Margrete den Første (2021) - Dyrholm commands in Sieling's plush historical drama

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+ Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Historical Drama of the Year 

 

The titular queen stands before a fiery conflict on this dramatic poster for Charlotte Sieling's Margrete den Første

Danish Queen Margrete has managed to unite the previously warring Nordic countries in 1402 and is preparing to strike another vital alliance with the British kingdom, when a man shows up, claiming to be her son and the rightful king.

 

Margrete den Første is written by Jesper Fink (Before the Frost/Før Frosten (2018)), Maya Ilsøe (Absalons Hemmelighed (2006, TV-series)) and co-writer/director Charlotte Sieling (Over Gaden Under Vandet (2009)). It is based on a true story.

An impressive production with sweeping production value, - especially the production design and costumes are commendable, - Margrete den Første succeeds in setting us in the very old times' very top of Scandinavian power with a naturalness that is pivotal in order for the exercise to come together.

Trine Dyrholm (Okay (2002)) is spot-on as the strong leader, whose mind is bent on peace and stability, but whose reign gets shaken to its core by the possibility that her long-deceased son may not have actually died but instead been held captive in Germany for 15 years. Jakob Oftebro (Tom of Finland (2017)) gives one of the most credibly tormented performances of recent memory as Oluf, who is at first rejected as a con artist. His performance makes it almost impossible not to believe that he is her son.

The film rests on this strange story of biological doubt. Morten Hee Andersen (Sygeplejeskolen (2018-19)) is forceful as Margrete's adopted son Erik, who gets furious at the possibility of a true heir rising to the throne. Søren Malling (The Man/Mesteren (2017)) is terrific as the leader of the church. Sieling lets silent moments take place, letting the actors' faces speak for them, which are some of the best moments in the film. It is an exciting, strange story in Margrete den Første, told with a calm seriousness.

 

Related post:

 

2021 in films - according to Film Excess 

 

Watch a short teaser for the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 73 mil. DKK, approximately 11.51 mil. $

Box office: 1.025 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say - but has very far to go to break even

[Margrete den Første premiered 21 August (Norwegian International Film Festival) and runs 120 minutes. 20 companies and foundations cooperated to finance and make the film, including Denmark's current Queen Margrete II and the late Prince Consort Henrik's foundation. These and others involved stepped in to support the film, when its filming was shut down due to China Virus, and the budget ballooned with 8.5 mil. DKK as a consequence. Shooting took place in the Czech Republic. The film has opened to 93k admissions in its first week's release in main production country Denmark, where it is also playing as part of Biografklub Danmark, meaning that many audiences only pay half prize for their tickets. The film is set to open in Sweden on 3 December. Sieling does not have her next project announced yet. Dyrholm returned in Forhøret (2019-21) and theatrically in Ingen Kender Dagen (2022). 119 IMDb users have given Margrete den Første a 7.1/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Margrete den Første? 

Men & Chicken/Mænd & Høns (2015) - Jensen scores with hilarious cinema bizarro original

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 + Best Comedy of the Year + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year

 

Star Mads Mikkelsen, holding a chicken, next to a literal egghead on this poster for Anders Thomas Jensen's Men & Chicken

 

A pair of brothers receive from their recently deceased father a video, which explains that he wasn't their real father. On a small island in a decrepit sanatorium their actual closest relatives reside ...

 

Men & Chicken is written and directed by great Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen (Flickering Lights/Blinkende Lygter (2000)). 

The year's undoubtedly strangest film is also Jensen's best to date (in my book), and certainly his most eccentric, which carries a real brilliance in it. Politically incorrect and shamelessly weird, we here spin around themes of brotherhood, the mysteries of biology and genetics, the absurdities of life, - and violence.

The film has a more or less auspicious framing device and an ending that is rather sudden, but its list of winning performances is long: David Dencik (Gentlemen & Gangsters (2016, miniseries)), Mads Mikkelsen (Bleeder (1999)), Bodil Jørgensen (Se min Kjole (2009)), Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006)), Nicolas Bro (Beast (2011)) and Søren Malling (Karlas Kabale (2007)) are all stark raving mad and absolutely wonderful in the film. It also has outstanding production design and an excellent score by Frans Bak (Albert (2015)) and Jeppe Kaas (That Time of Year/Den Tid på Året (2018)).

