In a Better World

johnny_ultimate

In a further effort to prove the well-established theory that the Best Foreign Film category in the Oscars is as farcical as the rest of the awards, the IFI is currently showing In a Better World, this years recipient. And boy is it undeserving.

Genuinely one of the most appallingly bland films I've seen in a long, long time. The narrative is ridiculously derivative and formulaic. The main thematic focus is insultingly simplistic: "violence is bad". Well, ****ing duh Ms. Bier. Not only that, but there are ludicrously uninformed reasonings why the various characters in this film resort to violence - broken homes, computer games and of course 'the Internet' are just some of the reasons presented that encourage two young boys to resort to increasingly violent acts (one happily, another reluctantly).

Contrasting with the kids is a group of adults who are no pacifists either, including one of their fathers who is employed as a surgeon in Africa who encounters a sadistic warlord who cuts open pregnant women. Subtle this most certainly is not.

Blandly filmed and with a suitably overwrought soundtrack, In a Better World is rarely if ever anything more than painfully predictable. Every overexaggerated plot device is clearly going to come back to haunt the characters. And - sigh - they always do, like clockwork. Just when you think this might lead to an interesting conclusion, it instead settles on an absurdly, incredible happy ending that has absolutely nothing to say, and indeed pretty much actively ignores the (entirely uninteresting) ideas that preceded it.

The only thing less inspiring than a bad film is a mediocre film. The only thing worse than a mediocre film is a mediocre film with pretensions of grandeur. In a Better World is nowhere near as clever or insightful as it clearly thinks it is. Junk. Absolute junk. Avoid.

I think it may have caught me in an off day :P Anyone else seen and actually enjoyed it?

I tried to watch it awhile back but really wasn't in the mood for it and just couldn't get into it. Turned it off after half an hour or so meaning to go back to it a day or two later but never did. Keep meaning to watch it but just can't be bothered.

Sad Professor

@johnny_ultimate

Isn’t this the film you said you hated before you even saw it? I think you’re letting your love of Dogtooth cloud your judgment.

I went to see it last night and quite liked it. It’s an interesting and thought provoking meditation on violence with excellent performances all round. I completely disagree with your summarisation of its message as being “violence is bad”. If Bier was trying to present a simplistic moral message then she failed - miserably. If anything the film tears down any simplistic ideas we might have about violence and revenge. The films depicts a moral dilemma that forces all the characters to question their assumptions. It is not about whether violence is good or bad but about how we deal with it. Bier has no easy answers to offer, just questions.

However, I agree that it was undeserving of Best Foreign film. It’s all a bit transparent and the resolution is a far too neat. But this isn’t an ambitious film, just a family melodrama about ordinary people. Out of the other nominated films that I've seen, Biutiful, Of Gods and Men and Poetry would have been far more deserving Oscar winners. Although I don’t think Of Gods and Men was nominated and Poetry wasn’t even submitted. My mind has gone blank on what else would have been eligible. This was a nice, safe choice of a film in a year that saw another nice, safe choice be rewarded (The King’s Speech).

Now, I’m going to order Dogtooth before I forget again.

johnny_ultimate

Yeah, was a little bitter Dogtooth didn't win But went in with an open mind given the positive reviews. Happy I was not, but at least it was free with loyalty card points!

I really did feel like this was a very preachy film. I tried hard to find a more interesting subtext, but I honestly didn't think there was much beyond the surface level situations presented. 'Melodrama' is certainly the right word here. I definitely felt it was moralising though - and a few of the more negative reviewers felt so too - and that's why I just couldn't invest in the stories because it didn't give the audience room to interpret events. With the exception of the Africa subplot (which feels more than a little shoehorned in IMO) I felt there was no attempt to blur the distinction between right and wrong - everything was spelled out in bold lettering by the director.

It was the complete lack of surprise leading up to those painfully convenient resolutions, though, that really disappointed. Been a longtime since I saw an arthouse or foreign film with little to no narrative tricks up its sleeve!

Good to hear someone enjoyed it though. Difference of opinion always makes discussion more interesting