Efter Brylluppet

"Efter Brylluppet" was a complete surprise to me as I watched the movie merely out of curosity to see what on earth is Mads Mikkelsen doing in an academy award nominated movie. I guess I had a very different opinion about this actor before "Efter.." when the only time I've seen him on screen is in Casino Royale. Yeah, the bad guy really pissed me off when he showed the audience that sweating, sniggering, poker and yes crying blood are the only things a typical movie baddie could do in front of a camera. Hmpf! And in "Efter..", you see a completely different Mads. One that could act, and how!

Trailer:


Jacob (Mads) is a dedicated social worker committed to the cause of helping the kids in the slums of India make something out of their lives. He loves what he's doing, calls India his "home" in fact, he even speaks hindi! His closest friend is little Pramod, who turns seven in two weeks time. Things are tough in these slums. Lack of proper funds, amenities and help make his work seem nowhere close to producttive.

At this point, Jacob recieves a call from denmark informing him that a billionaire businessman, Jorgen (Rolf Lassgård) in copenhagen is looking to set apart some money for social work, and has singled out Jacob's project for it. Jacob is hesitant at first to travel all the way to denmark just to shake hands with somebody. But the need of the hour forces him to leave, even with little Pramod's birthday some eight days away. He leaves, promising he'll be back in a week, in time for the birthday.

Once in Denmark, we immediately see the stark transformation in the visuals, from brown, dusty Mumbai to the prim, green, clean surroundings in denmark. Jacob is efficiently accomodated in an expensive hotel. Jorgen, it turns out has quite a number of projects for the sake of options. He only has to choose which one to put his money into. As a trivial matter, Jorgen also mentions to Jacob the wedding of his daughter the very next day and invites Jacob too.

Jacob then discovers mush to his surprise, his past wife Helene at the function. She is now the very lucky, respected wife of Jorgen. They share pleasantries and talk like old friends. But things now turn awry when he also discovers that the young bride is actually his biological daughter who he never knew existed at the time of his separation from pregnant Helene. Both of them now suspect Jorgen of "planning" everything. Jorgen himself is completely bewildered at the turn of events and the coincidence.

The drama then unfolds to reveal that Jorgen is actually suffering secretly from a cancerous health problem and is soon expected to die. He immediately sees Jacob as the archangel who has arived at this crucial point in his life, to "take over" the family and protect them. He even offers him a phenomenal amount of money for the social work, but begs him not to leave denmark. Jacob immediately gets suspicious of Helene's involvement in this matter. But its only later that he comes to know of Jorgen's condition. Later Jorgen's daughter's marriage ends up disastrously, and too soon.

Eventually, he ends up not going back to India. He had lost his family once. Fate has brought it back to him another time....

Every person in the cast seem to breathe their chosen characters within their emotions. And the constant attention paid to minor details is amazing. Eyes, being the major detail. Rolf Lassgård is amazing as the bombastic billionaire with money all over his self. Mads.. well he's simply unbelievable. Excellent and beautiful. A must see for every person seeing a danish movie for the first time.