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Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A Major Disappointment

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Inaccurate and she should have known better. It isn't easy to be a JW but the reward at the end is great. If you're going to make a movie, please get your facts straight and not mislead people. It's things like these that generate misconceptions about the JWs. I'm sure that SnooktheCrook would agree and as well as others out there who see this movie as damaging toward the JWs. Hopefully another movie like this will not be made anytime soon. If she wants to leave, go ahead and see how it will go for her. She'll leave, but still believe in God and it is He who will judge her for her actions. .................................................10 lines :D

Put simply, anyone who is not a Witness but who has Witnesses or ex- Witnesses in their lives should watch this movie. You will understand them better for it.It illustrates simply, without histrionics, the pressures facing a person in a religious group that punishes failure to comply with 'the rules' with expulsion (which can and does even extend to family members refusing to associate with you anymore) and where an individual's freedom of conscience is ignored.Imagine yourself faced with a choice; do what your religion and family expect, or lose them. And you do not lose just family; Jehovah's Witnesses typically have few if any real friends outside of the religion.I have been there and done it. It really is like starting over.To get more complex, some reviewers, especially Jehovah's Witnesses seeking to defend their faith, miss the point or are in error, or both:One reviewer expects it to show the Biblical justifications Jehovah's Witnesses use for their beliefs. Well, I believe an appropriate channel for that would be a film _they_ make. This film is a girl's story of how the religion she just happened to grow up in meant that by doing what many young people do, she loses her family, and that everyone she grew up with in the religion now thinks she will die. The reasons they might claim for doing and believing what many people would find morally reprehensible are irrelevant, as the same Bible can be interpreted in many different ways by other faiths.Only very few religions are so sure that their opinion about a Biblical passage is so accurate that anyone who disagrees should be kicked out. And these opinions change; for example, the definition of the word 'generation' (Armageddon was meant to come in the lives of those of the generation of 1914, but as this generation has died out, the definition has shifted so it looks like they were never wrong) and the now rescinded prohibition against organ transplants (it used to be considered cannibalism and that someone receiving a heart transplant would develop personality traits of the donor, but the doctrine changed.... no "sorry if your loved ones refused organ transplants and died, we were wrong" at any point).Another reviewer quibbles about an Elder having a beard. As has already been pointed out, in some countries this is OK. But before you quibbled, did you ever wonder what the hell does a man's facial hair (supposedly god-given) have to do with his suitability to act as an Elder? Or maybe this is another opinion, set at a time when men with beards were beatniks, hippies etc., and now presented as an unbreakable rule (except in countries where beards have been more traditional, where the rules are different, LOL), even though these opinions of grooming standards are archaic and non-Biblical?Yet another reviewer tries the 'poison the well strategy' by implying that you cannot listen to ex-believers as they will be bitter. Well, honestly, would you buy a car of someone who told you never to listen to anyone who had owned that car in the past but then got rid of it? Maybe they got rid of the car for a reason to do with the car! Maybe people stop being JWs because of something to do with the religion? Elders do follow up on people who have left (been there), especially if they are told that this person (who no longer even attends meetings) is breaking the rules.The Watchtower magazine has vacillated between some support of higher education and warning against it. The '90s and early 00's it was more acceptable. In the '70's and 80's it was anathema.And yes, some JWs are educated. But see the reaction if you openly tell other JWs you intend to research evolutionary biology thoroughly using textbooks etc., so that you can understand the beliefs that JWs have (no evolution of species, humans have only existed for less than 10,000 years) and be able to defend them better, or that you are going to read 'Crisis of Conscience' by expelled ex-governing body member Ray Franz, or you openly disagree with the meaning of certain scriptures. In most religions this is tolerated. But as shown by the expulsion of the lead character's elder brother, you can be kicked out for reading the wrong books and contradicting the elders!And most certainly, just as you don't see Legolas running round after a battle in Lord of the Rings, picking up arrows (otherwise, where does he get them all from), you don't see everything that must have shaped her desire to leave. Her brother left for reading the wrong books... maybe ones that show that they JWs have either directly stated or heavily implied certain dates for Armageddon and been (obviously) wrong. Maybe her discussions with her boyfriend's atheistic family? But these are not the point of the film. Or her mother, who 'has doubts' but is forced to maintain a facade or lose her family?The point of the film is that certain groups of believers have a very tight controlled set of beliefs, which just like any faith (Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.") is based not on FACT, but opinion. These same believers have to comply with these set of opinions or be expelled, and when a fellow believer is expelled will exercise a choice, based on their OPINION, to maintain or sever ties with them. This opinion is presented as god's opinion, but this is false, even blasphemous if you really believe in god... all it is is just another opinion, but one valued so highly by those holding it that it comes before everything else. There is no real option to agree to disagree and maintain normal ties

