Contemporary Scandinavian Cinema; Susanne Bier

If anyone wants to have some ideas about Danish society and family, Susanne Bier is one of the best directors to take a look at. In her movies, the traditional family structure is under investigation by using a modern lens, revealing social and psychological reflections of vulnerability and unexpected circumstances coming from the outside world. Her early works including Open Hearts (2002) and After the Wedding (2006) offer a close look at Danish family and romantic relationships that are swung with a tragedy. Bier’s cinematic lens can be characterized by attention to technical details and aesthetics which are a medium to reflecting the emotional states of the characters and allows us to understand their inner world through gestures and body language.

The source of these family-based themes emanates from Bier’s personal ties, specifically with her children, which are a major factor in starting her filmmaking career. In many interviews, she indicates the significance of family in her life and crucial for identity formation. Bier’s themes are beyond family relations and she underscores global issues directly or indirectly.  She harmonized globalization in her narratives such as “In a Better World (2010)” which addresses refugee camps, and “Brothers (2004)” which touched upon the Afghanistan war. Bier displayed how global concerns do not remain as they are and change the social dynamics of more local and small structures. These movies remind us of the interconnectedness of global ties with unrelated parts of the world from distinct aspects.

Despite the inconvenient situations and challenges, Bier’s storytelling makes it possible to find some hope at the end for the characters such as Michael from “Brothers (2004)” or Elias from “In a Better World (2010)”. Throughout her films, she makes us confront with the complex and unescapable situation of characters until the end where she shows us that no matter what happens, it is possible to overcome.

Her later films such as “Serena (2014)” and “Bird Box (2018)” are thriller genres and book-adaptive movies departing from drama themes. Nevertheless, we can observe Bier’s unique approach to human relationships in those movies since it is her curiosity that distinguishes them from ordinary thriller movies. Bier expressed many times that in “Birdbox (2018)” she challenges the portrayal of motherhood by male directors many times previously. Instead of an idealized portrayal, she draws on the complicated structure of motherhood and how it can be wild in the pursuit of survival.