The Oscar nominated After The Wedding uncoversa family’s secrets during the ceremony.

Hype and perceptions of “heat” don’t just influence the careers of individual actors or filmmakers, but can shape the ups and downs of different countries’ film industries. Currently the moviemaking nations generating the most worldwide buzz are probably Mexico and South Korea, thanks to bravura talents such as Guillermo del Toro and Park Chan-wook.

They’ve probably stolen some of Denmark’s thunder, even though the Danes have one of the most lively and passionate film communities on Earth. A particularly vibrant and confrontational generation emerged in the late 1990s, loosely unified by the so-called “Dogme 95 Vow of Chastity,” under which filmmakers sought to avoid cinematic artifice by shooting in natural light with handheld cameras while avoiding contrivances such as special effects or period costume dramas. The Dogme 95 filmmakers may not have been any more “pure” than other directors but reliably produced nervy, arresting work.

Having dabbled in Dogme, many of the directors moved on, like Susanne Bier, who crafted the compellingly soap-operatic Open Hearts under the Dogme restrictions. Most recently Bier secured a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination for After the Wedding, a more conventionally made film that shares the spark and energy of the Dogme films, as well as their surprising fondness for melodrama.

Bier reunites with Open Hearts’ Mads Mikkelsen, who plays Jacob, a driven, dedicated teacher at a broke, overcrowded orphanage in India. A soft-spoken philanthropist and surrogate father to one of the orphans, Jacob is also obstinate and judgmental about anyone not as self-sacrificing as he is.

Very much against his will, Jacob returns to his native Denmark to pitch a super-rich businessman named Jorgen (Rolf Lassgård) interested in keeping the school financially viable. With Indian music incongruously playing against the muted Danish cityscape, After the Wedding flirts with fish-out-of-water comedy worthy of a satirist like Evelyn Waugh. Jacob’s hotel suite, for example, dwarfs his classroom in India.

More than a conventional captain of industry, Jorgen conveys the entitlement of someone accustomed to issuing orders. Early scenes establish him as down-to-earth, whether he’s reading to his twin sons, romancing his wife, Helene (Sidse Babett Knudsen), or helping his mother play online poker.

Jorgen insists that Jacob attend the wedding of his daughter, Anna (Stine Fischer Christensen), and upon arriving at the small chapel, Jacob realizes that he had an old relationship with Helene, and may have closer ties to Jorgen’s family than anyone realized. Was the invitation a coincidence or an ambush arranged by Helene or Jorgen?

After the Wedding deserves credit for keeping the characters’ reactions raw and credible when a secret comes out. The whole cast provides moving performances, even when the plot borders on soap.

In After the Wedding, Bier displays a sure, spontaneous hand with the actors and sets a crisp pace, giving the film an aim-for-the-gut accessibility. For all the avant-garde ideals of Dogme 95, Danish filmmakers such as Bier never want to alienate their audiences, no matter what language they speak.

AFTER THE WEDDING ( * * * )

Directed by Susanne Bier. Starring Mads Mikkelsen and Rolf Lassgård. • R, 120 min. At the Osio Cinemas.