Margrete: Queen of the North review piercing portrait of a tormented queen Movies

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• Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title ‘Desert Of Namibia’ joins Happinet slate (exclusive)
• Watch 'Margrete: Queen of the North' Online
• Blue Ivy joins mom Beyoncé in ‘Lion King’ prequel ‘Mufasa.’ Can you feel the love?
• Margrete: Queen of the North (
• Margrete: Queen of the North review – piercing portrait of a tormented queen

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.

Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title ‘Desert Of Namibia’ joins Happinet slate (exclusive)

The ensemble consists of a Northern who-is-who, where Trine Dyrholm is given the top honour, and also the responsibility, to hold things together. Until Trine one day looked into my eyes at some little gathering… I didn’t know her that well before, but we ran into each other now and then and had good chats. It sounds spaced out, but I sometimes feel Margrete’s spirit hovering over this project, the way things turned out, the people who came on board, the way we got some important things done before the pandemic outbreak, including the financing.

Watch 'Margrete: Queen of the North' Online

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.

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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!

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Margrete: Queen of the North (

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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.

Margrete: Queen of the North review – piercing portrait of a tormented queen

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.

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Cinema creates a safe space where borders are broken down and the emphasis on political, cultural, and economic divisions are neutralised. It also offers sanctuary from a society that’s seeing a rise in individualism and nationalism. In conversation with PopMatters, Sieling and Dyrholm discuss reinvigorating the clichés of the middle ages to tell a modern story out of the past. Throughout, both the character and the film constantly keep one guessing as to whether Margrete’s driving impulse leans more in the direction of the maternal or the Machiavellian. Sieling maintains an equally firm handle on the potent material, but it’s the title performance by Dyrholm that makes it sizzle.

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.

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.

Forty years later, and Margrete, now queen, has successfully united Denmark, Norway and Sweden under her rule, thereby founding the Kalmar Union and bringing a decade of peace to a region hitherto wracked by constant warfare. It was one of the largest productions in the history of Danish cinema, enjoying the largest budget ever for a Danish-language feature film.[4][5] It premiered on 16 September 2021. As we age, the emotions a character experiences, such as pain, joy, hope, and despair resonate more strongly with us. Whereas to our younger selves, these were simply dramatic concepts. This makes the experience of watching films uncomfortable because we sense and identify with realism. But her reign also saw a bizarre mystery in the Scandinavian region, which forms the emotional beating heart of this stately film.

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.