2 or 3 things I know about Susanne Bier (4)

AFTER THE WEDDING,

ELEGY OF THE PATER FAMILIAS

René Hirsch
© 2012

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AFTER THE WEDDING, elegy of the pater familias

Original title: Efter brylluppet (2006)

Director: Susanne Bier

Producers: Peter Garde, Peter Aalbæk Jensen, Sisse Graum Jørgensen
Screenplay: Anders Thomas Jensen, Susanne Bier
Script: Anders Thomas Jensen
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Rolf Lassgård, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Stine Fischer Christensen, Mona Malm

• Nominated to the Academy Award for 'Best Foreign Language Film of the Year'
• Winner of the Jury Special Prize and two Silver Dolphins at the Festróla - Tróia International Film Festival
• Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival
• Nominated to two European Film Awards.

Plan
After a short presentation of the film (synopsis, characters), I
introduce elements related to the structure (parts, events, parallels),
and the symbolic and thematic aspects of the film (relational –
jealousy, lies, temptation, etc. – and material – animals, plants,
kitchen, furniture). The conclusion outlines the way masculine and
feminine characters interact in this transfer of a family unit.
This article relies on a chronological and contextual analysis.
BEWARE: SPOILERS

Synopsis
Jørgen, a rich Danish businessman, is interested in financing the
orphanage that Jacob manages in India. However, before committing
any money, Jørgen wants to meet Jacob and requires that he comes
to Denmark. At first, Jacob refuses, but in need of money, he
eventually accepts.
Once in Denmark, Jørgen invites Jacob to the wedding of his
daughter, Anna. There, Jacob meets Helene, Jørgen’s wife, with
whom he had a tumultuous relationship in his youth. He suddenly
realizes that he is the biological father of the bride.
For what reason has he been invited? It can’t be a coincidence…
Three times, Jørgen increases the sum he wants to commit in the
orphanage, but in return, he asks Jacob to prolong his stay. Jacob is
reluctant to do that, having promised to be back in India for the
birthday of his protégé, Pramod. Finally, refusing to be continuously
manipulated by Jørgen, Jacob decides to leave. Jørgen is then obliged

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 to reveal to Jacob that he’s dying and that he wants Jacob to take
care of his family when he will be gone. Unable to cope with the
events that are imposed on him, Jacob decides to return to India. But
that evening, having caught her husband cheating on her, Anna takes
refuge in the arms of Jacob. Jacob realizes that she needs him and
decides to stay, agreeing to play the role that Jørgen has planned for
him.

Characters
The film features three groups of characters: those forming the family
unit itself, those affiliated with the family unit, and a few support-
personages.

Family unit • Jørgen, husband

• Helene, wife
• Anna, daughter (getting married to Christian)
• Marten and Morten, 2 young male twins
Affiliated • Jacob, Anna’s father and Helene’s former lover
• Christian, Anna’s husband, Mille’s former lover
• Farmor, Jørgen’s mother
• Pramod (=joy, happiness), boy from the orphanage
Support • Mille, secretary working for Jørgen
• Mrs. Shaw, Jacob’s colleague at the orphanage

STRUCTURE
The film is divided into two almost equal parts. Each part is triggered
by an event.

Part 1: Ties renewal

The first part begins with the circumstances that compel Jacob to go
to Denmark. Once there, Jacob comes across Helene, and discovers
that he has a daughter, Anna.
These three characters are subjected to events that seem to have
been orchestrated by Jørgen, although he denies that.

Part 2: Jørgen’s disease

The second part is structured around Jørgen’s illness: Helene
discovers that her husband is terminally ill; Jørgen has then to
confess his illness to Jacob; Anna finally hears it from her mother. In
the end, we assist at Jørgen’s funerals.

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It becomes clear that everything has been planned by Jørgen who
wanted to ensure the future of his family after his death.

Linear structure
After the Wedding is built along the lines of Susanne Bier’s previous
films [Den eneste ene (The One and Only, 1999), Elsker dig for evigt
(Open Hearts, 2002), Brødre (Brothers, 2004)]: an event – of a
series of events – deeply transforms the life of the personages
involved. Reacting to this event, the characters, powerless at first,
undergo a phase of rejection, followed by one of acceptance that
liberates them in the end.

