- Film Review
- Reviewed By John Ferguson
-
3 out of 5
Like her best known works After the Wedding and Brothers, Susanne Bier's moving Oscar-winning drama spans two continents and explores the bonds that link family and friends. However, this time around the focus is much more on the children than the adults. Newcomer William Johnk Nielsen plays a troubled youngster who has just returned to Denmark with his distant father (Ulrich Thomsen) following the death of his mother from cancer. He takes a bullied student (Markus Ryegaard) under his wing whose own father, Anton (Mikael Persbrandt), is estranged from his wife (Trine Dyrholm). Anton spends most of his time abroad, working as a doctor at an African refugee camp that is under constant threat from a vicious tribal warlord, and when the two boys witness him backing down in a violent confrontation with a stranger, a tragic train of events is set in motion. The superb acting - the youngsters are particularly good - and Bier's sympathetic direction help overcome the occasional lapse into melodrama.
Plot Summary
A Danish doctor working in an African refugee camp must decide whether to treat a wounded warlord who is responsible for the injuries many of his other patients have suffered. Back home, his son also faces a crisis of conscience when a friend asks for help with a dangerous act of revenge. Drama, starring Mikael Persbrandt and Markus Rygaard. In Danish, Swedish, English and Arabic.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Anton
- Mikael Persbrandt
- Marianne
- Trine Dyrholm
- Claus
- Ulrich Thomsen
- Elias
- Markus Rygaard
- Christian
- William Johnk Juels Nielsen
- Headmaster
- Bodil Jorgensen
- Signe
- Elsebeth Steentoft
- Niels
- Martin Buch
- Hanne
- Satu Helena Mikkelinen
- Lars
- Kim Bodnia
- Cinematographer
- Morten Soborg
Crew
- Director
- Susanne Bier
- Share this episode
-