CBS Studios and the BBC’s period drama series “King & Conqueror” has revealed additional cast members, including “The Crown’s” Luther Ford and “Game of Thrones” actor Joseph Mawle, as it begins production in Iceland.
According to its official plot description, “King & Conqueror” is “the story of a clash that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea. Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown.”
Additional cast members include Eddie Marsan, Juliet Stevenson, Jean-Marc Barr, Geoff Bell, Elliot Cowan,...
According to its official plot description, “King & Conqueror” is “the story of a clash that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea. Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown.”
Additional cast members include Eddie Marsan, Juliet Stevenson, Jean-Marc Barr, Geoff Bell, Elliot Cowan,...
- 3/18/2024
- by Ellise Shafer and K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Follows a 19-year-old who’s torn between his adoptive life in Denmark and his native homeland of South Korea
Screen can reveal the trailer for Malene Choi’s The Quiet Migration which will world premiere in Berlinale Panorama on Friday (February 17).
Choi’s fiction feature debut follows a 19-year-old who’s torn between his adoptive life in Denmark and his native homeland of South Korea.
Maria Møller Kjeldgaard produces The Quiet Migration for Denmark’s Manna Film. TrustNordisk is handling international sales.
The cast is led by Cornelius Won Riedel-Clausen, with Bodil Jørgensen (The Kingdom Exodus) and Bjarne Henriksen (The Killing...
Screen can reveal the trailer for Malene Choi’s The Quiet Migration which will world premiere in Berlinale Panorama on Friday (February 17).
Choi’s fiction feature debut follows a 19-year-old who’s torn between his adoptive life in Denmark and his native homeland of South Korea.
Maria Møller Kjeldgaard produces The Quiet Migration for Denmark’s Manna Film. TrustNordisk is handling international sales.
The cast is led by Cornelius Won Riedel-Clausen, with Bodil Jørgensen (The Kingdom Exodus) and Bjarne Henriksen (The Killing...
- 2/16/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Follows a 19-year-old who’s torn between his adoptive life in Denmark and his native homeland of South Korea
Screen can reveal the trailer for Malene Choi’s The Quiet Migration which will world premiere in Berlinale Panorama on Friday (February 17).
Choi’s fiction feature debut follows a 19-year-old who’s torn between his adoptive life in Denmark and his native homeland of South Korea.
Maria Møller Kjeldgaard produces The Quiet Migration for Denmark’s Manna Film. TrustNordisk is handling international sales.
The cast is led by Cornelius Won Riedel-Clausen, with Bodil Jørgensen (The Kingdom Exodus) and Bjarne Henriksen (The Killing...
Screen can reveal the trailer for Malene Choi’s The Quiet Migration which will world premiere in Berlinale Panorama on Friday (February 17).
Choi’s fiction feature debut follows a 19-year-old who’s torn between his adoptive life in Denmark and his native homeland of South Korea.
Maria Møller Kjeldgaard produces The Quiet Migration for Denmark’s Manna Film. TrustNordisk is handling international sales.
The cast is led by Cornelius Won Riedel-Clausen, with Bodil Jørgensen (The Kingdom Exodus) and Bjarne Henriksen (The Killing...
- 2/16/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Danish filmmaker Malene Choi previously directed The Return.
TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for The Quiet Migration, which will have its world premiere in Berlinale Panorama.
Malene Choi writes and directs in her fiction feature debut, after previously making the hybrid documentary-fiction project The Return, which premiered at Rotterdam in 2018.
The drama is about Carl, 19, who lives a quiet life in the Danish countryside with his adoptive parents, who expect him to take over the family farm one day. But he begins to feel the pull of two worlds – his Danish home and his native homeland, South Korea. The cast...
TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for The Quiet Migration, which will have its world premiere in Berlinale Panorama.
Malene Choi writes and directs in her fiction feature debut, after previously making the hybrid documentary-fiction project The Return, which premiered at Rotterdam in 2018.
