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Discovery

[WORLD] | 2008 | 108 min | Feature Narrative

Directed by: Niels Arden Oplev

(To Verdener)
In Danish with English subtitles.
Denmark

North American Premiere

Interests: Coming of Age,  Drama,  Family Issues,  Religion,  Teens,  Women,  Youth
Moods: Confrontational,  Cross-Cultural,  Eccentric,  Enigmatic,  Intimate,  Spiritual

Official Website

Cast & Credits

Principal Cast:
Rosalinde Mynster, Pilou Asbæk, Jens Jørn Spottag, Sarah Boberg, Sarah Juel Werner, Anders W. Berthelsen
Screenwriters:
Niels Arden Oplev, Steen Bille
Producer(s):
Thomas Heinesen
Director of Photography:
Lars Vestergaard
Editor:
Anne Østerud
Composer:
Jacob Groth

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Synopsis

Based on a true story, Worlds Apart is a tale of love, freedom, and difficult choices set in a world little seen. Carefully probing the psychology of Jehovah Witnesses' infamous insularity, the film follows Sara, a devout and intelligent 17-year-old who pours her youthful energy into the pursuit of righteousness. But her strictly regimented world begins to come undone when her father admits to an extramarital affair. Her mother moves out of the house, but Sara and her younger siblings choose to stay with her father because he has repented his sins. Even though Sara seems wise beyond her years, she is still a teenager. When she meets Teis, a non-believer, she finds it increasingly difficult to keep in mind the dictum that "Jehovah sees all." She must ultimately decide to follow her heart or continue down the path to salvation that she's always known. If she follows her heart, the rules of her faith dictate that she will not be able to see or speak with her family again. Director Niels Arden Oplev rises to the challenge of representing the Witnesses, who are well known for their door-to-door proselytizing but perhaps not so well understood. He does so with complexity instead of the easy demonizing that such stories often resort to, and he compassionately portrays all that Sara will lose if she chooses to leave the congregation. He transforms Sara from a zealot into a thoughtful and brave young woman, all the while alluding to the often mercurial nature of teenage girls. The overall cast brings sensitivity to the varied characters, with Rosalinde Mynster giving an amazing and sensitive performance as Sara, a girl who is both serious and wise beyond her years.

--David Kwok

+Gallery

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+About The Director

Niels Arden Oplev b. 1961) graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 1989. His first feature, Portland (1996), was selected for the main competition at the Berlin International Film Festival and his second feature, Chop Chop (2001), received recognition from the National Danish Film Awards. Oplev has worked as a director on the TV series Unit One and The Eagle, both of which received the Emmy for best foreign TV series. His feature, We Shall Overcome (2006) became the most successful Danish film of 2006 and was honored with the Crystal Bear at Berlin. Oplev's next film will be based on a book by Swedish author Stieg Larsson.

+Director Statement

In April 2006, shortly after the opening of We Shall Overcome, I happened to read a newspaper article about this girl Tabita's upbringing in a family deeply committed to the beliefs and standards of the religious sect Jehovah's Witnesses. Her fate and “journey” made a great impression on me and the things she had gone through touched me in both an emotional and intellectual way. I arranged meetings with Tabita, who is still in her early 20s, and here she spoke accurately and openly. Every detail was still crystal clear in her memory. The way she talked about her life was so honest and captivating that my fingers were itching to get started on the writing. The script follows Tabita's story as closely as possible, and even though bits and pieces have been added and removed, Tabita's story was in itself so well composed that the film all in all diverges only very little from the reality that she described to us.

Along with our writing, Steen Bille and I researched Jehovah's Witnesses thoroughly—their values and beliefs, case stories, and fates. We did this in part to get the best possible knowledge of our subject, but also because we were determined not to portray the Witnesses as the “bad guys.” We wanted to understand them and make sure that they were portrayed as people with emotions, weaknesses, and qualities like everyone else. We made sure that Sara, Tabita's character in the film, was faced with a choice that wasn't obvious. A choice that anyone, regardless of religious beliefs, can see is hard. Sara's journey through the film becomes a personification of how a person is influenced by religious fundamentalism and by the great personal costs and difficult choices it brings with it.
Sara by Eileen on March 09, 2010 02:41 PM
This was a very good movie, very sad to turn against loved one on the count of relegion.
Worlds Apart by connie van yserloo on March 09, 2010 07:57 PM
THis is one of the BEST films I've ever seen !!! The strength of Character that Sara displays in the end and her deep inner search for Truth..The acting was SUPERB !!! i could not get up off my seat even for a glass of water !!!!!
movie by k smith on October 13, 2010 09:38 AM
great movie i was raised as a jw im not 1 now but i dont let that keep me from my family...i feel we were family b4 we were jw.
i can relate by spencer on January 08, 2011 02:20 PM
I've been raised as one of JW's and I know how Sara feels....its the most hardest decision we have to make...to stay devout in our faith & be with our family and loved ones...or choose our own happiness and our own lives. I think this movie captured that struggle completely. Very well done.
Worlds Apart by Suzanne on May 15, 2011 04:15 PM
I haveben one of Jehovah's Witnesses for almost 40 years. The film is more objective than comments of viewers and the film crew. While our beliefs were oversimplified in content, what the story also exposed is the weak foundation of faith in the mother and father, leaving the children with reaons to question, and the parents gave little if any explanation about their own faith. Thus the family cohesion was undermined by the parents inability to set better examples of faith.
The movie by Suzanne on May 16, 2011 04:40 PM
Inaddiion to the comment I made yesterday, I thought of some other important notes. First, the film certainly makes it clear that adhering to Bible principles as high as those adhered to by Jehovah's Witnesses is exceptionally difficult in the face of the world's popular opinions. Expecially is this true for young people who are very vulnerable to peer pressure. My criticisms of the parents rearing is based on what the film presented not on what is or isn't truly known about the entirety of the family's dynamic.
 
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