Event 1
The first part revolves around two events:
a) Before granting funds to finance Jacob’s orphanage, Jørgen
requires to meet Jacob (event). Jacob has no choice: if he wants to
save his orphanage, he must go to Denmark (powerlessness).
However, he first refuses: he cannot leave the children now,
especially because it soon will be Pramod’s birthday (rejection). He
finally agrees, understanding that the survival of the orphanage
depends on it (acceptance). Liberation will only come at the end (see
event 2).
b) Once in Denmark, Jørgen invites Jacob to the wedding of his
daughter, Anna. There, Jacob discovers that Jørgen’s wife, Helene, is
none other than the woman with whom he had a tumultuous
relationship, some 20 years earlier. He also realizes that he is the
father of Anna.

Powerlessness
Jacob: Jacob is deeply unsettled by the discovery that he is the
father of Anna (scene in the garden where he rejects Mille).
Helene: Helene thinks that Jørgen is behind it all, that the sudden
arrival of Jacob cannot be a coincidence / She is compelled by Jacob
to tell Anna that he is her father.
Anna: Anna learns that Jacob is her father. She is overwhelmed
(scene in the garden, at the same place where Jacob sat).

Rejection
Jacob: Jacob blames Helene for leaving him and for hiding from him
that she was pregnant (1st scene in the kitchen).

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Helene: Helene accuses Jacob of running after every woman, of
drinking and taking drugs (1st scene in the kitchen).
Anna: Anna violently rejects her mother who she accuses of lying to
her, hiding from her who her father was (2nd scene in the kitchen).

Acceptance
Jacob: Jacob reconciles with Helen (scene on the steps of the
terrace).
Helene: Helen makes peace with Jacob (scene on the steps of the
terrace).
Anna: Anna pays a visit to her mother for an explanation (scene
under the tree) / Anna goes to Jacob (1st scene in Jacob’s hotel
room).

Liberation
Jacob: see under Event 2.
Helene: Helen finally acknowledges to Anna (and to herself) that she
still loves Jacob (scene under the tree).
Anna: Discovering her husband’s relationship with Mille, Anna takes
refuge in the arms of Jacob, freeing herself from Christian (2nd scene
in the hotel room).

Event 2
The second part is built around one event: Jørgen is dying. Jacob and
Jørgen will experience the consequences of this 'event' differently.

Jacob
Powerlessness: After their fourth interview in Jørgen’s office, Jacob
walks away, refusing to be manipulated by Jørgen and his money.
Jørgen runs after him and tells him that he’s going to die. Jacob,
feeling completely overwhelmed, does not react and leaves.
Rejection: Saturated, wanting to recover the control of his life,
Jacob rejects everything that comes from Jørgen, and decides to
return to India.
Acceptation: Surprisingly, Anna shows up at his door, extremely
upset because she caught her husband cheating with Mille (2nd scene
in the hotel room of Jacob). Jacob realizes how much she needs him
and decides to stay (phone call to Mrs. Shaw).

Jørgen
Jørgen experiences this sequence in reverse order, going from
acceptance to denial and helplessness:
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 Acceptation: Knowing he’s going to die, Jørgen has decided to plan
the future of his family just like he has planned the future of his
company. From the moment Jacob arrives in Denmark, all the pieces
of the puzzle he has created fall slowly into place.
Rejection: While his plan is getting realized, Jørgen refuses his
approaching death (scene in the bedroom).
Powerlessness: Death wins.

Liberation
1) For Jacob, one last obstacle remains: his commitment to Pramod.
He has taken care of Pramod since his birth without officially adopting
him (this allows a 'soft' separation that is not contrary to the moral of
the story). Ultimately, it’s Pramod who refuses to go and live in
Denmark with Jacob. 1 Pramod’s refusal frees Jacob from the last link
attaching him to his previous life, and allows him to fully dedicate
himself to his new function, becoming head of Jørgen’s family.
2) Jørgen’s death puts an end to the drama and liberates the
characters.