The drama is about Carl, 19, who lives a quiet life in the Danish countryside with his adoptive parents, who expect him to take over the family farm one day. But he begins to feel the pull of two worlds – his Danish home and his native homeland, South Korea. The cast...
- 12/15/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival has revealed the first tranche of titles for its Panorama and Generation strands.
The Panorama lineup includes films from Ukraine, Yemen and about Iran. Of the 14 films selected, 11 are world premieres. There are new films by Sepideh Farsi, Jennifer Reeder, Tina Satter, Sacha Polak, Malene Choi and Ira Sachs.
The films selected for the Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus competitions include nine shorts and nine features, including 11 world premieres.
Stars featured in titles across the strands include Willem Dafoe, Ben Whishaw, Adèle Exarchopoulous, Leon Dai and Sydney Sweeney.
The festival takes place Feb. 16-26, 2023.
Panorama Titles
“Al Murhaqoon” (“The Burdened”)
by Amr Gamal. With Khaled Hamdan, Abeer Mohammed, Samah Alamrani, Awsam Abdulrahman, Shahd Algonfedy
Yemen/Sudan/Saudi Arabia
“Au cimetière de la pellicule” (“The Cemetery of Cinema”)
by Thierno Souleymane Diallo
France/Senegal/Guinea/Saudi Arabia
“El castillo” (“The Castle”)
by Martín Benchimol. With Justina Olivo,...
The Panorama lineup includes films from Ukraine, Yemen and about Iran. Of the 14 films selected, 11 are world premieres. There are new films by Sepideh Farsi, Jennifer Reeder, Tina Satter, Sacha Polak, Malene Choi and Ira Sachs.
The films selected for the Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus competitions include nine shorts and nine features, including 11 world premieres.
Stars featured in titles across the strands include Willem Dafoe, Ben Whishaw, Adèle Exarchopoulous, Leon Dai and Sydney Sweeney.
The festival takes place Feb. 16-26, 2023.
Panorama Titles
“Al Murhaqoon” (“The Burdened”)
by Amr Gamal. With Khaled Hamdan, Abeer Mohammed, Samah Alamrani, Awsam Abdulrahman, Shahd Algonfedy
Yemen/Sudan/Saudi Arabia
“Au cimetière de la pellicule” (“The Cemetery of Cinema”)
by Thierno Souleymane Diallo
France/Senegal/Guinea/Saudi Arabia
“El castillo” (“The Castle”)
by Martín Benchimol. With Justina Olivo,...
- 12/15/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Danish Broadcaster Dr has ordered “Prisoner,” a dark-edged premium series which starts shooting this fall with a stellar local cast including Sofie Gråbøl and David Dencik (“Chernobyl”).
“Prisoner” was created by Kim Fupz Aakeson, whose credits include the Dr drama “Cry Wolf” and the HBO series “Utmark.” Michael Noer (“Papillon”) and Frederik Louis Hviid are set to direct.
Produced by Dr Drama, the series is told from the perspectives of four prison officers, Sammi, Henrik, Miriam, and Gert, who are colleagues in an old, worn-down Danish prison and face daily challenges and dilemmas. The story kicks off when they are forced to do a thorough investigation in the prison to save their jobs and prevent the hierarchy and drug trade from dominating the workplace within three months. The investigation turns into a battle for survival — not only for the prison but for everyone inside and outside the walls.
Dr Sales...
“Prisoner” was created by Kim Fupz Aakeson, whose credits include the Dr drama “Cry Wolf” and the HBO series “Utmark.” Michael Noer (“Papillon”) and Frederik Louis Hviid are set to direct.
Produced by Dr Drama, the series is told from the perspectives of four prison officers, Sammi, Henrik, Miriam, and Gert, who are colleagues in an old, worn-down Danish prison and face daily challenges and dilemmas. The story kicks off when they are forced to do a thorough investigation in the prison to save their jobs and prevent the hierarchy and drug trade from dominating the workplace within three months. The investigation turns into a battle for survival — not only for the prison but for everyone inside and outside the walls.
Dr Sales...
