Cheap After the Wedding (DVD) (Susanne Bier) Price

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Customer Reviews of After the Wedding

Finding Self
AFTER THE WEDDING ('Efter brylluppet') is a brilliant work, a two hour synthesis of life that demands our full attention and rewards that attention with some of the finest ensemble acting, directing, dialogue and message that we have come to expect from Danish writer/director Susanne Bier (Anders Thomas Jensen is also credited with the story concept). It is a film that raises difficult questions and situations and somehow pulls us into a world of damaged people about whom we genuinely care. <
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>Jacob (a stellar performance by Mads Mikkelsen) is a solitary soul who has found a niche in India as a teacher and caregiver in an orphanage. When he is informed that a wealthy donor is considering being a benefactor, Jacob leaves the children he loves to return to his native Denmark to the home of the potential donor Jørgen (another fine performance by Rolf Lassgård) and his wife Helene (Sidse Babett Knudsen): in Jacob's past he had been lovers with Helene while both were in India). A major event is in the offing - the marriage of 20-year-old Anna - Stine Fischer Christensen - (Jørgen and Helene's daughter) and feisty Christian (Christian Tafdrup). The only character who does not seem to have a secret is Jørgen's mother (Mona Malm) who suffers from mild dementia. It should be a happy occasion, but after the wedding old wounds are uncovered, long secrets are discovered, and nothing is as it seems. Jacob, now confronted with strange realities, longs to return to his Indian orphanage, but Jørgen manipulates his gift of money in a way that uncovers even more secrets. The multiple surprises that occur rapid fire keep the plot and character development spinning until the film closes with such grace that the audience is left stunned. <
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>As the current barrage of summer movies assault our senses, making us wonder about the mental hunger for films less than challenging, along comes the release of this magnificent work and reassures us that the era of superb cinema has not dissolved into cartoons. AFTER THE WEDDING is a perfect as a film gets. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, July 07

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Traveled to Sweden.
This was such a beautiful film. Breathtaking! The best part was watching it with my movie buddy Sandra Zhao! I cannot wait to see it again. I truly felt like the movie had taken me on a trip to Denmark. I have still not watched the Lives of Other's which beat Pan's Labyrinth and this movie for Best Foreign Film. Can't wait to see it.

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Hollow at the core
One can see why this movie garnered such praises. Beautifully filmed, knockout kids, excellent performances, and a glorious soundtrack brilliantly featuring Sigur Ros, the film looks, sounds, and feels spectacular. But it is thematically where it lost me, and lost me bad. <
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>I suppose we are to see contrasts between rich and poor, past and present. Money cannot buy everything. Yeah, OK, think we've heard that one before. But what this film is about is atonement. And it seems to say that money can indeed buy that. Jorgen wants to fund an orphanage to atone for his unnamed sins (unless the mere act of making money is a sin in itself.) 12 million dollars, even if they are depressed, buys a lot of hope for a lot of kids. Jorgen, apparently a truly and consistently good man in the world's eyes, is satisfied to do so. And garners praises. Jacob, sullied by a vile past, seeks atonement by serving the world's poor and desperate. Different path, same solution: works. <
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>But I don't think it is so easy. This is atonement for the non-religious, or karma-crowd. The good makes up for and outweighs the bad. Poof, all nasty stuff gone! Do a lot of bad, you had better do even more good to balance the scale. In a Denmark where the Protestant religion once flourished, but here plays no role other than officiating at weddings and funerals, this is the only moral scale to be found. But the old one, the one that says deeds cannot ameliorate what was done, seems far more true to me. Having characters scramble to fix their sins with actions, earning their way into (whatever--public acclaim, easy conscience, family respect, heaven...makes no difference) is the post-modern solution. And one that would make all the very rich, very-ugly-past Hollywood types jump for joy. "See! I can undo all the scuzz I did and illegitimate children I fathered!" I'll choose forgiveness instead.