After The Wedding

We first meet Jacob in India, where he runs an orphanage and takes care of the little boy, Pramod, whom he has raised from infancy. Jacob is a man with big dreams but little means; the orphanage is really struggling, and he must travel to Denmark to try and raise the funds to keep it open. When successful businessman Jørgen offers him millions of dollars, it sems too good to be true. Then Jørgen invites him, whilst he's there, to attend his daughter's wedding, where they can get to know each other.

At the wedding, Jacob makes a discovery which will change his life forever - but it's only one in a series of revelations which will change the way we think about everyone involved before the tale is over.

It's difficult to say much more than this about After The Wedding without giving too much away. This is a film which really will keep you guessing with every twist and turn, though its complexity is entirely justified by its underlying plot - it's never just trying to be clever.

What emerges is an astonishingly powerful story about love and regret and the decisions people make in life, the fateful things which sometimes happen for very little reason. It's a re-examination of the nature of family which, for all the ugliness of the situations its characters face, manages to convey something intensely positive. It's rare to see a story of this type told in such an astute, adult way - it's a drama, but it's never an unnecessary drama, and it hits all the harder for this.

Beautifully shot in a manner which really brings out the character of its locations, After The Wedding is full of subtle visual clues which help to develop its themes. There's incredible attention to detail here, along with an absurdist sense of fun - as evinced in the charmingly inappropriate music - which reminds us how absurd life itself is, in the end. All of the cast are on superb form, particularly Rolf Lassgård, though for much of the film his Jørgen is inscrutable. This is a real labour of love, and highly recommended.