The Eclectic Choice: After The Wedding

After The Wedding (2007)
dir. Susanne Bier


Mads Mikkelsen is a really great actor. He did amazing work in the Pusher (1996/2004) movies and was first scene in the states as the baddie in Casino Royale (2007), but he's now in a whole different realm for me. I rented this film wanting to see him outside of the wheelhouse that I had created for him and he delivers with a performance that is touching, willing to be confused, scared and at times ugly only to find the acceptance that is needed to see why he has been brought into this drama.

The film itself is excellent as it pours on what could have been layer upon layer of cliché, but twists it and turns it into an honest look at a family and the flaws that make them exquisite human beings. It is almost impossible to go into a description about the plot without giving away any of the twists and turns that lead us through these characters lives. The basic concept is that Miklesen's character is asked to go to Denmark to meet a potential beneficiary that is necessary to keep the orphanage that Mikkelsen has started up in India. From there is just builds layer upon layer until you reach an emotional climax that seems like a damn breaking.

Mads Mikkelsen

Nominated for best foreign language film the same year as The Lives Of Others (2006) and Pan's Labrynth (2006), this one got a little lost in the mix, but you should check it out nowto see a really well made family drama as well as some outstanding work by Mikkelsen.