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The film will start shooting on March 2, with a premiere planned for spring 2021. REinvent Studios handles sales, as part of its new pact with SF Studios. The Danish actress plays Margrete I, who gathered Denmark, Norway and Sweden into a peace-oriented union. She began her career as an actress from the Statens Teaterskole in 1985. Sieling worked from 1985 to 1994 as an actor at various theatres, from the experimental stage to the Royal Theatre.
Director Charlotte Sieling and Actress Trine Dyrholm on Historic Nordic Mystery ‘Margrete: Queen of the North’
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.
Tine Fischer appointed director of Danish Film Institute
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.
Personal life
The roles include Ophelia in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' and Esmeralda in Victor Hugo's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. Her roles in film and TV include the Swedish mini-series 'Rosenbaum' (1993), Jon Bang Carlsen's 'Carmen & Babyface' (1995), Carsten Sønder's 'Love, don't love (1995), and Jørn Faurschou's 'Dangerous Friendship ' (1995). This led her to apply to the Danish Film School, where she graduated as a screenwriter in 1995.
To further stabilize the new Union’s position in Europe, Margrete has negotiated the betrothal of Erik to Philippa, the 13-year-old daughter of the King of England. She arrives at court along with rakish diplomat Bourcier (Paul Blackthorn), who has been sent to negotiate the terms of the marriage. But that very same night, reports run rife through Margrete’s lavish welcome party that a man claiming to be Margrete’s son Oluf, thought to have died some 15 years prior, has suddenly shown up nearby and the Norwegian emissary has already recognized him, and not Erik, as the rightful King. Margete has the man (Jakob Oftebro) summoned and denounces him as a liar in front of the court. It doesn’t help that after a tantalizing glimpse of a body-strewn battlefield that teases a more action-packed narrative than is delivered, the film quickly settles into a more sedate rhythm, establishing the wise statesmanship of Queen Margrete (Trine Dyrholm).
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.
If we think about being together, and holding onto our differences, but at least helping each other, instead of the opposite, it’s a powerful thought. Still, you have chosen Haugesund for the world premiere. Because this thoroughly Scandinavian story needs a thoroughly Scandinavian place of unveiling. When we were offered this opportunity, I just said yes, that’s it!
However, just as Margrete is about to slip out of the castle to rendezvous with Oluf and Asle, Jakob Nilsson arrives to see her, newly returned from his escapade in Prussia. Realising that Scandinavian unity is more important in the face of the Teutonic threat than her personal feelings, Margrete betrays Oluf, who is quickly recaptured by Erik's men. Margrete manages to persuade Erik to spare Asle, but Oluf is publicly burned alive as a traitor in front of his mother.
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.
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.
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).
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]
Queen Margrete (Trine Dyrholm) has achieved what no man has managed before. She has gathered Denmark, Norway and Sweden into a peace-oriented union, which she single-handedly rules through her young, adopted son, Erik. The union is beset by enemies, however, and Margrete is therefore planning a marriage between Erik and an English princess. An alliance with England should secure the union's status as an emerging European power but a breathtaking conspiracy is under way that can tear Margrete and all she believes in apart. Margrete - Queen of the North, also known as Margrete den første in Danish, is directed by Danish filmmaker Charlotte Sieling, director of the films Above the Street Below the Water and The Man previously, plus eps of "The Strain", "Queen of the South", "Homeland", "Lovecraft Country". The screenplay is written by Jesper Fink & Maya Ilsøe & Charlotte Sieling, from an idea by Lars Bredo Rahbek.
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.
Her most vital ally is Bishop Peder (Søren Malling), who represents the church’s interests, and has committed manpower and resources to the creation of a Union army, which will defend the region from attacks believed to be in the offing by Germany. A stranger claiming to be the Queen's son throws the Nordic union into jeopardy in a luxuriously appointed – and paced – medieval drama. I just want to add that we went into lockdown two weeks after starting the film, and all of us were sent back home to isolate for three months. Then we all agreed to stay in a “bubble” in Prague, where we filmed. It was a generous and beautiful experience that all these people agreed to be in a bubble to do this film.
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.
The Man from Graudenz is brought to Kalmar and publicly interrogated by Margrete. He repeats his claim that he is King Oluf, and explains that in 1387 one of his retainers was ordered to kill him by persons unknown. The assassin could not bring himself to go through with the deed, and so instead kidnapped him and took him to Prussia, where he has been held captive by the Teutonic Order for the last fifteen years. A few weeks ago, he was suddenly released without explanation, and he has subsequently made his way back to Scandinavia to reclaim his rightful inheritance. The Danish & Swedish councillors are sceptical of this story, but their Norwegian counterparts are more willing to believe it (as Oluf's father was the previous Norwegian king, Håkon VI), and several of them, like Asle, claim to recognise the Man from Graudenz as Oluf. Margrete orders him to be confined to the dungeons while she decides what to do with him.
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