After the Wedding

As may be expected of Susanne Bier, and as may be expected of Scandinavian films in general if you ask me, this film is really great. The acting is so good it's hard to call it acting. Mads Mikkelsen (Jacob) puts up a terrific performance with acting that is as credible as it is subtle. Not the over-the-top stuff that we are familiar with from Hollywood, but acting that actually makes you think "yes, this is how real flesh and blood people would react". I was also pleasantly surprised by Sidse Babett Knudsen (Helene). She has a lot of scenes with little or no dialog, but the way she tells everything with subtle face expression is simply mind blowing. And let's not forget Rolf Lassgård (Jörgen) and Stine Fisher Christensen (Anne), who both remind us what real flesh and blood emotions look like in a way that really hits you in the face.

Anyway, I'm a fan of Scandinavian films for reasons mentioned above, and I'm almost ashamed to say that in that light this film was really nothing new, and luckily so: just more of the same wonderful stuff! What really stuck with me about this film however is the story. It is so ...human in all aspects. I won't reveal any spoilers, but as the story unfolds, it just gets so much more complex than you expect at first. In the first 15 minutes, I expected the movie was mainly going to be about the struggle between Jörgen and Jacob. The struggle between these two "stereotypes" really... one being the cool business man who solves everything with money, and the other being the idealistic but clumsy social worker. I was pleasantly surprised however that it got even better after that. What I mainly like about the movie, is that it doesn't offer any simple solutions. In the end, there are no perfect happy endings that solve every puzzle; the main characters have to make decisions, but it's not all black and white like we see in a lot of other movies. People have to do things they might not have done initially, but in the end, there may be upsides as well. You know... that sounds an awful lot like real life, and that's a good thing for a film if you ask me.

Efter brylluppet (2006), written and directed by Susanne Bier, is a Danish film shown in the U.S. with the title "After the Wedding."

The film is like a jigsaw puzzle that has been started but not completed. As the story progresses, pieces are added to the puzzle one at a time. There are secrets upon secrets, and memories upon memories. Only one character knows the entire story, and he is hiding a secret of his own.

The film begins in India, and the footage shot there has the ring of truth about it. Most of the film concerns wealthy people living in Denmark. The contrast between the poor in India and the wealthy in Scandinavia is immense. (Actually, it's more than that--it defies description.)

The person who travels between India and Denmark--Jacob--is the link between these two worlds. He works in an orphanage in India, and he is sent to Denmark to convince a billionaire businessman to fund the project. The plot unfolds slowly, in a subtle and unpredictable manner. There are many ambiguities, and not all of these are sorted out by the end of the film.

The acting is extremely good, with outstanding lead actors and an excellent supporting cast. If I had to single out one actor for praise, it would be the extraordinarily talented Sidse Babett Knudsen, who plays Helene, the wife of the wealthy business man. Ms. Knudsen turns in a nuanced and satisfying performance that is a pleasure to watch.

This exceptional film was appropriately nominated for an Oscar. It's certainly one of the best movies of 2006, and deserves wider distribution so that more people can see it.

This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long while. I am lucky that I was able to see it at a screening, and I will certainly look out for other movies from the director and writer.

It starts off low key and you're not sure where it is going to go. Then things get very intense dramatically. In a lesser movie this would be near the end, but in this movie it is just the beginning. At times it gets emotional with very excellent acting. The plot keeps changing in unpredictable ways, and who the plot is revolving around keeps changing also. Really well designed story and well directed production.

Apparently it is on the verge of release in the US. The version I saw in a US screening was subtitled (one of the forum posters asked if it would be dubbed).

"After the Wedding" (2006) begins on the streets of Mumbai, India, where several orphaned, homeless children are queuing up for food, courtesy 'Anand Orphanage and School', assisted by Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) who has taken up the cause. He teaches in the school attached to the orphanage, and is a favorite with the children there. The initial scenes make one wonder if this is yet another 'poverty porn' focusing only on the dirty underbelly of India and projecting it to be a country worse than it actually is (Think "Slumdog Millionaire"). But any negativity formed in the beginning is quickly quashed with what follows.

The orphanage is clearly falling short of funds. A silver lining is seen, as some tycoon in Denmark, by the name of Jorgen Hansson (Rolf Lassgård), has agreed to offer a huge sum of money as donation to the orphanage, but only on the condition that Jacob travel to Denmark personally, meet with Jorgen and then return with the necessary funds and paperwork. This tiny detail offered in the beginning, highlights the whimsical nature of the wealthy businessman's offer, and immediately hints at a catch, so we begin to brace ourselves for an early twist. Any surprise quotient, then, is automatically reduced to half.