- 8/23/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Filming began on August 30 and runs until October 8.
Danish filmmaker Malene Choi has started production on her new feature The Quiet Migration, in the countryside on the Djursland peninsula in Denmark.
Filming began on August 30, and will continue until October 8.
Choi’s last feature was the 2018 documentary/fiction hybrid The Return, which world premiered in Rotterdam and played dozens of other festivals including Goteborg, Vilnius, Cph:dox, Hot Docs, Seattle, New Horizons and Edinburgh.
The Quiet Migration, her first fully fictional feature, also looks at the consequences and complexity of transnational adoption, as seen in the story of Carl, originally from...
Danish filmmaker Malene Choi has started production on her new feature The Quiet Migration, in the countryside on the Djursland peninsula in Denmark.
Filming began on August 30, and will continue until October 8.
Choi’s last feature was the 2018 documentary/fiction hybrid The Return, which world premiered in Rotterdam and played dozens of other festivals including Goteborg, Vilnius, Cph:dox, Hot Docs, Seattle, New Horizons and Edinburgh.
The Quiet Migration, her first fully fictional feature, also looks at the consequences and complexity of transnational adoption, as seen in the story of Carl, originally from...
- 9/16/2021
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Dr Sales, the distribution division of Denmark’s public broadcaster Dr, has closed a raft of deals on “Cry Wolf,” a searing social drama created by Maja Jul Larsen (“Borgen”) and co-directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen (“Becoming Astrid”).
The eight-episode limited series tells the intense and emotional story of a teenage girl who has written a vivid school essay detailing her stepfather’s physical assaults. The parents deny the accusations and take their own daughter to court, creating some ambiguity as to whether this abuse occurred as described. The show is set against the backdrop of Denmark’s rigid child protection process.
Since premiering on Oct. 11 on Dr’s primetime slot, “Cry Wolf” has drawn a consistent average of over a million viewers.
Dr Sales, which is taking part in the virtual Content London market, has sold the show to France (Salto), Telefonica (Spain), Sbs (Australia), Belgium (Betv), Telepool (Germany...
The eight-episode limited series tells the intense and emotional story of a teenage girl who has written a vivid school essay detailing her stepfather’s physical assaults. The parents deny the accusations and take their own daughter to court, creating some ambiguity as to whether this abuse occurred as described. The show is set against the backdrop of Denmark’s rigid child protection process.
Since premiering on Oct. 11 on Dr’s primetime slot, “Cry Wolf” has drawn a consistent average of over a million viewers.
Dr Sales, which is taking part in the virtual Content London market, has sold the show to France (Salto), Telefonica (Spain), Sbs (Australia), Belgium (Betv), Telepool (Germany...
- 11/30/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Contrasting human paradoxes and complexities against the cold rationality of Scandinavian civic institutions, the Danish series “Cry Wolf” presents a searing social drama built from an initially ambiguous premise.
Presented as part of Series Mania’s Buyer’s Showcase after having been selected for the festival’s international competition, the Dr Drama-produced series tracks the cascading aftershocks once a 14-year-old girl writes an essay detailing her stepfather’s physical assaults.
While the veracity of those claims – at least for the first few episodes – remains unclear, the accusations set off a sequence of events that builds with grim inevitability. Beleaguered social worker Lars (Bjarne Henriksen) soon gets involved, placing young adolescent Holly (Flora Ofelia Hofman Lindahl) and her younger brother into foster care, all while the girl’s parents (Christine Albeck Børge and Peter Plaugborg) strenuously deny the charges, eventually taking their own daughter to court.
“I was fascinated by social services,...
Presented as part of Series Mania’s Buyer’s Showcase after having been selected for the festival’s international competition, the Dr Drama-produced series tracks the cascading aftershocks once a 14-year-old girl writes an essay detailing her stepfather’s physical assaults.
