After the Wedding
Directed by Susanne Bier
IFC Films, 2007
By Doug Nayler
I don’t know what it is about family life in Scandinavia. Nations such as Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have very high GDPs, as well as strong, supportive, socialist governments, and consistently high ranking appearances on UN Lists concerning best places to live. But if cinema has taught me anything it’s that all the fjords, ice blocks, and smorgasbords lead to some weird shit going on at home. From Scenes of a Marriage to The Celebration I’ve been led to believe that there is nothing but repressed secrets and incest clauses attached to every single marriage certificate issued. And here there is no difference.
After the Wedding is a Danish drama about a family with some very big hidden secrets. Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) runs an Indian orphanage that is on the brink of collapse unless it can find some funding immediately. Luckily, Jorgen, a rich industrialist back in Denmark is willing to foot the bill. However, he requires Jacob to come to Denmark to shake his hand before he’ll write the check. Annoyed, Jacob very reluctantly goes to Denmark. He balks at the needless display of wealth, and desperately tries to avoid cow-towing to Jorgen’s whims. However, when he finds himself forced to attend Jorgen’s daughter’s wedding he’s surprised to discover that Jorgen’s wife Helene is actually one of Jacob’s ex-girlfriend’s from some 20 years past. And so, it’s not long before all is revealed about how strange this family truly is.
As one can perhaps deduce from what has been written thus far, there isn’t too much original or exciting to be found in After the Wedding. In fact, if the film hadn’t been nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar and Mikkelsen hadn’t cried all that blood in Casino Royale, I doubt the film would’ve found such a wide release here in North America. Though the film has some very human moments, the contrivance of the plot becomes so extreme that it borders on the absurd. How much can you relate to the plight of a group of people that seems so dramatically constructed? So, to sum up as tastelessly as possible: Just like any wild ride you take after a wedding, this film will be entertaining for a little while, but probably nothing you’ll think about the next day.
