A Second Chance (En chance till).

Susanne Bier is a Danish filmmaker; born in Copenhagen in 1960 the 55 year old is best known in the UK for two award-winning movies After the Wedding (2006) and In A Better World (2010). Currently her work can be sampled on BBC TV on a Sunday night, as she is responsible for directing the miniseries The Night Manager that is based on the novel of the same name by John Le Carre and stars Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Coleman, Hugh Laurie and Tom Hollander. Her last feature film released in March 2015 is another Danish language movie A Second Chance (En chance till) (2014).

 

Happy families.....

....not quite!

Detectives Andreas (Nikolay Coster-Waldau) and Simon (Ulrich Thomsen) are the best of friends but lead vastly different lives; Andreas has settled down with his beautiful wife and son; while Simon, recently divorced, spends most of his off duty waking hours getting drunk at the local strip club. But things change when the partners are called out to deal with a domestic dispute that involves a criminal out on parole and the mother of his baby son. Both Tristan (Nikolay Lie Kaas) and Sanne (ex model Lykke May Anderson) are junkies and as witnessed by the state of their baby covered in excrement are not loving and caring parents. When Social Services refuse to take the baby away and a family tragedy strikes Andreas it forces the normally upstanding policeman to commit an act that that he will live to regret.

 

Two Detectives that lead vastly different live's - that is until.... 

This moving thriller with a difference about ordinary people is made quite believable by the skill of the director and the acting from her well-known cast. Although Anders Thomas Jensen script is a little predictable at first it soon gathers pace developing into a great story that, without given anything away, has a grand twist. I would certainly recommend this movie to those of you that love a gritty Scandinavian drama and will not be put off by a heart-rending story.  

After The Wedding.

Having already enjoyed two films directed by Danish born film director Susanne Bier, the first was Brothers (2004) and the second was the Academy Award winning In a Better World (2010) which starred the Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt who can presently be seen in the BBC4 series Beck, I was looking forward to seeing her 2006 movie After the Wedding and was not to be disappointed as the director had certainly maintained her normal extraordinary high standard.

 

A man with a past .

A man with a hidden agenda .

Jacob Petersen heads an Indian based orphanage and his work helps to save many vulnerable young street children. An honourable man but a loner who because of his chosen career is compelled to forgo mature relationships, but a man with a past but one that would appear to be happy with his situation. When the orphanage is threatened by closure, he receives an unusual offer. A Danish businessman, Jørgen Lennart Hansson, offers him a donation of $4 million dollars. There are, however, certain conditions and Jørgen’s motives are not what they seem. Not only must Jacob return to Denmark, he must also attend the wedding of Jørgen's daughter. The wedding proves to be a critical juncture between past and future and catapults Jacob into the most intense dilemma of his life. Family secrets will be revealed along with Jørgen’s well intentioned hidden agenda, but does it give Jørgen Hansson the right to control other people's lives even those close to him and will it be morally justifiable and does the end result justify the means?

 

A beautiful woman caught in a triangle of passion.

The sensitive daughter.

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, only loosing out to the German movie The Lives of Others (2006), After The Wedding is chock fall of believable characters that are beautifully portrayed by all four lead actors.  For example a sensitive portrayal of the daughter by Stine Fischer Christensen, Mads Mikkelson’s melancholy depiction of the troubled and intense Jacob, Rolf Lassgard powerful interpretation of the rich businessman and Sidse Babett Knudson as Helene Hansson torn between Jørgen her husband and a previous relationship. All four, as well as the supporting actors, display the essence of natural acting, proving that it is the key to the great performances in this film and also proves how important casting was for the portrayal of Anders Thomas Jensen’s screenplay. Screen International described it as not only a powerful compelling drama but complex and gripping. Emotional, but never melodramatic it underlines the difference between the poverty of India and privilege of Jørgen and his family. I would sincerely recommend that lovers of a well told, brilliantly acted, superbly directed drama should not miss a chance to see this movie. 

In a Better World

Elias and Christian.

The RBC Film Club’s offering on Monday was introduced with a deft sparkling touch by Mr Steven Pickering, which cleverly veiled the seriousness of the significantly disturbing film that was to follow. In a Better World (2010) won Best Foreign Language Film at the 83^rd Academy Awards, which was a great achievement considering it was up against such splendid fair as the Mexico’s Biutiful and Greece’s wonderful Dogtooth. Directed by Dane Susanne Bier, best known by the author for her 2004 film Brothers a movie which not only shares the actor Ulrich Thomson but also the writer Anders Thomas Jenson with her latest movie. This family relationship drama tackles such thorny subjects as violence, bullying, pacifism and religion in the form of “turning the other cheek” and the rights and wrongs of retribution, in fact the Danish title of this film, Haevnen, translates as vengeance!

Anton.

Filmed in both Denmark and Kenya it brings together the story of two dysfunctional families from very different worlds. Anton (Swedish actor Mikael Persbrant) is a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark, and his work at an African refugee camp. Anton and his wife Marianne (actress and singer Trine Dyrholm) have two young sons, are separated and struggling with the possibility of divorce. Their older, ten-year-old son Elias (Markus Rygaad) is being bullied at school, until he is defended by Christian (William Johnk Juels Nielsen), a new boy who has just moved from London with his father, Claus (Thomson) and whose mother has recently lost her battle with cancer. The two boys quickly form a strong bond when Christian involves Elias in a violent act of revenge.

Marianne 

This very well acted movie, produced by Zentropa the company responsible for producing much of Lars von Triers work, is a film about the effects of a death rather than the understanding of life. Christian’s repressed emotions, pain and perception of his mother’s untimely death is the driver for some potentially tragic consequences. My problem with this film is twofold, firstly the narrative is a little to obvious for instance when the two boys climb the grain silo you just know that that there’s going to be a significant purpose for this action. Secondly why was the bombing of the van in a public street described as an act of vandalism and consequently both the boys went unpunished?  The director stated that she set out to explore the limitations we encounter in trying to control our society as well as our personal lives. She also asks whether our own "advanced" culture is the model for a better world, or whether the same disarray found in lawlessness is lurking beneath the surface of our civilization. Are we immune to chaos, or obliviously teetering on the verge of disorder? Our own government following the resent riots is asking much the same questions. I’m afraid the film did not really resolve these matters.   Although an intelligent drama, it deserved to conclude with a little more intensity rather than a liberal whimper.

Claus and Christian.