Unlike in previous films where the action arises out of an accidental

event placed either at the beginning (Joachim is knocked over by a
car in Open Hearts), or during the first half of the movie (Lizzie’s
accident in The One and Only, Michael’s helicopter explosion in
Brothers), the accidental event of After the Wedding is located at the
end: the death of Jørgen, although the source of all the action in the
film, is the culmination and not the starting point of the film.

Parallels
Parallels are another element used by Susanne Bier to structure her
films, and can relate to visual aspects (the beginning of The One and
Only), to the general composition of the film (Brothers), to the
situation (The One and Only), or to the characters (comparisons,
contrasts as in Brothers).

1
Many have criticized the fact that Pramod does not follow Jacob to Denmark,
stating that no child of this age would decline such an opportunity, accusing the
author to depart from the realism that characterizes the rest of the movie. As we
shall see, the Jacob-Pramod relationship serves as parallel to the other adoptive
relationship Jørgen-Anna. Furthermore, Pramod symbolizes the life that Jacob has
to leave behind.
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The 2 parts
Many parallel elements or scenes structure the two parts:
• 2 scenes in India: one at the beginning of the first part, one at
the end of the second part, they use similar elements (orphanage,
children, taxi, etc.)
• 2 celebrations: Anna’s wedding and Jørgen’s birthday use both
the same sequence (meal, speech, dance)
• 2 openings of the safe, both related to the event specifically
attributed to the part: the first time, we see old newspapers,
probably having to do with Jørgen’s search for Jacob; the second
time, we discover the disease of Jørgen
• 2x It's raining men: when we meet Jørgen for the first time in
his car, driving home, and at his birthday party, just before his
death
• 2 temptations, aimed at Jacob: in the first part, Jacob resists
Mille’s advances; in the second part, he refrains from drinking
alcohol (scene in the restaurant)
• 2 visits of Anna at Jacob’s hotel: the first one, after she has
learned that Jacob is her father; the second one, after discovering
that her husband is cheating on her
Culminating at the end of the 2nd part, let us also mention here the
two birthdays between which Jacob has to choose: on the one hand,
Jørgen’s birthday in Denmark; on the other, Pramod’s in India.

Characters
Jørgen-Jacob
• Right from the beginning, we understand that Jørgen is closely
watching what is happening in India: the face of Jørgen behind the
window of his office in Denmark appears in parallel with the action
in India
• Jacob does not want to leave, the children of the orphanage need
him / Jørgen who is going to die does not want to leave his
children
• Jacob reads to the children of the school / Jørgen reads to the
twins in their bed
• Jacob presents himself as the adopting father of Pramod / Jørgen
is the adoptive father of Anna
• In the end, Jacob takes care of Anna, while it is Jørgen’s money
that takes care of Pramod in India

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• Jacob and Jørgen love the same woman (see below the parallel
with Brothers)
• Jacob and Jørgen show the same integrity

Anna-Christian / Helene-Jacob
During her unexpected wedding speech, Anna acknowledges the
existence of a parallel between her story and that of her mother.
• Christian goes after girls (1st scene in the office), just like Jacob
did
• Christian deceives Anna, just like Jacob deceived Helene
• The dispute between Christian and Anna is immediately followed
by the ‘reconciliation’ scene between Helene and Jacob
Finally, Christian is jealous of Jacob because he captures the
attention of Anna, and more importantly, because he eclipses him in
Jørgen’s family and business circle.

External parallels
Brothers
• A similar geopolitical situation:
o In Brothers, Michael works for the blue helmets (developing
aid with a governmental organization), and takes part in a
mission in Afghanistan, while his family lives in Denmark
o In After the Wedding, Jacob works in India (developing aid
with a non-governmental organization), and the family of
Jørgen (who will become his family) lives in Denmark
• Parallels in the way characters are distributed in the two films:
o 2 couples in a stable family situation: Michael-Sarah-the two
girls, on the one hand; Jørgen-Helene-Anna-the twins on the
other hand
o Both fathers (Michael/Jørgen) have fairly similar
characteristics:
 responsible, successful, strong, trying to control
everything
 at the end, under the weight of their secret, they both
collapse in the arms of their wife
o The 3rd male character is related to the couple:
 Jannik is Michael’s brother; Jacob is Anna’s father