Men & Chicken is bizarro and quotable to an incredible extent; an absolute favorite.

 

Related posts:

Anders Thomas Jensen: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

The Salvation (2014) - Classic western yarn meets Danish dynamite (co-writer)
Love Is All You Need/Den Skaldede Frisør (2012) - Bier strikes gold with Italy-set romcom (co-writer)
In a Better World/Hævnen (2010) - Bier's Big Moral Drama lives on its actors' performances (co-writer)
Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006) - The two Jensens' satire is unrefined but hilarious (writer) 
Murk/Mørke (2005) or, Shutter Jutland (co-writer)

The Green Butchers/De Grønne Slagtere (2003) - Great performances in Jensen's hilarious morbid comedy 
Open Hearts/Elsker Dig for Evigt (2002) - Bier's excruciating Dogme chamber drama (writer)

Grev Axel (2001) - Frödin and Gråbøl pull laughter from 18th century-set crazy-comedy (writer) 

The King Is Alive (2000) - Levring's trying desert theatrics (co-writer) 

 

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here 

 

Cost: Reportedly 36 mil. DKK, approximately 5.66 mil. $

Box office: 4.7 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.83 times its cost)

[Men & Chicken was released 5 February (Denmark) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place in Funen, Denmark, and in Germany. The film opened #79 to a 2k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #43 and in 11 theaters (different weeks) and grossed a measly 30k $ (0.6 % of the total gross). The film was a hit in its main production country Denmark, where it scored Jensen's biggest opening weekend yet and became the year's 2nd highest-grossing local film, selling 351,632 tickets, behind Klovn Forever, coming to 4.3 mil. $ (91.5 %). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 245k $ (5.2 %) and the Netherlands with 113k $ (2.4 %). The film won 3/10 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar). Jensen returns with Retfærdighedens Ryttere (2020). Mikkelsen returned in Rihanna: Bitch Better Have My Money (2015, music video), Hannibal (2013-15) and theatrically in Doctor Strange (2016); Dencik in Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015). Men & Chicken is certified fresh at 83 % with a 6.81/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Men & Chicken?

The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1/De Unge År: Erik Nietzsche Sagaen Del 1 (2007) - Thuesen and Von Trier's hilarious film school comedy

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+ Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year + Best Autobiographical Movie of the Year (Lars Von Trier, screenplay, as Erik Nietzsche)

Jonatan Spang as the titular Erik Nietzsche, imprisoned in celluloid on a naked woman's backside on this poster for Jacob Thuesen's The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1

Young Erik gets into the Danish Film School by a mistake and continues there due to pressure and creative curiosity. Kind as he is, he gradually learns how to trick all the idiots there, - and to be kind towards himself.

The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1 is an autobiography of Danish master filmmaker Lars Von Trier (Breaking the Waves (1996)), who wrote the script based on his own experiences as a student in the Danish Film School in the late 1970s and changed the lead character's name into Erik Nietzsche. It is an extremely cheerful and very funny expose and ridicule of specific persons in the Danish film business and film school, and of the culture in the enclave in general.
Jonatan Spang (Easy Skanking/Fidibus (2006)) is good as the struggling young Erik, and in rambling, hilarious supporting roles Søren Pilmark (Kon-Tiki (2012)), Søren Malling (Mesteren (2017)), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones (2011-17)) and Jens Albinus (The Idiots/Idioterne (1998)) are a riot. In case you are unfamiliar with Von Trier's humor, be warned: Included as parts of the fun here are copious amounts of sex and excrement. - But The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1 also abounds with good and well executed ideas. It has to be one of the funniest Danish films of all.
Needless to say, it is funniest if one is Danish and even better if one knows who is being parodied when. My passionate embrace of it also stems from its taking the piss on the glorified film school institution. It is the only second fiction feature to date by great Danish director Jacob Thuesen (Accused/Anklaget (2005)).

