Released earlier this year, Bart Freundlich’s “After the Wedding” is not simply an English-language remake of Susanne Bier’s Oscar-nominated 2006 film of the same name. The writer-director fundamentally changes the story at the heart of the drama by swapping the gender of its protagonists, re-envisioning them as women instead of men. Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams lead the pic, which is available on VOD, DVD, and Blu-ray tomorrow, November 12. In an exclusive behind-the-scenes featurette provided to Women and Hollywood, Freundlich, Moore, Williams, and others weigh in on how this decision impacted the film.
“After the Wedding” sees the manager of an orphanage in Kolkata (Williams) returning to New York after a long hiatus to meet a potential benefactor (Moore).
“Making such a fundamental change just sent us off on a different path of exploration that would allow to keep the power of the original film but for a different flavor,” Freundlich says.
Moore suggests that making the protagonists women adds “another dimension” to the story. Williams describes the swap as an “exciting concept” and emphasizes how “topical” the decision was to “give these two wonderful parts to women,” seemingly referring to the demand for more women-driven projects and nuanced female characters.
Check out the clip below. Warning: a major spoiler is alluded to.