While the veracity of those claims – at least for the first few episodes – remains unclear, the accusations set off a sequence of events that builds with grim inevitability. Beleaguered social worker Lars (Bjarne Henriksen) soon gets involved, placing young adolescent Holly (Flora Ofelia Hofman Lindahl) and her younger brother into foster care, all while the girl’s parents (Christine Albeck Børge and Peter Plaugborg) strenuously deny the charges, eventually taking their own daughter to court.
“I was fascinated by social services,...
- 3/26/2020
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Icelandic TV drama Trapped, which has been picked up by the BBC, is set to launch in the Us after it was acquired by The Weinstein Company.
Harvey Weinstein’s production and distribution firm struck the deal with distributor Dynamic Television.
It will now shop the series, which is produced by Everest director Baltasar Kormakur, to Us broadcasters and online streaming services.
The deal was announced at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Trapped made its world premiere as part of the festival’s new television line-up.
Speaking after the premiere, Kormakur said that he was extremely proud that an Icelandic drama would air around the world, including in the UK where it will air on BBC4.
“We’ve never had a TV series in Iceland that has gone further than the Faroe Islands. We’re jealous of our neighbours in Denmark and now we get to play along and that’s very important. I’ve been...
Harvey Weinstein’s production and distribution firm struck the deal with distributor Dynamic Television.
It will now shop the series, which is produced by Everest director Baltasar Kormakur, to Us broadcasters and online streaming services.
The deal was announced at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Trapped made its world premiere as part of the festival’s new television line-up.
Speaking after the premiere, Kormakur said that he was extremely proud that an Icelandic drama would air around the world, including in the UK where it will air on BBC4.
“We’ve never had a TV series in Iceland that has gone further than the Faroe Islands. We’re jealous of our neighbours in Denmark and now we get to play along and that’s very important. I’ve been...
- 9/15/2015
- ScreenDaily
Icelandic drama Trapped, which has been picked up by the BBC, is set to launch in the Us after it was acquired by The Weinstein Company.
Harvey Weinstein’s production and distribution firm struck the deal with distributor Dynamic Television.
It will now shop the series, which is produced by Everest director Baltasar Kormakur, to Us broadcasters and online streaming services.
The deal was announced at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Trapped made its world premiere as part of the festival’s new television line-up.
Speaking after the premiere, Kormakur said that he was extremely proud that an Icelandic drama would air around the world, including in the UK where it will air on BBC4.
“We’ve never had a TV series in Iceland that has gone further than the Faroe Islands. We’re jealous of our neighbours in Denmark and now we get to play along and that’s very important. I’ve been...
Harvey Weinstein’s production and distribution firm struck the deal with distributor Dynamic Television.
It will now shop the series, which is produced by Everest director Baltasar Kormakur, to Us broadcasters and online streaming services.
The deal was announced at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Trapped made its world premiere as part of the festival’s new television line-up.
Speaking after the premiere, Kormakur said that he was extremely proud that an Icelandic drama would air around the world, including in the UK where it will air on BBC4.
“We’ve never had a TV series in Iceland that has gone further than the Faroe Islands. We’re jealous of our neighbours in Denmark and now we get to play along and that’s very important. I’ve been...
- 9/15/2015
- ScreenDaily
Toronto brass on Thursday paid homage to arguably the most dynamic and provocative content format in entertainment, announcing the festival’s inaugural slate of six TV projects from the likes of Baltasar Kormákur, Jason Reitman and Lucía Puenzo.
The selections highlight what Tiff director and CEO Piers Handling called a “cross-pollination” of the film and TV worlds from international storytellers, broadcasters and streaming services.
The six selections appear below. All are world premieres except The Returned, which is an international premiere.
Casual (Us), created by Zander Lehmann and directed by Jason Reitman.
Episodes 1 and 2 of the comedy from Hulu and Lionsgate that follows a dating site entrepreneur and his therapist sister who move in together after the latter’s recent divorce.
Starring Tommy Dewey, Michaela Watkins and Tara Lynne Barr.
Cromo (Argentina), created by Lucía Puenzo and Nicolás Puenzo.
Episodes 1, 2 and 8 of the eco-thriller from directors Lucía Puenzo (Xxy, Wakolda), Pablo Fendrik (Blood Appears, El Ardor) and Nicolás Puenzo...
