"Margaret, Queen of the North"... A ruler who spared her kingdom wars despite betrayals
The Danish film "Margarete: Queen of the North" retells the historical facts that accompanied the rise of the Queen of the Kalmar Union (Denmark, Sweden and Norway), "Margrethe I", the daughter of King Valdemar IV of Denmark, in an epic cinematic style that fits with The nature of the historical period in which she lived (1353-1412), which witnessed the emergence of a mysterious story that changed the course of events, and subjected the queen to a violent shock that she did not consider, after a young man appeared who claimed to be her son, the real king "Oloof Hokanson", who received the news of his death at the age of adolescence 15 years ago. And in order to keep the throne for those after it, she adopted her sister's grandson, "Eric" of Pomerania, to become king of the Federation after that.
The sudden appearance of the young man shook the pillars of the Union, and he showed hidden ambitions among his leaders, who began to conspire against him and win the love of the young King “Eric” by their side, so that it would be easier for them to lead the Union behind his back, and thus they could regain their power, which they were keen not to disclose openly. Fearing that they would appear as opponents of the directions of a wise queen who established a northern kingdom of prosperity and peace, the ghosts of wars that the countries of that region were waging among themselves, and also with others during the long periods of the Middle Ages, were far from it.
"Olof" .. The return of the dead king since adolescence
Danish film director Charlotte Seiling surrounds the story of the return of King Olof (played by Jacob Oftabro) in mystery, in line with historical facts that confirm that his story has remained unknown, so no one knows for sure whether the young man from the unknown is the real king. Or is he a fraudulent person who claimed that in order to ascend the throne.
The film was shot in an epic cinematic style that fits with the nature of the historical period in which the Queen lived
This is on the historical level, but on the level of the cinematic script, things that happen in the course of the dramatic narrative of the life of Queen “Margaret” (played aptly by the Danish actress Trine Derholm) indicate the validity of his claim, in line with the plan set by her German opponents to provoke with his sudden appearance conflicts and rivalries over the They take advantage of the power to penetrate the walls of the Kalmar kingdom and control it.
This cinematic plot comes in a gradual context that begins with a presentation of the queen's status and uniqueness as one of the European queens who succumbed to peace and renounced wars, and also contributed to presenting a new ruling model on the basis of which she established a prosperous kingdom.
This exclusivity is shown in the scenes of her visits with her entourage and her throne (played by Morten Andersen) to different regions of the Union, and by presenting the conditions of the people there, the good returns of the years of peace are shown on the details of their living.
Royal marriages.. conditional interests rejected by the queen
What she saw strengthened her confidence in herself and her policy, which she wanted to prevent German ambitions and threats from reaching her kingdom. This approach and the methods of applying it were not completely accepted by the rest of the leaders of the Union, each of them wants to keep his strength for himself and in his country without submitting to the Union, but thanks to her wisdom and clarity of vision, she convinced them of the need to contribute to the establishment of a joint defensive army, the purpose of which is to protect the Kingdom from any German attack Possibly, and in order to strengthen that trend, she planned to marry the Crown Prince, "Eric", to the English Princess "Philippa", to ensure a marriage that would secure for her and the crown prince a strong political and military alliance. This was in a ceremony attended by the English princess at the Swedish Kalmar Castle, accompanied by a seasoned diplomatic escort, in preparation for the announcement of the king's betrothal to her, and pending the completion of their marriage ceremonies after reaching the age of majority.
The queen is trying with maternal instinct to discover if her son is really in front of her
It is clear that the predominance of economic and political interests over royal marriages, and the exploitation of these occasions by competing states in order to get a better understanding of what is going on within the kingdoms is also confirmed.
In this context, a German merchant appears, and the Queen has been monitoring his behavior throughout the ceremony to know his intentions and the reasons for his presence. Away from the ceremony, negotiations are taking place between the Queen and the English diplomatic escort regarding the treaty to be written between the two parties, and it depends on the completion of the sermon or not. The Queen, for her position was clear that her union would remain in the North, and only for the countries affiliated with it.