Jacob travels to Denmark, leaving behind his shanty life, albeit promising one of the orphan boys, Pramod (Neeral Mulchandani), who he has brought up and loves like his son, that he would be back in a week. Once in Denmark, Jacob is given red carpet treatment; a personal airport pickup, a luxury suite in a posh hotel, and later a meeting with the man himself; who takes a look at the project put together by Jacob (a videotape detailing the activities of the orphanage), but seems to be more interested in having a drink with him. Jorgen turns off the tape halfway, leaving Jacob stumped and disappointed, but proceeds to invite Jacob to the upcoming wedding of his daughter Anna (Stine Fischer Christensen). The unsuspecting Jacob accepts the invitation and shows up at Jorgen's plush mansion, the venue of the wedding.

But a series of startling discoveries at the wedding and after it, make this visit to Denmark, a life-changing experience for Jacob…..

Writer-Director Susanne Bier's screenplay shows great promise, at least in the first half, thanks to the periodic revelations. Some dark secrets are revealed at regular intervals, and thus the pace is well maintained 'til then, although the film revolves only around four major characters. There are great moments of power-packed drama, sometimes intense, sometimes warm, sometimes awkward; mostly the uncomfortable encounters between characters are very naturally captured; it couldn't get more real than that. The director knows exactly how the characters would emote under the circumstances, and thanks to the terrific actors, it's all well done and earnestly acted. The cinematography is somewhat grainy, mostly devoid of the usage of special lighting, and is shot on a hand-held camera, reminiscent of the style of the Dogme 95 movement first initiated by Lars Von Trier. It is no surprise that the filming of the entire wedding sequence very much reminds of that in Von Trier's "Breaking the Waves".

It is the extreme close-ups of eyes, lips, hands, and even some facial hair that come across as an eyesore. There are way too many close-ups that just weren't required and suit neither the genre, nor the subject matter. In fact they take away from the scenes somewhat, by not showing us the visage of the actor during a scene, when his/her reaction or emotion is vital to the scene. It is in the latter half, that the drama begins to shed the subtlety, when the most important twist of the story is revealed, and the film dips into mawkish melodrama giving rise to histrionics and gawky over-sentimentality! The major twist is itself a cliché and a bankable ingredient for a weepy soap opera. But there are other events that follow, and at such timings, that you can't help but think that the screenplay is taking an emotionally manipulative direction, by forcing some events that just weren't necessary, but used merely because they, somehow, serve as good excuses to make the proceedings sappier!

That said, it is indeed noteworthy, how almost all the characters are very well written; they have a lot of depth and more importantly, the initial impression that is created about them, takes a drastic turn in some key events, and we are forced to see them in a different light. Of course, the convincing dynamics of the characters, are owing to the choice of actors that are immensely talented. Mads Mikkelsen brings a range of emotions to the otherwise stoic Jacob who is taken aback when he first learns of the shattering truth that hits like a bolt of lightning. Ditto for the mixed emotions and the inevitable awkwardness he displays, later, in one of the best directed scenes of the film. Rolf Lassgård is brilliant as the drunk, but loving father and business tycoon, whose real intentions, and hence the kind of person he is, becomes clear only later. Stine Fischer Christensen is cute and does a commendable job as the daughter Anna who gets a double whammy of deceit. And then we have Sidse Babett Knudsen as Helene, who finds herself in an extraordinary situation, by a twist of fate, following a seemingly strange coincidence, and a past that refuses to let go. It is a classy performance indeed.

What "After the Wedding" needed was a steady grip and restrained tone, that it maintains in the first half of the film, despite the plot contrivances, after which it nosedives into unnecessary melodrama and starts to come undone. Too bad, really!

Score: 7/10

I greatly admired the previous films by Susanne Bier (" Open Hearts" and "Brothers"), so my expectations were very high.Luckily they have been fulfilled.Like the other two the film is a sociological and emotional experiment.It's about one's place in the world (the crucial phrase in the film is Jorgen's "Can one expect from you help only on the other side of the globe" ), about responsibility and the making of painful decisions.The film starts quite slow,but after half an hour it's getting more intensive,mostly supported by 4 extraordinary actors and actresses.While I already knew the qualities of Mikkelsen,Knudsen and Lassgard,I was really blown away by Fischer Christensen as the daughter.There were 4 real-life characters and I could follow their psychological turmoil.Some may find the script too constructed,but life turns out to be full of unexpected twists.The film is no popcorn-entertainment,but for anyone,who appreciates a human,deeply moving drama with the concentration on the characters instead of superficial action,I can only say: Go and watch this movie!