Of bullies and revenge on all levels

'Without borders" is the operative metaphor of In a Better World, Susanne Bier's urgent and compassionate thriller about the vicious cycle of aggression and revenge. Her gripping drama questions articles of faith about violence and nonviolent response, whether the perpetrator is a schoolyard bully or a vicious warlord.

It is a rare film that examines the no-man's-land between principle and action, between ethically considered ideal and gut-gratifying revenge. Haevnen, its Danish title, means "vengeance."

The fulcrum figure of Bier's seesaw of a drama, this year's Oscar winner for best foreign film, is Anton (Mikael Persbrandt), a Swedish-born surgeon commuting between his wife's native Denmark and an East African nation riven by civil war.

In this Sudan-like country, Anton works for Doctors Without Borders, ministering to those fighting on both sides of the battle, as well as the casualties caught in the cross fire.

Back in Copenhagen, Anton's family is riven by estrangement between Anton and Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), his physician wife. Caught in the emotional cross fire is their son, Elias (Markus Rygaard), a sweetly geeky middle-schooler mercilessly and routinely bullied by a classmate.

At considerable emotional and physical cost, Elias has gone beyond "turn the other cheek" to passive acceptance of his brutalization. Enter Christian (William Johnk Nielsen), the new boy in school, who acts as Elias' gladiator against the bully. Much to Anton's horror, Christian also encourages passive Elias to vigilante action.

Bier (maker of the shattering After the Wedding and Brothers) makes movies about relatable men in situations where adrenaline and testosterone flood the system. Their brains say, "Nothing good can come from fighting." Their guts say, "Kill the b-!"

In a Better World triggers that fight-or-flight response in viewers, too. The experience is that of a moral action movie, where you know our hero should walk away on the high road, but secretly root for pushback anyway.

While the parallel between the uncivil war in Copenhagen and the civil war in Sudan at times seems forced, In a Better World is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking, one that shows the causal relation between morality and mortality. 

In a Better World *** (out of four stars)

Directed by Susanne Bier. With Mikael Persbrandt, Markus Rygaard, and William Johnk Nielsen. In English and Danish and Swedish with subtitles. Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

Running time: 1 hour, 59 mins.

Parent's guide: R (violent war crimes, disturbing and violent sequences involving preteens).

Playing at: Ritz at the Bourse, Rave at the Ritz Center/NJ.

Contact movie critic Carrie Rickey at 215-854-5402 or crickey@phillynews.com.

Read her blog, "Flickgrrl," at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/flickgrrl/.