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  Both have fairly similar characteristics: solitary,
revolving around the couple, marginal; in the past
irresponsible, hot-headed, they change or have
changed
 They both stir jealousy up: Michael is jealous of
Jannik, Christian is jealous of Jacob
 They both are subject to temptation (see below)
 Parallel at last in the way they integrate into the family
unit: they are first accepted by the children (Jannik
plays with the daughters of Sarah; Jacob plays football
with the twins). They then get closer to the mother
(Jannik-Sarah/Jacob-Helene)
o The male drama is anchored around the female characters:
Sarah is the focus of Michael and Jannik, while Jørgen and
Jacob gravitate around Helene
o The grandparents are marginalized:
 The mother of Michael and Jannik escapes the burden
of reality, while their father only gets along with his
granddaughters
 Farmor, the mother of Jørgen, is presented as a senile
person, disconnected from her entourage
Notice however that the mother of Michael looks towards
the past (comments about the kitchen, re-arranging old
records), whereas Farmor lives entirely in the present,
having developed a dependence on online poker games
that is more characteristic of teenagers and young adults.

Other movies
In The One and Only as in After the Wedding, adoption is in the
hands of the male characters:
• In the first movie, Niller manages to keep Mgala after the death of
Lizzie; in addition, he agrees to recognize the baby of Sus
(pregnant from Sonny)
• In the second movie, Jørgen has adopted Anna, while Jacob
considers Pramod as his adoptive son

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THEMES AND SYMBOLS
We make here a distinction between symbols and themes with a
relational content and the material ones.

Relational symbols/themes

Blood relationships
We have mentioned the interpersonal equilibrium existing between
the two 'fathers' and their adoptive children (Jacob-Pramod/Jørgen-
Anna). Yet, blood relationships prevail. Anna comes to Jacob when
she discovers that her husband is cheating on her. Moreover, the fact
that Anna needs Jacob is the only reason why Jacob abandons the
idea of returning to Pramod, as he had promised. In Brothers, blood
ties prevent Jannik from taking advantage of Michael’s absence to
seduce Sarah.

Jealousy
Christian is jealous of Jacob who represents a double threat to him:
he has taken away the attention of Anna, and he relegates Christian
to a secondary role in the entourage of Jørgen.
The first sign of Christian’s jealousy is when we see Jacob leaving the
house on foot after his talk with Helene in the kitchen. Christian goes
to the front door and closes it quite noisily, so that Jacob hears it and
looks back at the house. However, Christian does not know at this
time that Jacob is the father of Anna. His animosity is entirely
motivated by his devotion for Jørgen: after his wedding speech, a
guest asked if Christian was getting married to Anna or to Jørgen.
Later on, Christian and Anna have an argument (the bed scene).
Christian accuses Anna of having changed since she’s met her "holy"
father.
In Brothers, Michael is jealous of his brother whom he accuses of
having slept with his wife.

Lies and manipulations

When Jacob asks Jørgen what he wants, Jørgen simply replies: "I’m
just a good man." However, to achieve his goal, the goal of a 'good'
man, Jørgen accumulates lies and manipulates the people around
him.

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 • Jørgen pretends that he did not know it was 'that' Jacob. Helene
doesn’t believe him
• Jørgen says that he cannot always control everybody. Apparently,
he’s trying his best
• Returning from fishing, Jørgen says to the twins that they must
not forget to lie about the fish they have (not) caught
• Although Jørgen says that he has not planned these events, he
confesses to Jacob that “there is a purpose in all this”
• Helene and Anna blame Jørgen for not telling them he was dying.
Anna asks him why he lies all the time
Helene is also involved in lying and manipulating others: Jacob
reproaches her for not telling him she was pregnant with Anna, while
Anna accuses her mother of manipulating her by not telling that
Jacob was her father.