The selections highlight what Tiff director and CEO Piers Handling called a “cross-pollination” of the film and TV worlds from international storytellers, broadcasters and streaming services.
The six selections appear below. All are world premieres except The Returned, which is an international premiere.
Casual (Us), created by Zander Lehmann and directed by Jason Reitman.
Episodes 1 and 2 of the comedy from Hulu and Lionsgate that follows a dating site entrepreneur and his therapist sister who move in together after the latter’s recent divorce.
Starring Tommy Dewey, Michaela Watkins and Tara Lynne Barr.
Cromo (Argentina), created by Lucía Puenzo and Nicolás Puenzo.
Episodes 1, 2 and 8 of the eco-thriller from directors Lucía Puenzo (Xxy, Wakolda), Pablo Fendrik (Blood Appears, El Ardor) and Nicolás Puenzo...
- 8/13/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Toronto brass on Thursday paid homage to arguably the most dynamic and provocative content format in entertainment, announcing the festival’s inaugural slate of six TV projects from the likes of Baltasar Kormákur, Jason Reitman and Lucía Puenzo.
The selections highlight what Tiff director and CEO Piers Handling called a “cross-pollination” of the film and TV worlds from international storytellers, broadcasters and streaming services.
The six selections appear below. All are world premieres except The Returned, which is an international premiere.
Casual (Us), created by Zander Lehmann and directed by Jason Reitman.
Episodes 1 and 2 of the comedy from Hulu and Lionsgate that follows a dating site entrepreneur and his therapist sister who move in together after the latter’s recent divorce.
Starring Tommy Dewey, Michaela Watkins and Tara Lynne Barr.
Cromo (Argentina), created by Lucía Puenzo and Nicolás Puenzo.
Episodes 1, 2 and 8 of the eco-thriller from directors Lucía Puenzo (Xxy, Wakolda), Pablo Fendrik (Blood Appears, El Ardor) and Nicolás Puenzo...
The selections highlight what Tiff director and CEO Piers Handling called a “cross-pollination” of the film and TV worlds from international storytellers, broadcasters and streaming services.
The six selections appear below. All are world premieres except The Returned, which is an international premiere.
Casual (Us), created by Zander Lehmann and directed by Jason Reitman.
Episodes 1 and 2 of the comedy from Hulu and Lionsgate that follows a dating site entrepreneur and his therapist sister who move in together after the latter’s recent divorce.
Starring Tommy Dewey, Michaela Watkins and Tara Lynne Barr.
Cromo (Argentina), created by Lucía Puenzo and Nicolás Puenzo.
Episodes 1, 2 and 8 of the eco-thriller from directors Lucía Puenzo (Xxy, Wakolda), Pablo Fendrik (Blood Appears, El Ardor) and Nicolás Puenzo...
- 8/13/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Screenterrier posted details of open casting calls to find Peter, Wendy and Tiger Lily for a new ITV drama based on the classic children's novel Peter Pan by J.M Barrie, now called Peter & Wendy, and the cast has now been announced.
13 year old Hazel Doupe from Ireland, will star in the joint roles of twelve year old Lucy Rose, a patient at modern day Great Ormond Street Hospital, and Wendy Darling, in her re-imagining of Peter Pan story.
Hazel (represented by Macfarlane Chard), who attends Billie Barry Stage School in Dublin, played Sarah in the Rte docu/drama Titanic, Blood and Steel, and starred in Irish thriller Jack Taylor:Shot Down,
Newcomer Zac Sutcliffe (who attends Yorkshire School of Acting) from Bradford, stars as Peter. Zac has just finished filming on Grimsby, a new film from Sacha Baron Cohen.
Natifa Mai (represented by Identity Agency) has been cast in...
13 year old Hazel Doupe from Ireland, will star in the joint roles of twelve year old Lucy Rose, a patient at modern day Great Ormond Street Hospital, and Wendy Darling, in her re-imagining of Peter Pan story.
