TIFF EXCLUSIVE
A Second Chance
Director: Susanne Bier
By Alex Watson
Danish director Susanne Bier is quite simply, one of the best talents in World Cinema right now. Her Oscar nominated 'After The Wedding', the original version of 'Brothers' and more recently her Oscar winning 'In A Better World' have showcased what an original and observant director this woman truly is. This Tuesday, I was fortunate enough to attend the World Premiere of her new movie A Second Chance at the Visa Screening Room at the Elgin Theatre, which was proceeding by a stunning Q & A with Bier and star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau! Once again, this promises to be an engaging and heart stopping affair.
Copenhagen police officer Andreas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is a man whose life is complete with his loving wife Anne (Maria Bonnevie) and his new-born son Alexander. But in a moment, his whole happy existence is torn apart by tragedy. In a moment of desperation, he seeks a drastic measure that will not only alter the course of his life, but that of drug abusing thug Tristan (Nikolaj Lie Trass) and his suffering partner, Sanne (Lykke May Andersen).
Susanne Bier once again delivers well and her movie A Second Chance is a thriller that engages its audience throughout. My advice to all viewers, would be to not read any plot information before viewing its content because the less you know, the more shock to the system! From the moment we meet Andreas, he is kicking down the door of psycho Tristan to discover a hideously neglected baby lying cold and alone in its own filth! His honest mentality is pushed to the limit early on and his increasing inner conflict gives the movie a superb cold sense of dread.
When the key moment occurs, audiences will no doubt be wide mouthed in shock as Andreas makes his life altering decision. Although we scorn him inside for his ill thinking, secretly we empathize with it as well because with a delirious wife making some pretty severe threats and his hatred for losing what he has held so dear gives him a panicking desperation. Impressively Bier never once seeks for us to forgive Andreas for the action he has taken and as we watching him struggle to keep things under wraps we are forced to decide for ourselves whether he is worthy enough?
From there a gritty edge comes over A Second Chance and Andreas along with Tristan and Sanne are forced to keep one step ahead of the authorities to prevent a major storm from hitting. Each time either are in the room with one another, secretly we wince at each lie that is spun and each crack that begins to appear to the facade. Simon (Ulrich Thomson), another fellow officer who is an alcholic starts to join the dots and although we hope that his sobriety will wear off and he will lose himself once more in a haze, we suspect that he may be forced to bring his own friend to justice!
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau delivers well outside his well known Game of Thrones roots as Andreas and he smartly never once plays to the audiences sympathies. Throughout Bier's drama Coster-Waldau possesses a marvelous guilty conscience that draw us to Andreas and his frozen face is forever in doubt of his choices. But it is Nikolaj Lie Trass and Lykke May Anderson who unexpected steal the movie as the horrendous yet atonement seeking parents. Tristan is a bully of a man, but his steadfast refusal to go back inside brings out brains he never knew he possessed. Sanne is a woman who has become stuck in a bad situation, and her refusal to merely to be beaten into submission makes her the strongest female lead in Bier's picture.
A Second Chance is another fine offering from Susanne Bier and is living proof that she is one director who can give us a story that not only steals our attention, but can lead to our moral compasses being heavily twisted as a result. I recommend this highly, catch it at TIFF 2014 while you still can everyone.
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