After the Wedding – Efter brylluppet (2006)

Directed by: Susanne Bier | 122 minutes | drama | Actors: Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Rolf Lassgård, Stine Fischer Christensen, Mona Malm, Christian Tafdrup, Niels Anders Thorn

The story of ‘After the Wedding’ is mainly about the moral dilemmas that people can face and how they can respond to them under certain circumstances. As a director, Susanne Bier has previously surprised us with the extremely dramatic ‘Brothers’. This time she couldn’t quite match the dramatic impact of ‘Brothers’. Yet another beautiful piece of work has come out of her hand. The filmmaker has succeeded in working out moral dilemmas credibly. How can good intentions degenerate through all kinds of, in principle, villainous conditions that are imposed?

Jacob Petersen (a brilliant role by Mads Nikkelsen) runs an orphanage in India that is in danger of going bankrupt due to a lack of money. Jacob is very committed to this project and is willing to do anything for it. In principle, he considers the actions of Western organizations and companies as almost criminal, given the effects on the orphans and the conditions under which they have to live as a result. Only because of his involvement does he succumb to the heavy pressure exerted on him by his Indian boss. He is prepared to make a trip to Denmark where a generous lender will in principle make a large donation under certain conditions. The importance of his orphans outweighs his aversion to him.

The successful Danish businessman Jorgen (played magnificently by Rolf Lassgård) leads a very successful life in great luxury. Jorgen turns out to be the ideal father with a daughter who is about to get married and twins still young. Jorgen, however, cancels a meeting where money matters should have been discussed. He invites Jacob to attend his daughter’s wedding. Things can be discussed further there. During, but especially after the marriage, a chain reaction of emotions starts.

The story then develops explosively. Jacob turns out to know the businessman’s wife. It’s his old childhood friend from his wild years in which drug use played a role. They have never spoken to each other since they left each other and do not know anything about each other and what could possibly bind them.

The scenario incorporates a number of layers of deception. Who cheated whom with what and with what premeditated intention is who exactly in the game? The developments in the scenario sometimes seem a bit overly complicated when another deception is discovered, but the game is of a high level. The dilemmas of all those involved are well worked out, who is serving whose interests here? Is the businessman really just the generous lender or is he holding a few more cards to his chest?

The acting of all the actors, but especially that of Mads Nikkelsen, is extremely powerful. His spirit jumps off the screen. ‘After the Wedding’ confronts us with questions about how heavy your own moral interests should weigh against the consequences for – in this story – the naked existence of orphans in India. Can you afford to be morally pure or do you put the social interests of others who depend on you more important?

A film that turns out to be a heavy emotional drama. The scenario has a sometimes somewhat excessively constructed line in which people cheat each other over and over again. As a whole, the film is of a high standard.