Monday - Movies
The Age
Thursday April 17, 2008
After the Wedding (2006)
World Movies, 2.40pmMads Mikkelsen is well known to SBS viewers of Unit 1, and worldwide as the bad guy in Casino Royale. Mikkelsen also stars in two of the finest films of the past decade, Ole Christian Madsen's Prague (also on World Movies) and Susanne Bier's After the Wedding. Bier is considered by many critics to be one of the finest directors alive and her Academy-nominated After the Wedding appeared in many top 10 lists last year. It is the story of a man who works at a shelter for homeless children in India, but returns to Copenhagen to meet a billionaire (Rolf Lassgard) interested in providing financial support. This businessman surprisingly invites him to his daughter's wedding. The rest you should not know, even if, at times, you will feel certain you know what's coming; you don't. This is a film of astonishing power, with an awesome grasp of how to dramatically unfold narrative. The cast of truly extraordinary actors will take you to the most intimate emotional places. Even the great Ingmar Bergman only reached this level occasionally. With films such as this and Prague, Danish cinema may well be leading the world. -- SCOTT MURRAY
© 2008 The Age