Temptations
During their quarrel in the kitchen, Helene blames Jacob for
constantly being drunk and fooling around with every woman. Jacob
is incidentally put to the test on these two aspects:
• First temptation: Jacob is sitting in the garden, trying to cope with
the fact that he is the father of Anna, when Mille arrives, drunk.
She tries to seduce him, but he rejects her violently
• Second temptation: during their first interview, Jørgen asks Jacob
if he wants to drink something. Jacob refuses, but Jørgen still
gives him a glass that Jacob drinks. Later on, at the restaurant,
Jørgen, already drunk, asks for another bottle. Jacob he doesn’t
want to drink anymore. Jørgen insists, but Jacob holds on to his
decision.
One understands that Jacob has changed, that he is no longer the
irresponsible person he was at the time Helene knew him.
This theme already appears in Brothers, where Jannik has twice the
possibility to take advantage of the absence of Michael to win Sarah,
but resists the temptation by leaving the house every time.

Material symbols/themes
The use of material symbols is one of the characteristics of Susanne
Bier’s movies. They allow the symbolization of a context without
resorting to words. In her previous films, furniture and kitchens are
the symbolized materialistic elements she has used the most. In After
the Wedding, animals and plants are most prominently introduced.

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Animal-vegetal
Jørgen is repeatedly associated with plants or animals. Usually after a
close-up on his face, we see stems supporting large leaves corroded
by pests or disease. These are taken against the light, without any
detail, and give an impression of destruction, of desolation. Animals
associated with Jørgen are mostly the hunting trophies that adorn the
walls of his house, with their taxidermic dead eyes. We also see the
remains of a dead fox on the side of the road. All these elements
symbolize the illness and the soon-to-come death that haunt Jørgen.
After a close-up on the face of Anna sitting in the garden and trying
to cope with the fact that she has a new father, we see small wild
flowers (forget-me-nots) with a ladybug on one of their stems. A gust
of wind agitates the flowers, and the bug flies away. The next image,
we see the face of Anna, a tear flowing on her cheek as if she had, at
that moment, lost a kind of innocence.
Finally, there's a stark contrast between the walls of the house,
covered with stuffed animals (they only appear in the second part),
and the views of the park extending beyond the terrace, showing a
verdant nature inhabited by birds, fallow deer and doe. The death of
Jørgen dominates the interior of the house, while outside, life is
flowing.

Kitchen
As in The One and Only and in Brothers, the kitchen symbolizes the
family unit. The first reference to the kitchen comes when Jørgen
proposes to Helene and Jacob that they have their explanation in the
kitchen. This choice is all the more peculiar as we have seen that the
house has many comfortable sitting rooms. Helene asks Jørgen to
come along. Once in the kitchen, Helene and Jacob explode, full of
blame for each other. Jørgen standing behind Helene serves as visual
and moral support, calming the spirits when they get overheated.
Jacob leaves the house, angry.
After Jacob, it is the turn of Anna to have an explanation with Helene
in the kitchen, always in the presence of Jørgen. Anna insults her
mother, and leaves angry.
The second explanation between these personages takes place in a
different context. Helene and Jacob start talking standing in the
hallway, then sitting a bit awkwardly in one of the rooms near the
entrance, and finally reconciled, sit outside on the terrace, sipping a
glass of wine facing the park.
The second explanation between Anna and Helene takes place in the
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garden. We will develop below why these scenes are set outside the
house.
Another reference to the kitchen comes when Jørgen, planning to go
on a fishing trip with the twins, asks Jacob to take Helene out,
pointing out how terrible a cook she is. The symbolic weight that the
kitchen possesses in the world of Susanne Bier implies that Helene is
not considered as the heart of the household (see below).

