Table Of Content
- ‘Enemy of the People’ is the 19th century drama that still resonates with our pandemic-scarred society
- Live action shorts: Stories of life, death and the quirkiest of in-betweens
- Director Charlotte Sieling and Actress Trine Dyrholm on Historic Nordic Mystery ‘Margrete: Queen of the North’
- Eye For Film >> Features >> Wizards in a female sense
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This is the very territory where it all started, our story, all those centuries ago. This teaser is from a key scene in the film, when a shocking rumor reaches the castle and puts Margrete in an impossible dilemma, threatening to tear everything she has worked for apart. The magnificent costumes provide just the right armor and help transport us into a royal Nordic past with falconry, horseback riding on the stormy cliffs, where pirates are consulted and scolded. Yet, it is Margrete’s decision making, her intelligence and her achievements for peace that stay with you most.
‘Enemy of the People’ is the 19th century drama that still resonates with our pandemic-scarred society
By the time "Margrete" gets to its grand finale, what should have made for a shocking and powerful moment will inspire little more than a shrug from most viewers. Aside from the design departments, the craft MVP here is probably DP Rasmus Videbæk, whose magisterial camerawork makes the candlelit interiors feel as imposing as the sweeping landscapes, to the accompaniment of Jon Ekstrand’s elegant, classical score. But the very magnificence of the whole production, from its smorgasbord of Nordic acting talent to its self-conscious lionization of a remarkable woman wielding immense power within an otherwise suffocatingly male environment, also serves a more contemporary agenda. At one point, Margrete rescues a young woman, Astrid (Agnes Westerlund Rase) and pointedly reminds the pirate who captured her that rape is a hanging offense.
Live action shorts: Stories of life, death and the quirkiest of in-betweens
One gets hold of a production designer like Søren Schwartzberg and a cinematographer like Rasmus Videbæk. Then one starts to draw every location, then build every interior that you see, except for two Czech castles where we used a staircase and some other small things. To further solidify her position and to help stave off a potential invasion from Germany, a marriage has been arranged between Erik and England’s Princess Philippa that will help create a new alliance. On the eve of the wedding, just as negotiations regarding the dowry have kicked into high gear, things take a turn when a man (Jakob Oftebro) arrives in court proclaiming that he, in fact, is the real King Oluf and therefore the true ruler of the land.
Director Charlotte Sieling and Actress Trine Dyrholm on Historic Nordic Mystery ‘Margrete: Queen of the North’
Margrete: Queen of the North movie review (2021) - Roger Ebert
Margrete: Queen of the North movie review ( .
Posted: Fri, 17 Dec 2021 08:00:00 GMT [source]
On the other hand, her monarchical rationality questioned if he was merely an impostor sent to her doorsteps to disrupt a sought-after alliance with England. Dyrholm, whose credits also include Susanne Bier’s Oscar winner “In a Better World” and May el-Toukhy’s “Queen of Hearts,” toplines as Margrete the First, who is considered the most powerful ruler in Scandinavian history, as she gathered Denmark, Norway and Sweden into a peace-oriented union. Too bad that the same cannot be said for the film as a whole. While the basic outline of the story is intriguing, the screenplay by Sieling and co-writers Maya Ilsee and Jesper Fink never quite figures out how to make it compelling in cinematic terms. Outside of Margrete herself, the other characters have not been developed especially well, and it becomes hard to work up much interest in all of the intrigues and betrayals on display.
On the other hand, Asle Jonsson and the Norwegian councillors are adamant that the Man from Graudenz is Oluf, and the more Margrete speaks to him, the more she starts to wonder if he really is her son. A further element of doubt is introduced when she discovers that none of her councillors saw Oluf's corpse after his supposed death, as they were all too afraid of infection from the plague to open his coffin. In 1402, Margrete summons the leading magnates of the three kingdoms to Kalmar Castle to witness Erik's betrothal to Philippa of England, the daughter of King Henry IV of England. Philippa is accompanied by an English lord, William Bourcier, who has been tasked with negotiating the financial and political terms of the marriage agreement. Margrete is especially keen to establish a strong military alliance with England in order to deter attacks by the Union's German enemies, in particular the Teutonic Order, which rules Prussia and has also recently seized the Swedish island of Gotland. The Union [EU] is filled with political issues, national and personal that people want out of it.
Storyline
It’s a sequence that, along with the portrayal of the dignified Queen, proudly locates a precursor to the region’s modern-day reputation for progressiveness in terms of gender equality and women’s rights, all the way back in the 14th century. During the feast to welcome the English party to Kalmar, the Norwegian magnate Asle Jonsson tells Margrete that en route to Kalmar he met a man who had come from Graudenz (in Prussia) and claims to be Oluf, Margrete's son. Oluf had as a child been king of both Denmark and Norway, but had died suddenly at Falsterbo fifteen years previously (i.e. in 1387).
