Harris, Film title: In a Better World vs. Haevnen (2010)

"When we are pushed to the edge, we discover the line between justice and revenge."- In A Better World (2010)

Beginning her film career in 1991 with Freud's leaving home, Danish film maker Susanne Bier has been able make films that have appeal in the international market. Bier claimed international recognition with her Danish drama called After the Wedding (2006) and the film was later nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year at the seventy-ninth Academy Awards. However, it was not until the eighty-second Academy Awards, nearly four years later, that Bier won an Oscar for In A Better World (2010) for the same category.

In A Better World (2010) told the story about two adolescent boys, Elias (Markus Rygaard) and Christian (William Johnk Nielsen), who come from two different backgrounds and befriend one another through a bullying incident. Elias is the son of two doctors; his mother, Marianne (Trine Dyrholm) works at a local Danish hospital, while his father, Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is a doctor who works in a relief camp in Africa. Even though Elias’ father comes home whenever he has the chance, Anton's absence places a strain on the family, especially when Elias is the target of a school bully named Sofus (Simon Maagaard Holm). In contrast, Christian losses his mother to cancer and moves from London to Denmark with his distant father, Claus (Ulrich Thomsen). Despite their backgrounds, Elias and Christian meet at the local school and forge an unlikely friendship. Throughout the film, their friendship entangles the two boys into a life of vigilante crime. While in America the film was called In A Better World, the Danes had a different title-Haevnen, which means "The Revenge." The two different titles for the film illustrates the conflicting choices that Elias and Christian make throughout the movie about dealing with  bullying, but specifically the Danish title, Haevnen, refers to Anton and how he faces the ultimate test of choosing between justice and revenge. 

Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) at an African relief camp

In the opening minutes of the film, the audience is introduced to Anton  who is currently working in a relief camp in Africa. When Anton leaves to visit his family in Denmark and attends a parent-teacher conference for his son, Elias, the audience is made aware that Anton and his wife, Marianne, are currently going through some martial problems. However, moments later, it is revealed through a phone conversation that Anton had an affair with a woman and Marianne has not been able to forgive him for his actions. Even though Anton pleads for her forgiveness, Marianne says, "All you could think was about was her when you were home. I want to forgive you, but I can't." The longer Anton stays at home, he becomes aware of how Elias looks up to Christian. When Anton takes the boys out to a pier, Anton's youngest son, Morten (Toke Lars Bjarke), gets in a fight with another boy. As the fight escalates, Anton becomes aware of the situation and breaks up the scuffle. Then, the other boy's father joins in to break up the scuffle, but also publicly insults Anton. While the disagreement happens between adults, Elias and Christian are silently observing the situation. The following day, Elias and Christian go back to the same place and notice the guy who insulted Anton. Elias later goes to his father with this information and gives him a piece of paper that has the name of a the shop where the guy works. Anton is disturbed by what Elias is trying to insinuate and tells his son, "That's not the point and you know it. You can't just go around beating people up. That doesn't help anything. What kind of world would we get? If I hit him, then I'm a jerk too." This quote is significant because Anton is trying to set a good example for Elias and Anton does not want his son to openly express his anger by beating people up. However, this quote is put to test when Anton returns to the relief camp. 


Upon Anton's arrival to the relief camp, he has been treating women who have been severely mutilated by a war lord called "The Big Man" (Odiege Matthew). Momentarily afterwards, the war lord is injured and seeks help from the relief camp. Even though Anton decides to help the war lord, the staff members refuse to take part. While the war lord is healing, his gang members are constantly making distractions in the hospital and even make several sadistic jokes towards some dead female patients. It is at this point of the movie that Anton has enough and kicks out the war lord out of the camp. This scene is significant because once the local crime boss is kicked out, the villagers (who are the husbands of the mutilated women) enact their revenge upon him. Hence, the relief camp was a symbol of refuge and protection for the war lord-the only thing standing between him and his death. Therefore, the Danish title, Haevnen, refers to this point of the movie where Anton gives in and has the revenge carried out by the villagers. To further assert this claim, film composer Johan Soderqvist has a track on the film's score titled "The Revenge," which can be heard when Anton makes his decision to throw out the local crime boss and leaves his fate with the villagers. 


Therefore, I believe that the original Danish title, Haevnen, has more relevance than the English title, In A Better World. The reason why I will agree with the Danish title because Haevnen shows the downfall of one of the films "white knight-" Anton and how in the darkest of times the purest characters can be corrupted. Perhaps when the film was distributed in America, Sony Pictures Classics changed the title to In A Better World because of the conversation between Anton and Elias, and Anton says, "..what kind of world would we get?" Hence, the characters are trying to solve all of their problems-Anton (dealing with "The Big Man"), Marianne (trying to raise two children), Claus (coping after the death of his wife and trying to be a stern parent), Elias and Christian (taking the law into their own hands to stop bullying). Therefore, all of the characters actions are trying to make the world a better place.