll expand a bit on this below, but I think that Anton initially had a very muted emotional response to a lot of things in life. For example, when he was faced with death or insults, his reaction was to just let them slide off. That was what made him a good doctor, as he could just move on from his life. However, those in his personal life would mistake those as lack of caring. It was implied that he had an affair, and that was the cause of his separation with Marianne. Elias and Christian also seemed to mistake his lack of response to Lars as a sign of weakness.
Towards the end, Anton finally reacted to the situations around him. He took a stance on no longer treating the local warlord, and though he still didn't care for Lars, he started to make a bigger effort to care for those around him, including interacting more with Marianne (and it's implied that they get back together).
Marianne
Marianne was Elias' mother, and also a doctor. She tried her best to parent Elias and Morten while Anton was away, but it wasn't easy, and we saw how Elias would shy from her affection, especially when he was bullied at school.
Marianne and Anton were separated at the beginning of the movie, but the events of the movie seemed to have brought them back together. Perhaps it was partially due to Anton finally confronting some of the wrongs he'd see in his life, showing Marianne that he did care.
Themes
Harrassment and revenge
Elias was bullied at school, and in retaliation, Christian beat Sofus and threatened him with a knife. Though obviously it was a dangerous thing to do, we can see how someone would be driven to such extreme measures after being so cruelly bullied.
Christian seemed to have a more black-and-white idea of revenge. If person A hurt person B, then person B should have the right to inflict damage back on person A. That was why Christian was so adamant on Anton getting back at Lars. However, Anton had explained to Elias that getting revenge would just invoke a never-ending cycle, especially with people like Lars who don't have a good handle on their emotions.
Death
Christian was a child learning to deal with death. He definitely felt betrayed because he thought his dad hated his mother and wanted her to die. Christian didn't understand the idea of death being an end to suffering. To Christian, there needed to be a reaction to the suffering.
As a doctor, Anton had come into contact with death all the time. He understood that death is just death, and sometimes you can't do anything about it. That was also his initial approach to the bullying, that sometimes there's just no use in perpetuating a cycle of emotional reactions. Though it was a good emotional approach to his job as a doctor, I think people in his personal life mistook his seeming indifference for a lack of care.
Overall
I think the more I think about this movie, the more thoughts will come out of it, particularly with regards to themes in its story. I thought it was interesting that the main focus would be on Christian and Anton, two characters who theoretically have little to do with each other, but I think the point was to contrast their different views on life. Anyway, I liked this movie!
Spoilers.
Story
I'd say that the story was about how harrassment, revenge, and death affected the various people in the movie.
Elias was often bullied at school, and Christian was the first one to stand up for him. His way of deterring the lead bully, Sofus, was to beat him and threaten him with a knife.
Elias' younger brother Morten had gotten into a fight with another boy at a playground. Their dad Anton then got into an altercation with the other boy's father Lars, who slapped him. Anton sought out Lars again but just got slapped again. Then Elias and Christian decided to make a bomb to destroy Lars' car. That bomb ended up wounding Elias pretty badly.
While in the refugee camp, Anton often encountered patients of the local warlord. When the warlord himself was hurt, Anton initially helped him (as an instinct of being a doctor, I suppose), but after he made a disgusting comment about a patient who'd died, Anton dragged him out of the camp and let him be beaten to death.
It's hard to talk about the story as a whole because of all of the moving parts. However, I think the two main characters were likely Christian and Anton, especially considering how Anton was the one to stop Christian from jumping off of the silo at the end of the movie. Anton was the one who explained to Christian how to healthily cope with dith.
Production
The overall presentation of the movie was good. Nothing really stood out as being bad. The shots that were included in the movie were pretty memorable.
Characters
Christian
Christian seemed like a child who wasn't over his mother's death because he thought his dad had wanted his mother to die for malicious reasons. He redirected his negative feelings into violence and revenge, beating the bully and getting back at Lars.
Beating Sofus seemed to solve the problem of deterring him away, so I think that was why Christian's behaviour escalated to be more violent and aggressive. He was only stopped in his tracks when he really thought that he'd killed Elias. It hurt him when he thought that his dad had wanted his mom dead, so I think he also couldn't live with the fact that he would've caused his friend's death.
Only Anton had any idea where Christian might've been, and he had to explain to him how to better cope with death. I think that Christian realized that his misunderstanding with his father was clouding the fact that his father still loved him, and definitely loved his wife. Seeing that love can still exist among pain probably gave Christian the courage to meet with Elias.
