SUSANNE BIER BROTHERS, IN A BETTER WORLD, OPEN HEARTS, THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE
She’s a Danish film director best known for her films Brothers, After the Wedding, Things we Lost in the Fire, and the Academy-Award-winning In a Better World, and while she’s still in the midst of making a transition to American cinema she already has one Oscar and one American remake (Brothers). A disciple of the Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg created “Dogme 95 Manifesto” and the “Vow of Chastity” her films are based on story, acting, and theme, and largely eschew elaborate special effects. These rules also require location-shooting, props native to that location, and music and audio to all be native to the original filming location. Really, the best way to understand Bier’s work is to hear it from her, “My first job as a filmmaker is to not make a boring film. I don’t see a conflict between art and commerce, but I do see one between boredom and commerce. I think once you start structuring according to theme, things become more educational than emotional, and I don’t think that works. I think it really is about addressing the conflict between the characters and addressing the storytelling and psychology. That way, the feelings are the undercurrent of the whole story, which is exciting.” Interestingly enough, while she is steadily making artistic inroads in the States, in her native Denmark she’s generally viewed as being largely a commercial artist.
I am so happy to see Bier make this list. I can remember walking into a film festival a decade ago to see “Open Hearts” knowing nothing about it. Possibly the best of the Dogme 95. This is a real surprise as it never occurred to me, but its a great call.
I am so happy to see Bier make this list. I can remember walking into a film festival a decade ago to see “Open Hearts” knowing nothing about it. Possibly the best of the Dogme 95. This is a real surprise as it never occurred to me, but its a great call.