A-
Directed by Susan Biers
The melodrama is often derided as a serious form of cinema which is too bad because under expert guidance, melodramatic films can be outstanding. "Susan Biers "After the Wedding" is a case in point, an unrepentant, weepy melodrama that shamelessly wears its heart on its sleeve but is nonetheless genuinely affecting and superbly pulled off.
Mads Mikkelson (the guy who bleeds from his eye in "Casino Royale") is Jacob, a Dane working at an orphanage in Mumbai. Facing the prospect of bankuptcy, the orphanage's manager orders Jacob to fly to Denmark and meet with a prospective donor. Jacob begrudgingly acquiesces and flies off to Copenhagen to meet with the financier, an intense yet jovial multi-millionaire named Jorgen Hansen. After talking business with Jacob for awhile, Hansen invites him to his young daughter's wedding. Jacob agrees to attend but is shocked to find out that Hansen's wife is an old flame from his youth. So begins a slow realization for Jacob and Jorgen's wife and daughter that all is not as it seems and this chance encounter may have in fact been premeditated.
As indicated previously, "After the Wedding" is an no holds barred melodrama. Emotions run high throughout the film. Every character weeps several times, often while making an emotional speech to another sobbing character right after having yelled at someone and right before passionately embracing someone else. In the case of the female leads, tears flow at an almost uninterrupted rhythm from around the midway point of the film until it's denouement. What is essentially a melodrama, however, turns into so much more under the expert handling of Biers and her team of actors, elevating "After the Wedding" from potentially maudlin to genuinely moving. "After the Wedding's" melodramatic tenor also masks a number of moments of deep intellectual rumination on weighty issues such as the nature of personal responsibility and, perhaps most strikingly in Biers' film, individual's attempting, but in the end failing, to come to terms with their own imminent mortality. Indeed, "After the Wedding" shows in a rather unvarnished manner how attempts to peacefully and bravely face one's own mortally are often woefully inadequate, death being an uncertainty for many (especially the non-religious) that is daunting to face. Although death is a topic dealt with in many, many films, Biers highlights the inability of many individuals to deal with such an enormous issue in an honest, almost brutal, manner.
The movie should also be commended for its actors, without which it could very well have proved a substandard effort. Mads Mikkelson gives a moving yet instantly believable performance as Jacob while Rolf Lassgard, Sidse Babbett Knudsen, and Stine Fischer Christensen are fantastic as Jorgen, Helen, and Anna, respectively. The film is also beautiful to look, and added bonus considering everything else it has going for it.
Recommended.
The melodrama is often derided as a serious form of cinema which is too bad because under expert guidance, melodramatic films can be outstanding. "Susan Biers "After the Wedding" is a case in point, an unrepentant, weepy melodrama that shamelessly wears its heart on its sleeve but is nonetheless genuinely affecting and superbly pulled off.
Mads Mikkelson (the guy who bleeds from his eye in "Casino Royale") is Jacob, a Dane working at an orphanage in Mumbai. Facing the prospect of bankuptcy, the orphanage's manager orders Jacob to fly to Denmark and meet with a prospective donor. Jacob begrudgingly acquiesces and flies off to Copenhagen to meet with the financier, an intense yet jovial multi-millionaire named Jorgen Hansen. After talking business with Jacob for awhile, Hansen invites him to his young daughter's wedding. Jacob agrees to attend but is shocked to find out that Hansen's wife is an old flame from his youth. So begins a slow realization for Jacob and Jorgen's wife and daughter that all is not as it seems and this chance encounter may have in fact been premeditated.
As indicated previously, "After the Wedding" is an no holds barred melodrama. Emotions run high throughout the film. Every character weeps several times, often while making an emotional speech to another sobbing character right after having yelled at someone and right before passionately embracing someone else. In the case of the female leads, tears flow at an almost uninterrupted rhythm from around the midway point of the film until it's denouement. What is essentially a melodrama, however, turns into so much more under the expert handling of Biers and her team of actors, elevating "After the Wedding" from potentially maudlin to genuinely moving. "After the Wedding's" melodramatic tenor also masks a number of moments of deep intellectual rumination on weighty issues such as the nature of personal responsibility and, perhaps most strikingly in Biers' film, individual's attempting, but in the end failing, to come to terms with their own imminent mortality. Indeed, "After the Wedding" shows in a rather unvarnished manner how attempts to peacefully and bravely face one's own mortally are often woefully inadequate, death being an uncertainty for many (especially the non-religious) that is daunting to face. Although death is a topic dealt with in many, many films, Biers highlights the inability of many individuals to deal with such an enormous issue in an honest, almost brutal, manner.
The movie should also be commended for its actors, without which it could very well have proved a substandard effort. Mads Mikkelson gives a moving yet instantly believable performance as Jacob while Rolf Lassgard, Sidse Babbett Knudsen, and Stine Fischer Christensen are fantastic as Jorgen, Helen, and Anna, respectively. The film is also beautiful to look, and added bonus considering everything else it has going for it.
Recommended.
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