Product: After The Wedding (Despues De La Boda) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latin America] (2006)
Rating: 5.0
A Powerful Movie
This is a powerful movie. It starts out slowly, mainly focusing on a man, Jacob, whom for the first half of the movie I did not like. He was too self-focused and abrasive. As the movie starts, Jacob is working in an orphanage in India, but is called to Norway by a multi-millionaire, Jorgen, who says he will donate money to the orphanage. When Jacob meets with Jorgen, Jorgen procrastinates and says he is still considering and invites Jacob to attend his daughter's wedding the next day. At the wedding Jacob meets Jorgan's wife, whom he recognizes as someone he knew many years ago. And thus the story begins.This movie is superbly directed by Susanne Bier, who has directed several highly noted movies centering on how families behave during crisis situations, like "Brothers", about interactions between two brothers when one is sent to the war in Afghanistan, and "In a Better World" that won the 2011 Academy Award for best foreign film.After the wedding is subtle in some ways, obvious in others; but it will demand your attention and engage your emotions the whole way. I don't know if it will have you squirming in your seat, as one reviewer says, but he is correct when he says you will be unsettled. The movie has strongly affecting visceral elements and I found myself thinking about different segments days later. The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007, but lost out to "The Lives of Others", another outstanding film.