Related post:

Jacob Thuesen: 2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Accused/Anklaget (2005) or, Grey Danish Molestation Misery

Here is a piece of a later project of director Thuesen's, of the Los Angeles freeway system

Cost: Unknown - but in excess of 7.5 mil. DKK - equal to approximately 1.07 mil. $
Box office: Unknown - but reportedly around 243k $
= Unknown - but looks like a mega-flop
[The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1 premiered 8 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 91 minutes. The production was given 7.5 mil. DKK in support from the Danish Film Institute and was put together as a co-production of no less than 15 companies and support funds. In the film's biggest market, its native Denmark, it sold just 2,938 tickets, according to one source, while another claims it made 236k $ there, - which would put the ticket prize at around 78 $! In any case, the film seems to have made regrettably little business. It was nominated for a Robert (Danish Oscar), two Bodils (Danish critics' awards) and the Nordic Council Film Prize. A Part 2 has not been announced yet. 600 IMDb users have given The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1 a 6.1/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1?

A War/Krigen (2015) - The Dane goes to war in Lindholm's great third feature

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+ Best War Movie of the Year

A simple yet powerful image provides the poster for Tobias Lindholm's A War

  
Krigen [the war] is the third feature from great Danish writer-director Tobias Lindholm (The Hunt/Jagten (2012), writer), by some referred to as the first real Danish war movie ever, because it contains scenes of Danish soldiers at war abroad, although this distinction is certainly up for debate.

We follow a Danish commander of a military outfit in Afghanistan's Helmand-province, who is in charge of patrolling and attempting to aid the local populace. - A job that is difficult if not utterly impossible due to, especially, the Taliban's reign of terror over the Afghanis.

Lindholm impressively triumphs once again here with A War, which is a very human portrayal of the Danish contribution in the Afghan War. A War is a strong and poignant film that works on several levels and carries its heart, - both for the soldiers as well as their families at home and for the civilian Afghanis affected by the war, - on its sleeve.
A War makes it obvious that the mission in Afghanistan was usually one step forward and two steps back. This is disheartening but seems to have been a fact. It showcases different types of soldiers and locals and succeeds in letting them stand out as human beings as opposed to mere character types.
A pattern is beginning to show in Lindholm's own films, (he has also scripted for several of the biggest Danish enterprises in film and TV in recent years.) His films, R: Hit First, Hit Hardest/R (2010), A Hijacking/Kapringen (2012) and now A War are all minimalistic portrayals of a Danish man played by Pilou Asbæk (Speed Walking/Kapgang (2014)), who might as well be simply called 'the Dane', because the particulars of his characters aren't all that important. What's important is what he goes through in the different films; a sentence in a Danish prison, a hijacking by Somalian pirates and here, the war in Afghanistan. All three films are tense, lean, realistic and well-crafted drama-thrillers with societal relevance.
Lindholm's 'formula' clearly works. I'm all for each of these films. I wonder if perhaps he will venture something more personal to himself in a future film?
 

Pilou Asbæk, Tuva Novotny and Søren Malling in Tobias Lindholm's A War

A War also works, of course, because of its great performances:
Asbæk is once again a commanding, sensitive lead, and Swedish Tuva Novotny (Eat Pray Love (2010)) also deserves praise for her vital, strong performance as his wife. Lindholm regulars Søren Malling (A Hijacking), Dar Salim (Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)) and Dulfi Al-Jabouri (Northwest/Nordvest (2013)) give fine supporting performances, and Charlotte Munck (Shake Your Heart/En Kort En Lang (2001)) is sober and believable SPOILER as prosecutor, as the film turns into a courtroom drama in its second half. This development is quite well-observed and speaks to the consequences and long aftermath of any war.
A War is accompanied by sparse, atmospheric music. Several of the soldiers in the film are played by actual Danish Afghanistan veterans, which only heightens the film's realism and integrity. They speak in military code, and much of what they say is unintelligible to the commoner. I also had trouble hearing the dialog in general, and as is often the case I wished that all movies were simply subtitled, so that it was possible to read what can't be heard, even when the language spoken is your own.
A War is an honest and strong film, certainly among the best Danish films of the year. I give it a warm recommendation.

Related posts:

Tobias Lindholm: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
A Hijacking/Kapringen (2012) - Realistic piracy negotiation drama-thriller, minimalist-Scandinavian style
The Hunt/Jagten (2012) - Vinterberg's strongest film since 1998 is a reversed Celebration (writer)

Watch the trailer with English subtitles here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertainty
[A War was produced by Nordisk Film and DR, with an 8 million DKR grant from the Danish Film Institute, filmed in Denmark, Turkey, Spain and Jordan and premiered at Venice International Film Festival. Its current admissions tally in Denmark stands at just 27k, far from success status.]


