But at the core of this elegantly queasy tale is Danish star Dyrholm’s commanding portrayal of Anne in all her righteous charm, certainty and triggered malevolence, which by the end can make the most charitably minded viewer toward a middle-aged woman’s desires feel like an enlightened dupe, slapped into awareness of how families are no different as power structures than any business shielding a crafty manipulator’s systemic abuse.Īs “Queen of Hearts” moves toward its conclusion, though, Dyrholm is never anything but dimensional about her character’s choices, which keeps this material from being easy to swallow as a moral thriller, and instead edges it ever so persuasively into the realm of soul-crushing tragedy. The key performances are powerful, and Lindh’s way with the insecurities bubbling inside a sour, vulnerable teen is a small marvel. If that element isn’t clear from the start because of the smiling postcoital faces on Anne and Gustav, it’s made perfectly obvious when exposure is threatened, and Anne turns into an unforgivably cruel protector of her comfortable life at the expense of an emotionally ill-equipped kid under her care.Įl-Toukhy’s taut, Sirk-via-Lupino direction of her script is a confident mapping of this melodrama’s fault lines, marked by the formidable tension of her scenes and her framing of the characters against their environment. The tricky brilliance of “Queen of Hearts” is in how el-Toukhy uses a well-worn narrative - the unsuspecting, hidden passion with the appearance of erotic freedom - to unveil what in reality is a poisonous tale of abuse. It’s a well-intended authority move but with unfortunate consequences when Anne becomes attracted to her stepson, then seduces him. Gustav is good with the girls but he also stages a burglary to steal from the house, which Anne, deploying her mom-as-attorney abilities, discovers and uses as leverage to convince Gustav to step up as a family member. When the couple take in Peter’s estranged, surly teenage son Gustav (Gustav Lindh) from a prior relationship, there’s an adjustment period even for this capable couple. Love Is All You Need Photos TROUBLED WATER, (aka DEUSYNLIGE), from left: Trine Dyrholm, Trond Espen Seim, 2008.More films from women, and starring women, means more stories about complicated women, and that’s what’s captivatingly on display in filmmaker May el-Toukhy’s domestic drama “Queen of Hearts,” Denmark’s submission for this year’s Oscar for best international feature film.Ī peek inside the luxuriously modern country home of formidable lawyer Anne ( Trine Dyrholm) and physician husband Peter ( Magnus Krepper) would suggest this is a do-gooder pair’s serene refuge: for their cheery twin daughters, for the occasional party hosting their liberal-minded friends and, when necessary, for one of Anne’s clients - typically a young victim of domestic violence - who might need temporary shelter. 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. Since then she's lent her voice to several episodes of the animated TV series "The Fairytaler," based on author Hans Christian Anderson's classic children's stories portrayed a spiteful beauty shop owner in the melodramatic love story "En Soap" and broken through to international audiences with her role as a bitter wife and mother in the Oscar-winning drama "In a Better World." In 1998 she landed a breakout role as a bewildered hotel maid in the caustic family drama "The Celebration," the first film created under the strict rules of Dogme 95 and won acclaim for her role as a tortured miracle worker in "In Your Hands," which commemorated the tenth anniversary of the influential Danish film movement. She won praise for her film debut in the romantic drama "Springflod" as Pauline, an innocent country girl who falls in love with a reckless city boy, after which she enrolled in the Danish National School of Theater. The annual competition, which determines Denmark's entry into the long-running "Eurovision Song Contest," launched Dyrholm's career as an entertainer and ignited her interest in acting. Dyrholm spent her youth performing with a local Danish orchestra and became a household name in 1987 when her group, Trine & The Moonlighters, took third place in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Trine Dyrholm is one of Denmark's most famous and successful actresses as well as an accomplished singer-songwriter.
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