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Hævnen (2010)
What would you do in a better world?
In a better world people would seek forgiveness, not revenge. In a better world people would build each other up, not tear one another down. In a better world people would care for one another not hurt each other. In a better world there would be peace.
The critically acclaimed film and winner of the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards and the Golden Globes (2011), In a Better World, directed by Susanne Bier, takes an emotional look at the struggles of two families dealing with difficult situations that test them. Christian is a young boy who is wrestling with the death of his mother and has a rough relationship with his father, Claus. At his new school, Christian befriends Elias, whose parents are dealing with a separation. Elias' father, Anton, is split between his work in a Sudan refugee camp and his family in Denmark. Both Christian and Elias are bullied at school and battle with the idea of revenge.
The dual story between Anton's life in Denmark and his life in Sudan creates an interesting parallel. In both locations there is much struggle and heartache that the characters must overcome. Anton and his wife are dealing with a separation and divorce that puts a lot of strain on their two boys. The viewers see the challenges they go through and Anton's attempt to win his wife back. Furthermore Claus works to regain Christian's love after the death of his wife. All this turmoil makes for an emotional and thought provoking film. The central theme throughout In a Better World is the struggle between forgiveness and revenge. The key lesson that one should never hit back begins with the scene when Elias' little brother gets in a fight with another boy at the playground and Anton breaks them up. The father of the other boy hits Anton for touching his son and so begins Anton's lesson for the boys of the importance of not hitting back. This lesson is key for Elias and Christian as they have begun to fight back against the bullies at school.
Elias is bullied daily at school and through his new friendship with Christian, he is able to face the bullies. The violence that ensues shows the horrendous and terrifying events that can take place when one chooses to seek revenge instead of forgiveness. They sought out a violent solution to their problem and did not listen to Anton's advice of not hitting back. Christian is the first to respond with violence, which in the end tests their friendship and endangers lives. The situation draws attention to bullying and the horrendous affects of bullying. Before Elias meets Christian, he merely permits the bullying that happens to him but after he starts to want to take revenge. Elias is hesitant to join Christian in his dangerous plan but after trying to talk to his father and failing, he decides to work with Christian. It was moving and heart breaking to watch the boys turn to such extreme acts of violence as they try to deal with their emotional and social pain. I think that for Christian, part of the violence came from his severed relationship with his father and dealing with the painful loss of his mother to cancer. He has no outlet to let out his rage and so he let it out through standing up for Elias. On the other hand, Elias needs a friend and so therefore, he is willing to keep secrets, climb towers and more, just to remain friends with Christian. Their friendship shows the power and meaning of having a friend and an ally.
Anton's biggest test of forgiveness over revenge is when he must deal with treating and saving a Sudanese warlord, the person who is responsible for the pain in the country. The warlord makes a grand entrance into the refugee camp with guns and soldiers, in dire need of medical attention to save his leg. I cannot imagine the strength it took Anton to decide to treat the man when the man is responsible for so much hate and loss in the country. The warlord is a reason for the camp in the first place and now Anton decides to save his life instead of let him suffer. Anton chooses to not seek revenge but instead help the warlord. It exemplifies the decision between doing the right thing and doing the easy thing. Anton definitely does the right thing even though it was extremely difficult and controversial among the Sudanese. We see the complexity through the refugees comments and when, in the end Anton drags the warlord out of the camp after his disturbing comments. Anton decides that although he will not let the man die, he will not help him any further.
All in all, In a Better World is a wonderfully developed film that is full of emotional drama. The complexity of relationships and the decisions between forgiveness and revenge make for an engaging movie that will capture any audience.
Musta jää (2007)
Twisted Revenge
What would you do if you found out your spouse was cheating on you? Would you seek revenge? How far would you go to get revenge? Black Ice is a sick and twisted look at how far one woman will go to get revenge on her husband and his lover. It follows the main character Saara as she seeks to get back at her husband Leo, an architecture professor, and his student and lover, Tuuli.
