Starring: Trine Dyrholm, Soren Malling, Morten Hee Andersen, Magnus Krepper, Thomas W Gabrielsson, Agnes Westeerlund Rase, Paul Blackthorne
Runtime: 120 mins. Reviewed in Nov 2022
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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The year is 1402 and a peace union has been achieved between the Scandinavian kingdoms, presided over by Queen Magrete of Denmark. However, there is political intrigue and insurrection to destroy the union.
Audiences outside Scandinavia are unlikely to be familiar with Queen Margrete, her achievements for peace and the unity of the Scandinavian countries – and the threats to undermine the Union, especially on the part of Germany and the Teutonic Knights. This is a sombre dramatisation, as well as a reflection on the use, desire and exploitation of power.
Distinguished Danish actress Trine Dyrholm is the perfect embodiment of the Queen who has worked for peace and has been able to bring different factions together. This is illustrated in the opening long sequence where she makes a speech about peace and demands, in loyalty, a strong peacekeeping force from all the nations. And they agree, providing infantry and archers. And, significantly at this time of European history, the power of the church and its influence is acknowledged.
So, by 1402 when this film is set, all seems well. There is a sad past with the death of the Queen’s son, Oluf. Margrete brings the grandson of her sister from Germany, renaming him Erik, and sets him on the throne, young as he is.
This is an interior drama with most of the action taking place within the castle, though some vistas of the castle itself and views to the sea give us a sense of location. The cinematography emphasises the darkness, the lighting design emphasises these were the times of candles.
And at the core of the drama is political intrigue, the influence of the Germans, betrayals within the court, the role of an influential church leader and his influence on Margrete and her reliance on him, the planning of a marriage between Erik and an English princess.
The intrigue deepens with the reappearance of Margrete’s allegedly dead son. The question becomes whether he is the real son who ought to be on the throne instead of Erik.
This is a period drama that requires constant attention to follow the steps of the intrigue, which requires some empathy for Margrete and her disavowing of this son, then supporting him. And, through all of this, the Queen, like rulers of the time, uses advisers, asks people to spy on others, while trying to hold the union together.
At the end, while the issue is solved in 1402, information at the end of the film indicates the elements of mystery which still remain, and the burning of all the documentation of this episode.
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