Thursday, August 2, 2012

After the Wedding (Efter brylluppet) (2006)

Director: Susanne Bier. Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Rolf Lassgård. 120 min. Rated R. Denmark/Sweden/UK/Norway. Drama.

A Scandinavian working in a poverty-stricken school in India, comes home to negotiate a large donation from a Danish billionaire, who casually invites him to his daughter's wedding. At the wedding, he discovers he's the father of the bride - a daughter he never knew he had. Interesting melodrama, huh? But the movie isn't merely a tearjerker. It takes steps for a broader message, and nicely demonstrates the universality of emotions such as betrayal, love for family, and fear of death. Great acting by the versatile Mikkelsen (the blood-teared villain in Casino Royale). Nominated for a Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.

PS: This is streaming on Netflix.

Mo says:

5 comments:

  1. Exactly. It is not just an interesting melodarerama...Not a cliche love story ! .. more deeper concepts are mentioned in this complicated and twisted family drama .... ,about the money , meaning of love , parenthood and more importantly :responsibility !If I want to use one word about this movie as a tagline : it would be : RESPONSIBILITY .
    As u said about fear of death : One of the terrifying moments in the movie was when the billionaire showed his real feeling toward the death with yelling that I DON'T WANT TO DIE . A very powerful scene. I got goose bumps from extreme fear !
    Another beautiful message I got from the movie was mentioned in a review that I've read "One of the trickiest things about the spiritual practice of compassion is that we must follow it wherever it leads. Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron has wisely observed: "True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our true kinship with all beings." I really believe in this when it beautifully portrayed in the movie and much more easier way to describe is this old saying in Persian : [Cheraghy ke be manzel ravast be masjed haram ast !]

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    1. Interesting viewpoint. When it comes to death, we may feel strong enough to deal with it theoretically - but when you think you'll lose the most simple joys of life, such as, a nice cup of coffee in the morning, let alone the much more profound things (as eluded to in "The Taste of Cherry"), confronting death may become a significantly harder issue.

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  2. I have to confess I haven't seen it yet !Embarrassing !! I know several time u addressed it . I owe an apologize to Abbass too!I wanted to go for Bus 174 tonight but now next stop it would be !" ...The Taste of Cherry"
    ;)

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    1. Actually, I'm restarting the "Hidden" column of Donyaye Tassvir, and "Bus 174" will be in the next issue.

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  3. WOW!GREAT! So I'll ask again next visitor to bring Donyaye Tasvir up here as my gift from Iran!Good for Ali Agha!
    :)

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