After discovering that Leo is having an affair with his student Tuuli, Saara finds Tuuli and becomes her friend. Saara begins to take karate classes where Tuuli is an instructor. To Tuuli, Saara is Crista, a divorcée and a psycho
logist. Soon the two become best friends going clubbing and partying together. But soon Tuuli starts to realize that Crista is a little off. Although this award winning film is well done, it was far too disturbing for me.
For Black Ice, the title itself tells us a lot about the story. Black ice is hard to see on the road-just like infidelity can be difficult to see when it is happening to you. Leo had been cheating on Saara for years and she had no idea. In addition, black ice can be very dangerous and cause numerous accidents. Meanwhile, infidelity and betrayal can lead to extremely devastating situations. And each are only realized when it is too late to stop the destruction that will ensue. When Saara finally discovered Leo's unfaithfulness and how long it had been happening, she was expectedly upset. Sure enough, it ended with a deadly disaster.
A major theme in the movie is betrayal. For Saara and Leo it is infidelity and for Crista and Tuuli it is trust in a friendship. Saara struggles with the realization of her husband's infidelity with Tuuli. Through Saara's friendship with Tuuli, Saara discovers that Leo has been cheating on her since their engagement. This irritates Saara even more and she starts to become even more psycho. Furthermore, Leo doesn't really seem to man up to his actions and fight to be with his wife. Tuuli is also betrayed through Saara and her supposed friendship with Crista. Tuuli grew to trust Crista and they became best friends. But in the end, she realizes that Saara is just out for revenge. However, this friendship shows the other side of betrayal from the point of view of the girlfriend. In the end, this allows the viewer to feel more sympathetic towards Tuuli as she is not simply the girl Leo slept with.
Although it isn't explicitly stated at the start, Saara is out for revenge. The theme of revenge is central to the story. At times it was confusing to understand exactly what was Saara's plan as she befriended Tuuli. We could only suppose that she is out for vengeance. The point where it went too far for me was the night when Saara learns that Tuuli is pregnant and she drugs Tuuli. This scene was the most disturbing as Saara plays it off as if she is into Tuuli. Saara is portrayed as a messed up character that goes way too far to seek payback. I feel that it was not necessary to go this far. Saara also tries to kill Tuuli at karate with a knife. Everyone else in the karate studio sees this but seems to have little reaction to the situation and go on as normal afterwards. However, in the end Saara has stopped trying to take revenge when she performs a life-saving operation for Tuuli and her baby. By this point Leo has passed away and we see that Saara only really wanted to hurt Leo. Through Crista's friendship with Tuuli, Saara realizes that she doesn't want to hurt her.
Another interesting aspect of the film was the portrayal of men and women. Men are shown as only wanting sex. One day Leo and his friend are walking through their construction site talking about sex and Leo's justification for his infidelity. On the other hand women are portrayed as strong. Saara isn't afraid to leave Leo after being treated horribly and Tuuli is a resilient woman, ready to fight for herself.
The Finnish film, directed by Petri Kotwica depicts a disturbing story about relationships, betrayal, infidelity and revenge. It won five Jussi awards, including best film. Although Black Ice may be worthy of these awards, I do not feel it is worth anyone's time to watch it. Although Black Ice was a well-done thriller I wouldn't recommend to anyone. It's too messed up.
Festen (1998)
The Truth Will Set You Free
*CONTAINS SPOILER*
Denying the past sometimes seems like the easiest option; but holding on to a painful past can hold you back from fully enjoying the present. Only by accepting the past can you truly be free to embrace your life and move forward.
