Archive of films Strings / Strings

Denmark
2004, 91 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2005

A puppet drama based on the classic scheme of the tragic death of a monarch, whose too-young son is unprepared to make important decisions and face dangerous life tests. The absorbing story is reinforced by the unique aesthetic effect created by the clever use of beautiful and elaborate puppets.

Synopsis

The film’s story is constructed on the classic scheme of the tragic death of a monarch, whose son is unprepared at his young age to make important decisions or to be given dangerous life tests. Young Emperor Hal Tara is initially led by blind hatred and the desire to avenge the unexpected death of his father. His perfidious uncle convinces him that his father was murdered and that the blame lies with age-old enemies of the empire, the Zeriths. During his journeying, however, the young man becomes aware that the real world outside the walls of the palace is much more complicated and that it is sometimes difficult to clearly distinguish good from evil. Puppet actors offer a unique aesthetic and dramatic tale, highlighted by the contrast between a fast-moving plot and use of slow motion, between the strong emotional charge and the unmoving expression of wooden actors. The director has created a new world in which wooden people are born and die, and they have their own rules and rituals. The story is cleverly constructed using influences of the classic fairytale, the heroic epic, Hamletesque archetypes, ‘Tolkien’ sagas, popular Japanese anime, and also modern sci-fis about robots and androids.

About the director

Anders Rønnow Klarlund (b. 1971, Denmark) originally worked for radio and as a television programmer. His feature debut The Eighteenth (Den attende, 1996) won a number of awards, e.g. for Best Feature at the Valencia IFF in 1997, also the NDR Promotion Prize at the North European Film Festival in Lübeck in 1996 and the FIPRESCI Prize at Mannheim-Heidelberg (1996). Czech audiences will have seen the film in the Horizons section at the KV IFF in 1997. His second film, Possessed (Besat, 1999), was also award-winning - the Main Prize for European Fantasy Film in Brussels, and Best Direction at the Fantasy Film Festival in Rome in 2000. He directed four parts of the popular television series “Taxa” for Danish state television - DR TV Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Strings is his third feature, winning the Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver - Mélies d‘argent, Brussels, 2000.

Contacts

TrustNordisk
Filmbyen 22, 2650, Hvidovre
Denmark
Tel: +45 368 687 88
Fax: +45 367 744 48
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.trustnordisk.com

Danish Film Institute
Gothersgade 55, 1123, Copenhagen
Denmark
Tel: +45 337 434 00
Fax: +45 337 434 01
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.dfi.dk

About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Another View

Director:	Anders Rønnow Klarlund
Screenplay:	Naja Maria Aidt, Anders Rønnow Klarlund
Dir. of Photography:	Kim Hattesen, Jan Weincke
Music:	Jørgen Lauritsen
Editor:	Leif Axel Kjeldsen
Producer:	Niels Bald
Production:	Bald Film
Cast:	Hlasy/Voices: James McAvoy, Catherine McCormack, Julian Glover, Derek Jacobi, Ian Hart, Claire Skinner
Contact:	TrustNordisk, Danish Film Institute

Guests

Tine Klint

Sales Agent

Christian Juhl Lemche

Film Institution Rep.

Hanne Skjodt

Film Institution Rep.