Worlds Apart begins with infidelity, committed by the father but repent by the community. As the mother does not forgive her husband, she has her reasons, the children should decide: she has to leave the house for an apartment (where she secretly sees her expelled son; his sin was reading the wrong books). Centered is the daughter, her father and the community. Saras way out from a sheltered, warm childhood into the cold outside-world starts subtle. Initiated by her fathers adultery, though repent by the community and not accepted by his wife; here Saras thinking begins. Word and action dis-coordinate for the true, passionate believer. Here and not her sinful love for Teis (based on lies and sex, a sin in the everything-seeing eye of Jehova, mediated by her father and the elder) starts off her doubts: the father and not the lover. Even in pre-paradise is a tempting snake. The snake here is Saras friend Thea, eager to tempted, doing something forbidden (internetchatting and disco). Three kinds of young witness Thea speaks off: the unfaithful, the between, the faithful (Thea the between, Sara as the faithful on her way, passing between, to be beyond the unfaithful) Thea backs anxious, realizing that it has gone too far. It is Thea, telling Saras father what happened when the friend is needed. Is Theas accident a scarifying suicide for what she has done by denying blood transfusion, knowing that death is for the higher cause? Saras questions and answers increase in strength – as well her self-thinking and self-deciding, standing her ground when tested by her father (he always tells her that her decision is hers, but he regards it not as a good idea), the community – and society. To be with Teis, against her fathers and the community's wish, Sara 'moves' to her mother (their conversation shows that daughter and mother understand each other, the mother waiting and hoping for this moments), the toothbrush and clothes with Ties, observed by her sister. Two bedrooms in case father and the community make their checks. Lies and two lives. Finally, as her brother, Sara is expelled: the first step done by her father. Sara: "Do not hide behind Jehova. It is your decision". After Theas funeral, Sara appears uninvited, her fathers accusation: that she is selfish, not thinking that she hurts him, her sister and brother. Sara asks: "Do you love me?", he: "Why do you ask, of course I do" and Sara: "Do you love God more than me?" The fathers yes is responded by her: "Why?", followed by his answer: "He has made me. He is the father in heaven, he can give me eternal life." Sara: "Father. I believe this is very selfish of you." And her father: "You can repent and return that we again can be a family". Sara: "Good bye, father." The last scene in a train car, Sara leaves for Copenhagen, where she will train for a teacher, never seeing her family again. And to Jehova: "Jehova, this is the last time we talk to each other. I do not believe in you any more." The Swedish SVT1-anouncement, 2010-05-10 22.00 for To Verderner/Worlds Apart tells The Swedish SVT1-anouncement, 2010-05-10 22.00 for To Verderner tells that Sara has to choose between religion and love. It is not this. It is so much more. Neither religion or love but 'naked' freedom, the strength to be persona non grata, the unwelcome person. For Tabita Broener (Sara) it was painful years journey. What is left behind will always be a companion in daily life, for better or worse. One of the reasons to leave, hardly noticeable, is the subtle tempting danger of spiritual and physical incest. With Lacan: the Third is absent, opening the door for incest. The decision of leaving is always personal. But to go to action, help is needed. Tabita Broeners story was read by the director and co-writer Niels Arden Oplev 2006 in Berlingske Tidende. A journey of many years was movie transformed to a year. The director uses neutral respect, only facts speak, helped by an expelled consult. Generally, wherever political and religious 'sects' are, the same is observed: leaving the warm (incestious) room, you are marked as 'persona non grata'. The lacanian No/m du Père: the empty space of l'ordre symbolique is not empty but occupied by l'ordre imaginaire. Mirrorreflecting to the members what Jehovah, told by the elders, what is wright and what is wrong. The absence of the No/m du Père makes the mentioned incest possible. It is this that is the danger and that Sara falls in love with the disturbing Third, Teis. It does not matter if he sees what Sara sacrifices and should balance. He was just a stepping stone for life outside and is too much the symbol of the past. Not only the community is closed-minded, also Teis parents are insensitive, practice self-righteous hypocrisy. Many members of such communities do not question the base of faith, do not brake out, unsatisfied what they have. Few, as Sara, are consciously hungry for more, without the courage to look for it outside. This is the reason why her brother returns to the fold of the community, telling Sara that he is unable to 'live isolated and lonely' – meaning outside their family. To see the mother and Sara secretly and not at all father his other sister and the little confused brother . If critic wants to see, which is not true, it is here. The description of the organizations effect on the family and how they handle it. These scenes are heartbreaking. Questioned, the organizations will answer with passages from the Bible – still: it is sad. Sad, as this method is well used in other political and religious organizations.

Last time I reviewed a danish production, I got spit out and bit in the tail for stepping on danish toes. Drømmen was supposedly Arden Oplev's masterpiece but however I tried, I didn't get it. Not one bit of it.This time (and fate is sweet and relentless), unknowingly, I thoroughly enjoyed a danish masterpiece: To Verdener, same director and writer! And honestly, I watched it twice and I can't find any flaws in it. It's brilliant. The acting is so sincere, the story so well told, the movie's pace forces you to keep watching, music is original, and the plot very well unfolded.A girl, raised as a Jehova's Witness, is forced into a devils dilemma when she falls for a charming older boy - a "non-witness", so there's bound to be trouble. This theme, very accurately portrayed and far from original, is very actual nowadays when so many people abandon their Christian roots, tempted by modern days' lusts and attractions, shopping, the net, sexuality, individuality and 'follow your dream' zeitgeist.Not only makes Rosalinde Mynster this story believable, she acts it out so well, there must have been bucket loads of chemistry on the set. From the Elder John to the young sister Elisabeth (another danish acting wonder Sarah Juel Werner) - all characters are real, fully developed and utterly believable. The biggest surprise for me though, frankly, was Pilou Asbæk, in his role as Teis, Sara's new found love. What a charm, what charisma, and what talent. His character goes through lengths as much as even volunteering to join the Witnesses, thus reaching out for Sara and share her burden.Sara, in the end, makes a far from diminutive choice, a choice for a worldly life - eventually even breaking all attachments; her family, her boyfriend and ultimately, Jehova.The end dialog with her father is so pivotal and to the point, it should end up in cinema history books. Won't spoil it all for you - but it's pure excellence.The best thing this movie achieves, is it never judges. There's no "good" or "bad" when it comes to religion. The Jehova's are portrayed unbiased, not overly sympathized, not threatening. Every decision Sara and her family have to make is difficult, complex. Yet it's far from depressing. In fact all in all this ends up to be a very positive movie.Life has changed, life goes on. We all choose what we think is good for us.Well to sum it up. Grand movie, very well acted, and gives food for thought big time. Give it 9 out of 10.