After the Wedding (Efter brylluppet)
By Jérôme
Patoux
Posted
April 20,
2007
Danish
cinema is full of surprises. It is so simple in its form, yet so
rich and complicated in its multiple layers of psychology and
social commentary. It makes you want to be more intimate with
the Danish culture and society, only to be able to appreciate
more deeply the nuances and subtleties of its characters and
situations.
In Susanne
Bier’s (the director) own words, “After the Wedding is a
film about secrets.” It is about hidden truths, about the weight
of the past and the fears of the future. It is about life and
death. And it is about love. The blind kind, that leaves us
astray and wandering, and the universal kind, resplendent in all
its humanity.
You don’t
need to know anything about the story; it would spoil the movie.
The first ten minutes are reminiscent of Festen – and it
truly competes in the same category of excellence. But the
script takes a life of its own and will leave you guessing at
each turn. Susanne Bier worked with screenwriter Anders Thomas
Jensen, renown for his originality and several times recipient
of OscarÒ nominations and awards (he wrote, notably, Adam’s
Apples and Mifune).
Finally,
After the Wedding is simply well acted. James Bond
aficionados will recognize Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre in the
recent Casino Royale. Mikkelsen is a rising star of the
Danish New Wave cinema and has gone international in the last
ten years. But even more impressive is Rolf Lassgard’s
performance as a middle-age man struggling to maintain his
dignity in confronting his fate.
Plays at the
Landmark Egyptian Theatre
805 East Pine, Seattle, WA - (206) 781-5755
1:45 4:15 7:00 9:30
©
2006 All content property of European Weekly unless where otherwise
accredited