Claus
Claus was Christian's father. Christian was under the impression that Claus wanted his wife to die all along because he no longer loved her. Claus tried to explain to Christian that he only wanted her suffering to end. At the time, Claus' words went through one ear and out the other. In Christian's eyes, his father hadn't supported his mother to the very end and that was despicable to him.
In the end, after Anton saved Christian from the silo, I think Christian realized that his father wanted his mother to meet her end not out of hatred but actually out of love, that she was suffering in a way that was too painful to live through, unlike the grief that he was living through that could be overcome.
Elias
Elias was perpetually bullied at school, and Christian stood up for him, though through violent means. Elias was very timid, and only with Christian's urging did he start to be a bit more daring.
Elias panicked when he saw the mother and daughter near their car bomb and his instinctual response was to run out and drive them away. Unfortunately, he was hurt very badly, though fortunately not killed. He also forgave Christian because he felt that he had to take some responsibility too.
I think what Elias took away from this experience was that he had to stand up for himself, but violence was not the way to do it.
Anton
Anton was facing two battles, one back home in Denmark and another in the refugee camp in Sudan.
Anton was trying to convince Christian, Elias, and Morten that he didn't feel anything after Lars slapped him. Obviously it didn't look like nothing to the kids. In fact, such a thing was probably slightly frightening to them. However, as an adult, Anton was able to just let such things slide off and be ignored, whereas kids aren't able to compartmentalize and prioritize that way. I truly didn't think that the confrontation with Lars bothered Anton too much, and the only reason he sought him out was for the kids' benefit. Anton himself was a non-confrontational guy, but I think truly think he just felt that Lars was a guy who didn't matter.
In the refugee camp, Anton initially agreed to treat the warlord because that was his job as a doctor. As long as the warlord didn't cause problems within the medical camp, I think he figured he could ignore the other terrible things he was doing (again, compartmentalizing). However, when the warlord said some disgusting things about the dead patient in his operating room, that crossed a line for him. He was tired of pretending that he didn't despise the warlord for what he did, and he drove him away, not batting an eye when the other patients at the camp beat him to get back for the terror he inflicted on the village. I think that if Elias and Christian had seen their father do this, they wouldn't be so worried about his ability to stand up for himself. I think Anton just had a habit of sticking to his role and not wanting to cause a big commotion unless he had the authority to do so.
I'll expand a bit on this below, but I think that Anton initially had a very muted emotional response to a lot of things in life. For example, when he was faced with death or insults, his reaction was to just let them slide off. That was what made him a good doctor, as he could just move on from his life. However, those in his personal life would mistake those as lack of caring. It was implied that he had an affair, and that was the cause of his separation with Marianne. Elias and Christian also seemed to mistake his lack of response to Lars as a sign of weakness.
Towards the end, Anton finally reacted to the situations around him. He took a stance on no longer treating the local warlord, and though he still didn't care for Lars, he started to make a bigger effort to care for those around him, including interacting more with Marianne (and it's implied that they get back together).
Marianne
Marianne was Elias' mother, and also a doctor. She tried her best to parent Elias and Morten while Anton was away, but it wasn't easy, and we saw how Elias would shy from her affection, especially when he was bullied at school.
Marianne and Anton were separated at the beginning of the movie, but the events of the movie seemed to have brought them back together. Perhaps it was partially due to Anton finally confronting some of the wrongs he'd see in his life, showing Marianne that he did care.
Themes
Harrassment and revenge
Elias was bullied at school, and in retaliation, Christian beat Sofus and threatened him with a knife. Though obviously it was a dangerous thing to do, we can see how someone would be driven to such extreme measures after being so cruelly bullied.
Christian seemed to have a more black-and-white idea of revenge. If person A hurt person B, then person B should have the right to inflict damage back on person A. That was why Christian was so adamant on Anton getting back at Lars. However, Anton had explained to Elias that getting revenge would just invoke a never-ending cycle, especially with people like Lars who don't have a good handle on their emotions.
Death
Christian was a child learning to deal with death. He definitely felt betrayed because he thought his dad hated his mother and wanted her to die. Christian didn't understand the idea of death being an end to suffering. To Christian, there needed to be a reaction to the suffering.
As a doctor, Anton had come into contact with death all the time. He understood that death is just death, and sometimes you can't do anything about it. That was also his initial approach to the bullying, that sometimes there's just no use in perpetuating a cycle of emotional reactions. Though it was a good emotional approach to his job as a doctor, I think people in his personal life mistook his seeming indifference for a lack of care.
Overall
I think the more I think about this movie, the more thoughts will come out of it, particularly with regards to themes in its story. I thought it was interesting that the main focus would be on Christian and Anton, two characters who theoretically have little to do with each other, but I think the point was to contrast their different views on life. Anyway, I liked this movie!