SF Studios is planning to release the film during the third quarter of this year. Dyrholm stars opposite Søren Malling (“The Investigation”), Morten Hee Andersen (“Ride Upon the Storm”), Jakob Oftebro (“Kon-tiki”), Bjørn Floberg (“Out Stealing Horses”), Magnus Krepper (“Queen of Hearts”), and Thomas W. Gabrielsson (“A Royal Affair”). We're looking forward to Cannes and the Muslim International Film Festival. The girl (Nicole Rosney) with the big concerned eyes, dirty face, and crown on her head will become Margrete (Trine Dyrholm), creator of the Kalmar Union, which lasted for 126 years and braided together Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in unprecedented peace.
Movies / TV
As an adult I’ve thought about the usefulness of a monarchy in a modern age, if any. But on New Year’s Eve, when the queen reads her annual speech, I am moved. That Margrete I was a uniting force is beyond doubt, but our Margrete II is also someone we can gather around, an important part of our collective identity as Danes and something that tells us who we are.
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At the time he had been seventeen years old, just about to come of age and take over rule of the two kingdoms from his mother, and ever since the queen's enemies have spread dark rumours that she had him murdered in order to retain power herself. Margrete assures Asle that her son is dead, but he insists that he recognises the man as Oluf. This incendiary news quickly spreads, and so Margrete orders Asle to bring the man to Kalmar so that the matter can be put to rest. Meanwhile, Margrete grows suspicious of Raberlin, a German merchant present at the feast, and orders her Swedish retainer Jakob Nilsson to follow him when he returns to Prussia. It was for the bigger cause, our film, and all the actors said yes to being there for five weeks, even if they were shooting for five or nine days, which isn’t normal. You usually go back and forth, but we talked about political issues and shared personal things, and it made a strong impact on all of us who were part of this film.
This first premiered at the Norwegian Film Festival, and opened in Denmark in September. Goldwyn Films releases Margrete - Queen of the North direct-to-VOD in the US on December 17th, 2021. Much of this emotional tug-of-war is played out in atmospherically lit indoor compositions, which evoke a painterly, classical feel. What elevates the film from a run-of-the-mill period drama is Trine Dyrholm’s masterfully understated performance as the tormented queen. Her Margrete has no need to shout and weep to convey her turmoil; a mere gaze is enough to articulate the dilemma of having to put collective needs over personal desires.
Coming up - Charlotte Sieling and Trine Dyrholm on horseback riding, 'women peace', plant metaphors, working on a character and the architecture of the script with Jesper Fink, Princess Philippa, and pirates. Sieling previously worked with Malling and Oftebro in her 2017 feature The Man. She has also directed TV hits including Homeland, The Americans, The Killing and Borgen. Most recently, she directed HBO’s upcoming horror series Lovecraft Country.
Without comparing ourselves to Shakespeare, we chose the theme and set it across nine days – it’s not a biopic of Margrete’s whole life. We chose that way of telling her story because we thought this is the real drama. How can the king keep his kingdom, and what does he have to pay for holding onto power? Fortunately in our world, it was a woman, and we could tell her true story. When you talk about age, we can also talk about culture and differences.
It is implied that, with Scandinavian unity restored, the Teutonic Order calls off its planned invasion. Margrete eventually has a flash of inspiration and realises that the Man from Graudenz's story about an attempt on his life might be the root of the rumours that she had her son killed. She never gave any such order, and there is only one other person who would have had the authority to do so in her stead. She confronts Peder, who admits that he ordered Oluf's retainer to murder him and explains that he acted for the greater good, as Oluf would never have been an acceptable ruler for the Swedes in the way Margrete has been. It was therefore necessary to get rid of Oluf so that Margrete could retain power in Denmark-Norway and then take control of Sweden as well, thereby completing the Kalmar Union and finally bringing peace to Scandinavia.
It’s now more important than ever because we’re more lonely now than ever. Stories and characters can invite an audience into a moment, to encounter things that we can’t talk about, and maybe we don’t understand, but we can recognise them and feel that we’re not alone in carrying them. It’s important that art is about carrying it together, about understanding and recognising moments that we can’t talk about, and therefore we have art to discuss these issues. Additionally, this is the first real gala premiere since before Covid.
I don’t know if I’m right, but that’s what I believe in. The year is 1402 and Margrete rules with her adopted son Erik (Morten Hee Andersen) and her religious advisor Peder (Søren Malling, the father in Christian Tafdrup’s Parents), when a man appears who claims to be her biological son and legal heir. Trouble is brewing from the Teutonic neighbour and the union of Erik with Princess Philippa (Diana Martinová) of England may not work out the way it was planned. As much as Margrete insists that “peace has made us wealthy,” she knows that there are forces abound who want power and don’t mind plunging their countries back into war. Award-winning Queen Of Hearts actress Trine Dyrholm will play a different kind of queen in Charlotte Sieling’s historical epic Margrete – Queen Of The North. That evening Margrete has Asle spring Oluf from his prison cell, intending that the three of them will escape together to Bergen, though she realises that this will probably lead to war between Norway and Denmark-Sweden.
The world is now in total chaos, and we sit in our different countries and we’re nervous about what’s happening, and maybe we’re going back to isolation. We can sit here and talk on zoom, and watch a lot of films on the computer. What we need to do is to communicate, share, reflect and understand what life is about.
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