Furniture
With a symbolism identical to that of the kitchen, furniture is here
discretely used. The house is richly furnished, indicating a family with
profound ties. This contrasts with the newly formed couple Christian-
Anna: during his argument with Anna (bed’s scene), Christian
complains that they just have a mattress on the ground, and blames
Anna for thinking only about Jacob while they still have so much to do
in their apartment.
After this dispute, we see Anna walk through the richly furnished
sitting rooms, looking for her mother. She finally finds her in the
garden, sitting against a tree, and asks her what she’s doing there,
indicating that it is not in the habits of Helene to be there. The two
women have an explanation. Anna asks direct and specific questions,
getting Helene so far as to confess that she has tried to forget Jacob,
without success. Such an admission could not have taken place in the
house, its furniture imposing the family unit she forms with Jørgen,
preventing thus any distance, any reflection. To come to terms with
the past and with the events imposed on her, she had to detach
herself from the house and her context.
The past is further symbolized by the rope ladder that climbs along
the huge tree trunk against which Helene is sitting; it leads to a
wooden hut that one can barely see between the branches.
For the same reason, the second meeting between Helene and Jacob
starts with a certain animosity in the house, but the reconciliation
that follows takes place on the terrace.

The safe
The safe gets opened twice in the movie, revealing every time a
‘secret’ over an event motivating the action: in the first part, we see
old newspapers that appear to confirm the fact that Jørgen has
followed the trace of Jacob all these years; in the second part, we see
a pot of morphine and pills, that make us understand how sick Jørgen
is.

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Conclusion

Masculine-feminine
After the Wedding is a male drama around a female core: the
decisions of Jørgen and Jacob, shaping the action of the movie, are
focused on Helene, Anna and the children. Like in Brothers, the
female nucleus undergoes the action imposed by the male element.
However, a significant difference is that the action in Brothers
challenges the couple Michael-Sarah, bringing it to the point of
collapse. The construction, destruction, and reconstruction of the
kitchen symbolize the ordeal experienced by the couple.
At the opposite, all the action of After the Wedding aims at preserving
and prolonging the family unit, a plan depending on the will of Jørgen
and Jacob: the other characters are submitted to this premise.
The ascendancy of the masculine is also accentuated by the
weakness attributed to the feminine: unlike Sarah (Brothers) who
gives Michael an ultimatum – if he does not tell her what happened in
Afghanistan, he won’t see her again – and who is there to support her
husband when he collapses, Helene is totally impotent and undergoes
the events from the beginning until the end. She eventually comes to
Jacob for support, just like Anna did (breakfast scene at the hotel),
creating thus the context that will make us accept the transfer from
Jørgen to Jacob, Jacob becoming the new pater familias.

Primacy of the pater familias

Just like in the previous films of Susanne Bier, the family unit is a
core element of After the Wedding. The film is built up to show the
dominant position of Jørgen as the head of the family. Jørgen
manages the house: he takes care of his mother and of the twins
(reading to them, fishing with them, teasing them). He is also the
adoptive father and is portrayed as the stable element of the family
(scenes in the kitchen). Moreover, the way Helene is staged sustains
the idea of Jørgen’s predominance in the household: bad cook,
ephemeral relationships with the twins, etc.
The patriarchal stature of Jørgen is also reinforced by the devotion
Christian shows for his father-in-law: it gives Jørgen an aura of
omnipotence that makes us accept all his whims (scene in the car).
Brought in picture at the beginning of the film, this devotion is
emphasized in the second part when, finally signing the contract with
Jacob, everyone around the table – except Jacob – rushes to offer

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Jørgen a pen.
Underlying this devotion is the fact that Jørgen started out flat broke
and has successfully built a business empire. During his birthday
speech, Jørgen outlines his future plans for the company, which he
will not be there to see. It is therefore not too far-fetched to imagine
that he has future plans for his family as well, wanting to ensure that
it will survive after he’s gone.

Quotes
The transfer of the torch from Jørgen to Jacob is the real purpose of
the film. When Jørgen runs after Jacob and begs him to stay, he
says: "Don’t you see there’s a reason to all this!" Jacob inherits the
function of pater familias because the twins are also included in the
deal: "Anna will need you. And Helene… And the boys… They are so
young, Jacob", reminding us of Michael’s last words in Brothers, when
he collapses in the arms of Sarah: "He had a little boy…" As if
Susanne Bier had wanted to build her film around the last sentence of
the previous one.
At the funeral, Jacob takes care of one of the twins, then of Anna,
and finally offers his hand to Helene who accepts it. Jacob is invested
in his new role.

René Hirsch
rene.hirsch@ymail.com

Next article: Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)

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