Sometimes the problem with playing a totally despicable bad guy is that it is then disarming to a moviegoer when same actor stars in a very serious non-violent role. When Mads Mikkelsen first appears in "After the Wedding", I couldn't get the image of his scarred, weeping blood face from "Casino Royale" out of my mind. However, two minutes into his bravura performance, I had forgotten all about ol' scarface.

Jacob Petersen (Mikkelsen) is a Danish expatriate living in India, running an orphanage which is about to close due to lack of funds. He has become very attached to one little boy, Pramod (Neeral Mulchandani), for whom he has cared since birth. In an effort to save the children, Jacob must travel back to Copenhagen to make a presentation to a private investor, billionaire businessman Jorgen Hansson (Rolf Lassgard). They meet the day before Jorgen's daughter, Anna's (Stine Fischer Christensen) wedding, and at the conclusion of their session, Jorgen invites Jacob to the event. Upon arriving at the ceremony, he is shocked when he realizes that Jorgen's wife, Helene (Sidse Babett Knudsen), is his ex-lover. Jacob is stunned even further when he learns that Anna is actually his daughter.

There is a lot going on here. Jacob has promised Pramod that he will return to India in time for the little boy's birthday. Jorgen, dangling the promise of a great sum of money for the orphanage, is insisting that Jacob stay in Copenhagen for reasons of his own. The tension between all of these characters ---- Jacob, Jorgen, Helene and Anna ---- is almost unbearable until we begin to piece together Jorgen's ultimate plan.

The performances by each of the actors are simply outstanding. Filmmaker Susanne Bier does an exquisite job using extreme close-ups of faces, most notably eyes, to reveal each person's emotions, something I'm sure my illustrious partner hated, but then, who cares? Mikkelsen has that rugged unshaven look going on, but we see that he is more than capable of tenderness. Lassgard plays Jorgen as a larger-than-life tycoon, unafraid to indulge his whims and display his deepest fears. Knudsen is mesmerizing as the beautiful wife willing to do anything to save her family, and Christensen is a perfect imp, self involved, yet capable of loving her parents deeply.

Many components go into a truly superior film. Another important part of "After the Wedding" is the cinematography --- from the teeming streets of India to the stark metropolitan Copenhagen, and the lush residence of Jorgen and Helene, we are treated to visualizations worth the price of the ticket alone. A rare treat --- don't miss it!

Opinion: Strong See It Now!