Product: After The Wedding (Despues De La Boda) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latin America] (2006)
Rating: 5.0
"After the Wedding" -- a masterpiece
AFTER THE WEDDING (EFTER BRYLLUPPET) (A+)I was just coming off my euphoric high from "The Lives of Others," a Cold War era story of self-discovery and redemption in the desperately paranoiac last years of the East German Stasi, when along comes an exquisite Danish film about reconnecting lives, second chances, and noble deeds called "After the Wedding," written and directed by Susanne Bier, that all but left me hyperventilating. Both films are as freehanded and frank as they are forgiving while penetrating with astute precision the flawed, enigmatic, but accessible souls that populate their narratives. Both explore the murky issues of power, trust, self-interest, honor, morality, and spirituality. Without sentimentality or the manipulation of our responses, both end on an upbeat, if uncertain note of hopefulness."After the Wedding" is often extraordinary for what is left unsaid -- Bier, with 20-20 vision of her story and its implications, believes in an economy of words and the generous use of camera close-ups to capture nuances in expression, gesture, mannerism, and body language, as her characters have stirring encounters with one another. Of course, that approach takes for granted the keen insights and instincts of her actors and how fully invested they are in their roles. Those assumptions are never in doubt with the cast of "After the Wedding," which is headed by Mads Mikkelsen as Jacob Petersen, a rugged, hands-on humanitarian and, in some cases, surrogate father, who administers a food-aid program for orphaned children in India.The promise of a windfall gift from a wealthy Copenhagen industrialist named Jorgen (Rolf Lassgard) that will underwrite construction of an orphanage takes Jacob back to his native soil for somewhat delicate negotiations. There are terms and conditions to iron out before the transfer of funds can be implemented, so Jacob is obliged to be obliging to his benefactor for a few days. As it happens, the wedding of Jorgen's only daughter Anna coincides with Jacob's stay, and the affable billionaire is graciously adamant that Jacob attend, though our hero is clearly more at home with grit than glitz.Just after the ceremony itself, Jacob encounters a coincidental and shocking link with his past and, later, a stunning revelation about the present, that saddles him with a potentially life-altering dilemma. What follows is an urgent and deeply affecting melodrama, in its most distinguished form, that explores with brilliant clarity and aching humanity the yin and yang of allegiances, moral ambiguities, and, in the end, a decision that tests the mettle of a man torn between two callings.Mikkelsen, seen for the first time by most American moviegoers as the villain Le Chiffre in last year's James Bond prequel, "Casino Royale," is a magnetic actor, in the mold of Clive Owen, Gerard Butler, Christian Bale, and Russell Crowe, who commands the screen with his ideally constructed frame, chiseled cheekbones, and wide eyes that peer icily and inscrutably, probe menacingly, and well up tenderheartedly as befits a complex character haunted by a less-than-impeccable past and confronted with having to make intelligent judgments and agonizing choices that will change the entire landscape of his future.But "After the Wedding" is almost as much Lassgard's film, as he transitions from impregnable corporate mogul with appearances of ulterior magnanimity to gentle giant in the ultimate state of vulnerability. He has a scene near the end of "After the Wedding" that's as exhaustively heart-rending as any I've seen on film.Like "The Lives of Others," "After the Wedding" was an entry in last year's Oscar sweepstakes for Best Foreign Language Film, but wasn't placed in general U.S. release until the first quarter of 2007. They'll be tough competition for the wave of late year entries that usually dominate my "Dazzling Dozen."