The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 14 wins & 24 nominations total
Wil Johnson
- Najeeb
- (as Will Johnson)
Eddy Kimani
- Patient
- (as Eddie Kimani)
Mary Ndoku Mbai
- Patient
- (as Mary Nduku Mbai)
William Jøhnk Nielsen
- Christian
- (as William Jøhnk Juel Nielsen)
Satu Mikkelinen
- Hanna
- (as Satu Helena Mikkelinen)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Danish title 'Hævnen' translates into English as 'Revenge'. Susanne Bier mentioned that she prefers the English title 'In a Better World' which emphasizes the hopefulness of the film while the Danish title emphasizes the severeness of the film (at 1:52:49 in the Blu-ray director's commentary).
- GoofsWhen Anton (Michael Persbrant) performs his first surgery he scratches his head/corrects the position of his mask after having put on sterile gloves (at around 42 mins) thereby contaminating them and risking that the patient gets infected. A real surgeon would never do this, and if she or he did, she or he would change gloves.
- ConnectionsFeatured in DR2 Premiere: Episode #4.1 (2010)
Featured review
An intense drama touching upon two families...
Each with a young son who is being severely bullied at school. The idea of bullying is the point of departure for a look at related issues, especially the idea of revenge. The original Danish title was actually that single word---revenge. It was changed (the new title is somewhat of a stub ) for the International release, probably for the better, at least for the USA since the original title would probably conjure the notion of an action film with a minimum of delicacy instead of what it is, a rather heavy-hitting soap opera that deals with the inevitable emotional upheaval with a modicum of nuance here and there.
The movie asks how does one handle this sort of humiliating experience. This theme is enlarged by the fact that one of the fathers is a doctor who treats patients at a Sudanese refugee camp and has to deal with roving warlords. Back home this father makes what what comes across as a wise decision in turning the other cheek when he himself is bullied and lightly pushed around by a neighbor mainly because the offense was relatively light weight but could have escalated into something of a serious and perhaps far-reaching consequence.
So what do you do when such discretion is lost on your 10-year-old son who thinks you're a coward and calls you a wimp? The teleplay makes clear that domestic corporal punishment or no dessert for a week is not the answer, it wants to mean business and point to a more non-visceral response. This episode is thematically important and hits home with its direct simplicity and urgency but is subservient in scope to what these two young boys are up to.
There is backstory where a mother has died of cancer in one family, and a separation is in progress in the other, both that take a toll on the two young boys. Danish actress Trine Dyrholm pulls off an incredibly charged scene where she stumbles upon the neighboring boy in the hall of a hospital towards whom she has an uncontrollable and justifiable anger when she suddenly realizes that she is talking to a child, a child the same age as her own. The struggle in betraying a sudden compassion in such a circumstance is extraordinary.
Wisely, the teleplay imposes an interruption to the scene, otherwise the whole thing might have been ruined by either over sentimentality or rank incredulity. As is, it is terrific and I still have not been able to quite get it out of my mind.
The movie asks how does one handle this sort of humiliating experience. This theme is enlarged by the fact that one of the fathers is a doctor who treats patients at a Sudanese refugee camp and has to deal with roving warlords. Back home this father makes what what comes across as a wise decision in turning the other cheek when he himself is bullied and lightly pushed around by a neighbor mainly because the offense was relatively light weight but could have escalated into something of a serious and perhaps far-reaching consequence.
So what do you do when such discretion is lost on your 10-year-old son who thinks you're a coward and calls you a wimp? The teleplay makes clear that domestic corporal punishment or no dessert for a week is not the answer, it wants to mean business and point to a more non-visceral response. This episode is thematically important and hits home with its direct simplicity and urgency but is subservient in scope to what these two young boys are up to.
There is backstory where a mother has died of cancer in one family, and a separation is in progress in the other, both that take a toll on the two young boys. Danish actress Trine Dyrholm pulls off an incredibly charged scene where she stumbles upon the neighboring boy in the hall of a hospital towards whom she has an uncontrollable and justifiable anger when she suddenly realizes that she is talking to a child, a child the same age as her own. The struggle in betraying a sudden compassion in such a circumstance is extraordinary.
Wisely, the teleplay imposes an interruption to the scene, otherwise the whole thing might have been ruined by either over sentimentality or rank incredulity. As is, it is terrific and I still have not been able to quite get it out of my mind.
helpful•51
- AlsExGal
- Apr 8, 2021
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Julius
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,008,098
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $33,058
- Apr 3, 2011
- Gross worldwide
- $13,004,504
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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