Winner of the Jury's Special Award, The Celebration tells the tale of a son sharing unpleasant family truths at his father's, Helge's, 60th birthday and their journey with abuse and denial. The Celebration (Festen) looks at the influence of abuse and denial, and how a family can overcome their painful past. A wealthy Danish family gathers for the celebration of the father's birthday and get so much more than they could have imagined. The father asks his oldest son Christian to share a few words about his recently deceased daughter Linda- Christian's twin sister. To the father's surprise Christian has already prepared a speech to reveal the truth about the father's abusive relationship with Christian and Linda. Denial plays a prominent role throughout the film as the family slowly begins to accept the truth they had been ignoring for many years.
The Celebration (Festen), directed by Thomas Vinterberg, was an instant hit when it was released in 1998 under the rules of Dogma 95. Festen is the first film to delve into the rules of Dogma 95 and create a counter-mainstream film. The Vow of Chastity sets up the rules of Dogma 95 and includes that filming must take place on location with a hand-held camera and no special effects or unrealistic actions are allowed. Through these rules, a realistic innocence is created, allowing for an authentic experience for the audience. As innovative and refreshingly unique this technique is, it is also distracting. The occasional blurry scenes make it hard to see what is happening and makes the film appear to be of low quality. Furthermore, there were some scenes that were extremely choppy and made it hard to focus on what was happening as I felt like the camera was being tossed around. I feel that the quality could have been better, even with a hand-held camera. During the scene at the beginning where the family is arriving, the camera jumps around in a haphazard manner that gives the scene a chaotic feel and it was difficult to understand and see what was occurring. Overall I appreciated the Dogma 95 feel but did not enjoy the low quality.
The main character Christian depicts the struggles and torment that occurs from sexual abuse. As children, Christian and Linda were raped by their father, Helge. The scars of this abuse are still evident in his adulthood through the speech and his intimate relationships, or lack of. For Christian, revealing the truth is met with denial. But with the support of his friend chef Kim, and the other staff, Christian and his family begin to deal with their painful past and current reality. Throughout the movie you see the slow transformation that takes place through the acceptance of the truth. At first no one wanted to accept the horrid truth and felt it would be easier if they continued to ignore it. But the final acceptance brings the siblings closer and mends their relationships. Moreover, the past abuse has a great affect on Christian's intimate relationships with women. Pia, a maid, tries to offer herself to Christian, but he simply ignores her actions. He is not interested in having any relations with her until the end when the abuse has been accepted. Christian is finally able to move on and have a relationship with Pia.
The younger brother, Michael especially struggles with the denial of his father's abuse. At first he tries to get rid of Christian and ignores Gbatokai's attempts to console him. He also takes out his frustration and confusion on Gbatokai by starting the singing of a racist song. Finally after Helene, the youngest sister, reads the letter from Linda, Michael is forced to confront the problem and he begins the process by beating up his dad. But by the morning he is able to respectfully and calmly ask his father to leave.
The theme of abuse is also evident in Michael's relationship with his wife Mette. Verbally and physically, Michael hurts his wife. We first see this in the car on the way to the party as they are yelling at each other and as he makes Mette and the kids walk all the way to the party. In addition, Michael engages in abusive sexual behavior with his wife. Michaels's abusive behavior, along with his infidelity, is evident throughout the movie and you can see the pain it causes Mette yet her unfailing devotion to him. It was frustrating to watch her continuously put up with him but I am sure there are many viewers who can sadly relate to her trials.
In conclusion, The Celebration is the first of the Dogma 95 films and uses innovative techniques such as hand-held cameras and no special effects to simplify the filming. It creates a unique experience for the audience and gives it a realistic feeling. The Celebration depicts a Danish family as they try to deal with the painful truth of abuse and overcome denial. The themes of denial and abuse form the storyline. Through the celebration of his father's birthday, Christian is able to overcome the painful past of sexual abuse and move past his issues of intimacy. Furthermore, Michael struggles with the harsh reality of the past but is finally able to be freed and grow closer to his siblings. Through revealing the past, the family is set free to embrace their past and enjoy the present. Overall it was an emotional and well-done film. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a touching film that challenges and stretches us to see what parts of our past we have yet to embrace.