project film school

pfs meeting 8/1/07 : after the wedding (directed by susanne bier)

douglas sirk once said that melodrama was simply drama with music - and while i suspect there is a bit more to it, he was certainly on to something...

susanne's bier's after the wedding, the film we ended up watching at project film school this week, opens with shots of india and the sounds of sigur ros. after an introduction to our main character a serious, yet somewhat sad, do-gooder, we shift our eyes to denmark and our ears are suddenly filled with the classic "it's raining men" as a less serious, larger and well to do man drives up to his pictoral estate. both men come with character expectations and sterotypes based on their class and where we meet them - but bier does a great job of twisting and turning our emotions around our expectations until we have nothing left to do but cry....it is interesting to note where the two songs we hear in the opining scenes reappear later in the film.

as a whole the pfs crew enjoyed the film - what was interesting was the very strong opinions all had on character's motivations - i don't think i have ever had a film experience where everyone felt so right in their assessment of the actions of the people we had all come to know while watching the same two hour film. bier's frequent close ups and swirling camera, along with her outstanding cast create a intimate space in which the people we are watching become much more "known" to us - she effortlessly blends the immediacy of her past work in the dogme movement with the tightly woven up and down narrative that defines melodrama - making for a rollar coaster ride of realism you can't get off.

i leave this pfs report with a quote from andrew sarris' review of the film that looks to one point we debated over last night regarding choice of locations:

"...suffice it to say that our opinions of the characters undergo subtle changes, particularly when it involves our ingrown prejudices regarding financiers and seeming humanitarians. The performances of Mr. Lassgård, Mr. Mikkelsen, Ms. Knudsen and Ms. Christensen head up a splendid ensemble, both in Copenhagen and Mumbai. One final hint: The heart of the narrative is much more in Denmark than India, which ends up being exploited for its more colorful production values."