I don’t envy the Academy voters who had to decide this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Each of the nominated movies so far released in Australia – Water, Pan’s Labrinyth and The Lives of Others – has been sublime.
And now we have the deeply moving Danish drama After the Wedding.
Following on from their acclaimed pictures Open Hearts and Brothers, director Susanne Bier and writer Anders Thomas Jensen here deliver another emotionally charged exploration of the human condition.
Mads Mikkelsen – who was last year’s Bond villain in Casino Royale – is Jacob, a tireless worker at in Indian orphanage. He loves the kids but the facility is faced with closure unless he can win funding from a billionaire businessman back in Denmark.
Jacob is reluctant to make the trip. He’s fearful of missing a beloved orphan’s birthday but more so because he’s generally contemptuous of wealthy do-gooders. But when he meets rich industrialist Jorgen and attends the wedding of his daughter Anna, Jacob’s life is turned upside down.
I’m not going to say any more about the plot. It’s best to go in knowing little more than this is one of the best films of the year.
Whether you anticipate how the plot plays out doesn’t matter – you won’t be able to help but be moved. Mikkelsen’s angular features makes him physically perfect for the haunted Jacob and his performance is exquisite. And the rest of the cast are all flawless.
Susanne Bier gets up close to her wonderful actors for moments of almost unbearable intimacy and she’s a firm believer in the eyes being windows to their souls.
In lesser hands, After the Wedding may have played out like melodrama or a soap. But it never feels manipulative as it breaks our hearts and fills us with admiration for the sacrifices people make.
This is a riveting drama that never hits a false note and there won’t be a dry eye in the house. Four and a half stars.
