Queen of Hearts
Film poster
Directed byMay el-Toukhy
Written by
  • Maren Louise Käehne
  • May el-Toukhy
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJasper Spanning
Edited byRasmus Stensgaard Madsen
Music byJon Ekstrand
Distributed byNordisk Film
Release dates
  • 26 January 2019 (2019-01-26) (Sundance )
  • 28 March  2019 (2019-03-28) (Denmark)
Running time
127 minutes
CountryDenmark
LanguageDanish

Queen of Hearts (Danish: Dronningen, The Queen) is a 2019 Danish drama film directed by May el-Toukhy, and starring Trine Dyrholm and Gustav Lindh. The Danish and English film titles obliquely refer to the Queen of Hearts character in the children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which is mentioned repeatedly in the film. The film was selected as the Danish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[1] The film won the 2019 Nordic Council Film Prize.[2]

Plot

Anne is a lawyer shown working on three cases of rape and violent abuse of young women. She is married to a physician, Peter, and they have two young twin daughters, Frida and Fanny. Peter's teenage son from his past marriage is Gustav, who lives in Sweden with his mother Rebecca. The family plans for Gustav to move in with Anne and Peter. Gustav arrives and Anne cannot refrain from flirting with him. Gustav begins to conflict with Peter, pushing for the right to move out on his own despite being a minor. One day, Anne returns home to find there has been a burglary. The incident is reported to the police, but afterwards Anne finds an item in Gustav's laundry that was in her bag, stolen during the break-in. She realizes that he was responsible for the robbery and confronts Gustav with the evidence. However, Anne promises to keep the matter a secret if Gustav does his part in the household. From then on Gustav cheerfully joins in the social life of the family, for instance reading the Danish version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland aloud for the young twin girls, which Anne herself also does. (The film title alludes obliquely to the Queen character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.) Time passes and one night, Gustav brings his girlfriend Amanda home. Anne hears the couple having sex and is aroused.

Peter and Anne entertain guests on their balcony, but Anne leaves the group to take Gustav to a bar. There, she kisses him. Later at night, she enters his bedroom and seduces him by initiating sex. The two begin a sexual relationship; Gustav interviews Anne with a tape recorder, asking her various questions including about her first sexual relationship. Anne says it was with someone she should not have had sex with - like we have? asks Gustav, but she does not want to talk about it. The family celebrates Frida and Fanny's birthday. When Anne and Gustav step away, Gustav kisses her. A guest, Anne's sister Lina, witnesses the encounter and, upset, leaves the party. Anne fears Lina will tell Peter, and breaks off her relationship with Gustav.

Gustav and Peter leave to spend time at their cabin in the woods. After their return Peter tells Anne that Gustav wants to go to a boarding school, and had told his father what had happened between Anne and himself. After a pause Anne vehemently denies the accusation, saying Gustav hates her for ending Peter and Rebecca's marriage. She also tells Peter that Gustav was responsible for the burglary. Anne, Peter, and Gustav then sit down together, where Anne continues to deny the affair. Gustav departs for a boarding school. Much later Gustav visits the office of Anne and threatens to report her for the illegal relationship, but she replies he is not a credible witness and never will be believed. He calls on her house at night asking for his father but he is rejected by Anne who leaves him weeping on the ground. At a party for Anne, Peter is called with the message that Gustav has gone missing from his school. Peter is called to Stockholm by the police. It turns out a hunter has discovered Gustav's body near the cabin, where he froze to death. When Anne tells Peter that Gustav's death is not his fault, Peter violently silences her. The family of Peter, Anne and the two young girls in black drive in silence in their car, presumably to Gustav's funeral.

Cast

Production

In reference to the sex scenes, Trine Dyrholm said, "We had the first meeting about the nude scenes very early on with both the producer and the director. They told us what they had in mind. And we agreed that you could go to the producer along the way if there was something someone didn't want to go along with. We were even sent storyboard illustrations of the scene frame by frame, and the prosthetics that would resemble the male genitalia were made. I would almost compare working on nude scenes here to working on a stunt scene. When you have to do that kind of scene, it's always a bit awkward, but because it was such a safe working space and everything was agreed in advance, it worked."[3]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 30 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Led by an exceptional performance from Trine Dyrholm, Queen of Hearts is a bold and uncompromising look at the darkness that can lie within family, directed with formidable skill by May El-Toukhy."[4] Especially Dyrholm's performance was praised.[5] Guy Lodge of Variety magazine called it "[A] sleek, engrossing melodrama..."[6]

The film won nine Robert Awards, including Best Danish Film.[7] It also won four Bodil Awards, including Best Danish Film.[8] At the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, the film won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic category.[9]

Remake

A French remake was directed by Catherine Breillat, from a screenplay written by Breillat in collaboration with Pascal Bonitzer.[10] Starring Léa Drucker and Samuel Kircher, the film will premiere in competition at the 76th Cannes Film Festival.[11][12][13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (24 September 2019). "Oscars: Denmark Selects 'Queen of Hearts' for International Feature Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  2. ↑ "Queen of Hearts wins the 2019 Nordic Council Film Prize". norden.org. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  3. ↑ "Trine Dyrholm: "Jeg har altid været optaget af sprækker i en karakter"". www.femina.dk. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "Queen of Hearts". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Dansk film roses til skyerne: "Et nyt hovedværk"". avisen.dk (in Danish).
  6. ↑ Lodge, Guy (27 January 2019). "Film Review: 'Queen of Hearts'". Variety.
  7. ↑ "Robertprisen: Dronningen tog det hele". avisen.dk (in Danish).
  8. ↑ "Bodil-vindere 2020" (in Danish). Danish Film Institute. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Mitchell, Wendy (3 February 2019). "Sundance hit 'Queen Of Hearts' wins world's most lucrative film prize in Goteborg". Screen Daily. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "L'Été dernier". distrib.pyramidefilms.com. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  11. ↑ Keslassy, Elsa (11 January 2023). "Pyramide Boards Catherine Breillat's Erotic Thriller 'Last Summer' Starring Léa Drucker (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  12. ↑ Cénac, Lætitia (26 January 2023). "Léa Drucker : En étant mère à 42 ans, j'ai eu l'impression de commencer une nouvelle vie". Madame Figaro (in French). Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  13. ↑ Cooper-Hadjian, Olivia (13 April 2023). "Catherine Breillat : L'Été dernier". Cahiers du Cinéma (in French). Retrieved 18 April 2023.
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