The year is 1720 and the Great Northern War is at an end. Now one of its heroes, 29-year-old Tordenskjold, no longer knows what to do with himself. His faithful friend and manservant Kold convinces him to take a “road trip” with a view to finding a bride. Their journey, however, turns into something more reminiscent of a rock star’s farewell tour.
It’s 1720 and the Great Northern War has ended. Vice Admiral Peter Wessel Tordenskjold, hero of the victorious Danish-Norwegian flotilla, is undergoing an existential crisis, but his search for the meaning of life only leads him to young women, alcohol, and the friendship of his faithful manservant Kold. It is he who convinces Tordenskjold that it’s the proper time to marry and settle down, to seek out the right one. The trip, however, soon starts to resemble a rock star’s farewell tour. Like a dog off its leash, Tordenskjold becomes a wild and vulgar war hero. Bouts of melancholy alternate with drunken revelry. Thus are rendered the final weeks in the life of a “Scandinavian legend” whose demise is shrouded in myth and conspiracy. The costume drama shifts genres, becoming an “ego road trip” around Europe. Director Henrik Ruben Genz himself names James Dean and Jim Morrison as inspirations for his main character. The script was written by Norwegian writer Erlend Loe, author of a number of distinctively humorous novels and screenplays. The picture was filmed in the Czech Republic.
Michal Hogenauer
98 min / Color, DCP
Director Henrik Ruben Genz
/ Screenplay Erland Loe
/ Dir. of Photography Jørgen Johansson
/ Music Henrik Skram
/ Editor Kasper Leick
/ Art Director Jette Lehmann
/ Producer Lars Bredo Rahbek
/ Production Nimbus Film
/ Coproduction Hummel & Nimbus A/S, Sirena Film, Anagram Film
/ Cast Jakob Oftebro, Martin Buch, Natalie Madueño, Kenneth M. Christensen
/ Sales Picture Tree International
/ Contact Danish Film Institute
Henrik Ruben Genz (b. 1959, Gram, Denmark) graduated in direction from Copenhagen’s National Film School of Denmark (1995). He came to world attention with the short Theis and Nico (Bror, min bror, 1998), which brought him an Academy Award nomination and a Berlinale award. His debut feature Someone Like Hodder (En som Hodder, 2003) intrigued juries at a variety of festivals. He first competed at KVIFF in 2005 with Chinaman (Kinamand), winning the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the FIPRESCI Prize. His next film Terribly Happy (Frygtelig lykkelig, 2008) also competed at Karlovy Vary, this time picking up the Best Film Crystal Globe. Ever open to new genres, Genz has also directed several TV series, including the popular “The Killing” (“Forbrydelsen,” 2007) and “Borgen,” (2010).
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Picture Tree International
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Fax: +49 30 4208 248 12
E-mail: [email protected]
Henrik Ruben Genz
Film Director
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