Hazel (represented by Macfarlane Chard), who attends Billie Barry Stage School in Dublin, played Sarah in the Rte docu/drama Titanic, Blood and Steel, and starred in Irish thriller Jack Taylor:Shot Down,
Newcomer Zac Sutcliffe (who attends Yorkshire School of Acting) from Bradford, stars as Peter. Zac has just finished filming on Grimsby, a new film from Sacha Baron Cohen.
Natifa Mai (represented by Identity Agency) has been cast in...
- 5/14/2015
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
In this week's most unexpected piece of casting news, Paloma Faith has signed up to play Tinkerbell in ITV's new drama Peter & Wendy.
The singer-songwriter will be joined in the modern day re-imagining of Jm Barrie's Peter Pan by Stanley Tucci, who will play Captain Hook.
Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad) will play Mrs Darling, while newcomers Zac Sutcliffe and Hazel Doupe will play the lead roles.
ITV's two-hour drama will open in Great Ormond Street Hospital in the present day, with 12-year-old Lucy Rose (Doupe) awaiting treatment for a serious heart condition.
When her mother reads her and the other children the tale of Peter Pan, she falls asleep with thoughts of Neverland racing through her mind. She dreams her own version of the story into existence.
The drama will cut back and forth between Lucy Rose's version of Neverland and the struggles she is facing in hospital each day.
The singer-songwriter will be joined in the modern day re-imagining of Jm Barrie's Peter Pan by Stanley Tucci, who will play Captain Hook.
Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad) will play Mrs Darling, while newcomers Zac Sutcliffe and Hazel Doupe will play the lead roles.
ITV's two-hour drama will open in Great Ormond Street Hospital in the present day, with 12-year-old Lucy Rose (Doupe) awaiting treatment for a serious heart condition.
When her mother reads her and the other children the tale of Peter Pan, she falls asleep with thoughts of Neverland racing through her mind. She dreams her own version of the story into existence.
The drama will cut back and forth between Lucy Rose's version of Neverland and the struggles she is facing in hospital each day.
- 5/14/2015
- Digital Spy
There's a lot to celebrate in Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg's intense competition entry about a large family gathering that starts badly and gets much worse.
Filmed in a herky-jerky style that never grows tiresome and deftly mixing off-color humor with arch drama, "The Celebration" (Festen) rarely slows down to let the strong material sink in, but it's virtuoso filmmaking that should garner fans in subsequent festival exposure, with a U.S. art house release an outside possibility.
In a rural hotel in Denmark, an elaborate party and dinner unfolds in honor of Helge (Henning Moritzen), the family patriarch celebrating his 60th birthday with friends and family. Everyone seems to have gotten past the tragic death of one of his two daughters, Linda, whose twin Christian (Ulrich Thomsen) arrives with a shocking agenda as the attention-getting oldest sibling.
At the outset, tension revolves around youngest son Michael Thomas Bo Larsen), a flamboyant jerk who fights continually with his beleaguered wife (Helle Dolleris) and fiendishly needles sluttish sister Helene (Paprika Steen). Known for his drunken meltdowns, Michael boisterously tries to derail Christian when the latter drops a bomb on the black-tie gathering.
With a few drinks in him and in a deadpan delivery, Christian reveals that both he and his dead twin Linda were sexually abused as children by Helge. Known for his jokes, the father squirms uncomfortably and Christian's initial frontal assault is quickly dismissed by Michael and Helene. But Christian's longtime friend, the hotel chef (Bjarne Henriksen), encourages him to go all the way and arranges for the guests' car keys to be hidden, preventing anyone from leaving even if things get unbearably ugly.
They do. Christian accuses Helge of murdering Linda and is hustled out of the hotel by Michael. He returns to damn his mother (Birthe Neumann) for not stopping her husband. Eventually Linda's farewell letter is read by Helene and there's no longer any doubt. Passing out from the enormous amount of wine he's imbibed, Christian has a mystical experience and encounters Linda's ghost, which haunts the hotel.
