Susanne Bier's, In a Better World, is a powerful film encompassing moral dilemmas of not only a child's world but also of a medical and adult world. In this film the characters are faced with many moral and ethical situations in which they have to decide on what are the best actions to take. We see Anton, as the doctor, having to make ethical decisions on whether or not to treat the "local villain" that rapes and cuts open women. Then we also see Anton, as the father, trying to teach his children how not to use violence as the means to an end for dealing with jerks. Elias' mother is faced with a moral decision on whether or not to forgive Anton for cheating on her but she wants to keep her family together because she can see how it is affecting her children. The viewer then sees the children, Elias and Christian, coping with family issues and acting out against the bullies at school. This, however, is elevated to trying to get revenge against the man who bullied Elias' father. Wrapping up the film, the viewer is brought into the heartache felt by Christian and his father Claus surrounding the death of Christian's mother. Claus is trying to explain the end of her life to Christian and trying to convey how much pain his mother endured - not that he gave up on her but rater that he let her go. This creates much more hatred and sense for "Hævnen", vengeance, in Christian's world. After the bomb incident, Christian is faced with regret, sorrow, and a realization that revenge is not the proper way to face the death of his mother.
I believe that the title, In a Better World, is much more suiting for this film than Hævnen. The Danish title, Hævnen, is too obvious of a title and takes away the chance for the viewer to be drawn into the film. Having the title, In a Better World, allows the viewer to be intrigued by the title - what is the director trying to convey with this title? What is a better world? It allows the viewers to discern for themselves what is trying to be said with the narration of the film. However, having two titles for this film does make the viewer wonder what was the rationale for changing the title of the film so drastically. My rationale for the radical change in the title for the American version is that in order to draw American viewers in to see the film, the title had to portray something more interesting than Hævnen, vengeance. I honestly do not think I would have been as interested in a film titled Vengeance. The title, In a Better World, alone makes the viewer wonder what is going to be said within the film and thus draws them in and gives the viewer a film that shows realistic situations that everyday people could possibly face in their lives. This film is complex in the ways that it deals so many aspects of moral and ethical situations which in turn makes the viewer question how they may act in a similar situation.
I agree that the film title "In A Better World" is more relevant to American interests, and is perhaps more explicative of the moral issues on display within the film, but I wonder if that would necessarily make it a better film title on a global scale. I believe that our linguistic under-exposure to Danish terminology (or Swedish for that matter) plays a significant role in how we assess our social interests in films as cerebral as this, and/ or vice versa.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to expound on your comment regarding your interest against a film entitled "Vengeance," this too takes part in the way the film title is formed to draw its audience. Would the content of this film bring enjoyment to an American viewer intrigued by such a title? Probably not, but obviously, the producers weren't willing to take that risk in potential American profits. Still, it's a great film.