Vision and Ethics in A Second Chance (En chance til)

Danica van de Velde’s “Vision and Ethics in A Second Chance (En chance til, 2014)” addresses Bier’s aesthetics in depth. Reading A Second Chance as a particularly poignant example because of how it forefronts the “intertwining of image and psychology” so recognizable in Bier’s work, van de Velde argues that Bier’s approach functions as “a visual strategy that, among other things, highlights the dynamic between spectator- ship and ethicsVan de Velde’s analysis also provides thought-provoking insight into Bier’s use of shots resembling photographic stills and the function of literal photographs in the film, demonstrating how they problematize perception. Van de Velde shows that while Bier’s visual strategies compel viewer-attention to the characters’ inner states, they also ultimately both “disrupt the moral equilibrium of right and wrong” and call into question “the very ethics of spectatorship.”