The film is crowded with ancillary characters and relationships, including Helene's black English-speaking boyfriend (Gbatokai Dakinah) and Christian and Michael's former lovers now working as maids in the hotel. Seemingly headed toward a grim resolution, the film manages an upbeat finale that leaves one curiously unsatisfied, but still bowled over by the daring and well-paced ensemble project with all-around engaging performances.
Festen
(The Celebration)
Nimbus Film APS
CREDITS:
Director--Thomas Vinterberg
Screenwriters--Thomas Vinterberg, Morgens Rukov
Producer--Birgitte Hald
Director of photography--Anthony Dod Mantle
Second camera--Peter Hjorth
Editor--Valdis Oskarsdottir
Sound designer--Morten Holm
CAST:
Christian--Ulrich Thomsen
Helge--Henning Moritzen
Michael--Thomas Bo Larsen
Helene--Paprika Steen
Elsa--Birthe Neumann
Mette--Helle Dolleris
Kim--Bjarne Henriksen
Gbatokai--Gbatokai Dakinah
Color/stereo
Running time -- 105 minutes...
Filmed in a herky-jerky style that never grows tiresome and deftly mixing off-color humor with arch drama, "The Celebration" (Festen) rarely slows down to let the strong material sink in, but it's virtuoso filmmaking that should garner fans in subsequent festival exposure, with a U.S. art house release an outside possibility.
In a rural hotel in Denmark, an elaborate party and dinner unfolds in honor of Helge (Henning Moritzen), the family patriarch celebrating his 60th birthday with friends and family. Everyone seems to have gotten past the tragic death of one of his two daughters, Linda, whose twin Christian (Ulrich Thomsen) arrives with a shocking agenda as the attention-getting oldest sibling.
At the outset, tension revolves around youngest son Michael Thomas Bo Larsen), a flamboyant jerk who fights continually with his beleaguered wife (Helle Dolleris) and fiendishly needles sluttish sister Helene (Paprika Steen). Known for his drunken meltdowns, Michael boisterously tries to derail Christian when the latter drops a bomb on the black-tie gathering.
With a few drinks in him and in a deadpan delivery, Christian reveals that both he and his dead twin Linda were sexually abused as children by Helge. Known for his jokes, the father squirms uncomfortably and Christian's initial frontal assault is quickly dismissed by Michael and Helene. But Christian's longtime friend, the hotel chef (Bjarne Henriksen), encourages him to go all the way and arranges for the guests' car keys to be hidden, preventing anyone from leaving even if things get unbearably ugly.
They do. Christian accuses Helge of murdering Linda and is hustled out of the hotel by Michael. He returns to damn his mother (Birthe Neumann) for not stopping her husband. Eventually Linda's farewell letter is read by Helene and there's no longer any doubt. Passing out from the enormous amount of wine he's imbibed, Christian has a mystical experience and encounters Linda's ghost, which haunts the hotel.
The film is crowded with ancillary characters and relationships, including Helene's black English-speaking boyfriend (Gbatokai Dakinah) and Christian and Michael's former lovers now working as maids in the hotel. Seemingly headed toward a grim resolution, the film manages an upbeat finale that leaves one curiously unsatisfied, but still bowled over by the daring and well-paced ensemble project with all-around engaging performances.
Festen
(The Celebration)
Nimbus Film APS
CREDITS:
Director--Thomas Vinterberg
Screenwriters--Thomas Vinterberg, Morgens Rukov
Producer--Birgitte Hald
Director of photography--Anthony Dod Mantle
Second camera--Peter Hjorth
Editor--Valdis Oskarsdottir
Sound designer--Morten Holm
CAST:
Christian--Ulrich Thomsen
Helge--Henning Moritzen
Michael--Thomas Bo Larsen
Helene--Paprika Steen
Elsa--Birthe Neumann
Mette--Helle Dolleris
Kim--Bjarne Henriksen
Gbatokai--Gbatokai Dakinah
Color/stereo
Running time -- 105 minutes...
- 5/19/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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