What do you think of A War?

A Hijacking/Kapringen (2012) - Realistic piracy negotiation drama-thriller, minimalist-Scandinavian style

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Evocative poster for Tobias Lindholm's A Hijacking

QUICK REVIEW:

A Danish cargo freighter is hijacked off the Somalian coast with 7 crew members. The negotiations to buy them free drag out. We especially follow the cook and the shipping company's CEO, who decides to lead the negotiations himself home in Denmark.
Hijacking continues the realistic approach to a tense, uncomfortable situation that writer-director Tobias Lindholm developed in R: Hit First, Hit Hardest (2010) (with co-writer-director Michael Noer (Northwest (2013)), - in that film about getting imprisoned.) 

Pilou Asbæk (right) is the crew cook, whom we follow, as he becomes a victim of modern pirating in Tobias Lindholm's A Hijacking

Hijacking is well-made and well-played by Pilou Asbæk (R), Roland Møller (R), Søren Malling (A Royal Affair (2012)) and Dar Salim (The Devil's Double (2011)).
It is a docu-style dramatic issue thriller shot on location.
A couple of times the air seems to be fizzing out of the narrative, but then the scene is quickly escalated instead. - Well done.
Lindholm, - who also co-wrote the Oscar-nominated pedophilia drama thriller The Hunt (2012), - is writing at the moment, on a documentary entitled The Arms Drop (2014) and a war-drama feature again with Asbæk entitled April 9th (2015).
 

Watch the trailer with English subtitles here

Budget: Est. 2.7 mil. $
Box office: Unknown (US 0.4 mil. $)
= Unknown

What do you think of A Hijacking?
If you have seen the similar, recent, big Hollywood 'version', Captain Philips (2013), can you compare the two?

Accused/Anklaget (2005) or, Grey Danish Molestation Misery

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If only Jacob Thuesen's Accused had, as this dull poster might suggest, been a film about a man with a freakishly oversized head, I might have liked it better

Accused presents a story of a man who gets accused of molesting his teenage daughter. 


The great dramatic potential in this premise gets lost in the film in excessive underplaying by the filmmakers: Everything is presented in stylistic, oppressive greys, and all the characters are tight-lipped, quiet and awkward. The charmless minimalist approach doesn't lead to suspense or anything much else, but it does make Accused a cold and severely hard-to-like acquaintance.
SPOILER The judicial protocol and direction the events turn towards could have been interesting. A major issue which also regrettably prevents this is lead Troels Lyby's (The Idiots/Idioterne (1998)) acting, which manifests mostly through his annoying, ever-frowning eyebrows. SPOILER The ending, (in which he crawls around in a street and shouts for kids to get an adult), is simultaneously unrealistic, contrived and sloppy filmmaking. It just doesn't work.
Debuting great Danish filmmaker Jacob Thuesen (The Left Wing Gang/Blekingegade (2009-2010, TV miniseries) has worked as an editor on many Danish films and since directed the funny film of Lars Von Trier's youth, The Early Years: Erik Nietszche Part I/Erik Nietszche: De Unge År (2007).
Accused is written by Kim Fupz Aakeson (The One and Only/Den Eneste Ene (1999)).

 

Related post:

 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  

This short by director Jacob Thuesen is about the LA freeway system

Cost: Unknown, projected 1.44 mil. $
Box office: Unknown, projected 0.6 mil. $
= Some uncertainty, most likely a mega-flop (returned approximately 0.41 times its cost)
[Accused was released 28 January and runs 103 minutes. Little is publicized of the film's production, but its budget could well be modestly projected at around 10 mil. DKK, approximately 1.44 mil. $. The film sold 48,939 tickets in its native Denmark and was screened at several film festivals, including, most prominently, Berlin International Film Festival. It was nominated for 2 Robert awards (Danish Oscars). Thuesen returned with Freeway (2005, documentary) and theatrically with The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1 (2007). Lyby returned in Jul i Valhal (2005, TV-series), Below the Belt/Under Bæltestedet (2006, short) and theatrically in Skymaster/Der Var Engang En Dreng - Som Fik En Lillesøster med Vinger (2006), Sofie Gråbøl (The Day Will Come/Der Kommer En Dag (2016)) in True Spirit/Den Rette Ånd (2005). 1,662 IMDb-users have given Accused a 7.1/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Accused?