The shocking news.. a chained young man claims to be the king
The negotiator did not have success in his negotiations, but a side event came in his favour, and at the same time pleased the German merchant dispatched by the German leaders.
Women help the Queen find a solution to a possible German attack
The dramatic event was that the Norwegian delegation brought with them to the ceremony a young man tied in chains in a pitiful condition. The leader of the group pushed the young man and asked him to introduce himself, but he was not fluent in any of the languages of the Nordic countries, so he said in German that he is King "Olof" whose mother and the rest of the kingdom believed He died 15 years ago.
The news came like a thunderbolt to the queen, who refused to believe his words, and the leaders of the union were divided among themselves about the position on him, while the Norwegians asked to hear his story and return him to the throne, which he is entitled to as long as he is alive, as their enthusiasm came because the origins of King "Olof" are Norwegian; The rest of the union leaders accused him of lying, and described him as a fraud who deserves to be sentenced to death without waiting.
The nobles conspired with King Eric to overthrow the Queen and seize the throne
The presence of the young man demanding his right opens the gates of disagreement between the leaders of the union, and the struggles of the kingdom's nobles among each other reveal a history of hypocrisy that has been hidden, but is now revealed before the eyes of the shocked queen; Not only by their disgraceful conduct, but by the conspiracy of the Church against it, and in particular by its chief priest (actor Soren Malling), whom she considered her right arm and her closest advisor. But the hidden facts revealed to her after aligning with her opponents show her the extent of his malice and betrayal of her in favor of the church, which secretly planned to keep the final word in the administration of the union, by installing Crown Prince Eric as a king who submits to the orders of the chief priests and implements his commandments.
During her descent into the basement in which the young man was imprisoned, her brief conversations with him and her hearing him chant a hymn she used to hear him before he fell asleep; Margaret felt that he was really her son, but she remained completely skeptical, because her son had died young, and what she sees in front of her is a mature young man whose features have been distorted by the epidemic.
The events unfold in an epic cinematic narrative style. The acting and decorations are all dedicated to serving a historic cinematic achievement
The chief priest confesses in front of her that he wanted to kill the king to get rid of him, but when he learned during a trip with him in distant parts of the kingdom that he was infected with a dangerous epidemic that was spreading there; He was afraid to approach him and carry out the plan to kill him. He and his co-conspirators thought that the boy had died of disease.
The king did not die, but remained alive, and when he arrived in German regions and recognized him, their leaders made sure to keep him in prison in order to use him in time to achieve their goals in destroying the Kalmar Union and its queen "Margaret".
"The Crook" .. The Queen's announcement of her real son
The Queen's investigations reveal that the German merchant planned Olof to come at the moment the Crown Prince's fiancée arrived in Kalmar, and that some of the union's nobles and those close to her cooperated with him to implement the plan to destabilize the kingdom.
The chief priest accompanied the Queen before discovering that he was the reason for planning to kill the son
The events unfold in an epic cinematic narrative style. The acting and decorations are all dedicated to serving a historical cinematic achievement whose director does not hide her vision of him from a female perspective, presenting Queen Margaret as a model of wise female leadership who desires to establish real peace, but greed and love of control do not stop thwarting her ambitions. "The swindler" and the final determination of whether he is her son or not.
At the point of dramatic escalation, she declares that he is really her son. A position that increases the schism of the ranks, and hastens to declare the crown prince "Eric" himself king of the union, as he demands the removal of his mother, who he considered biased towards her real son, and wants to deprive Eric of the throne because he is an adopted child.
The engagement ceremony of the king from an English princess to create blood alliances between kingdoms
The position of the chief priests resolves the conflict in favor of those who demand the execution of "Olof." The mother is unable to resist the control that has already taken place, but she asks the new king to be sentenced to death by burning, as the religious teachings recommend that treat the executed in this way as a believer and not an atheist in the church and its customs.
"Margaret the First"...a name firmly in memory despite the schisms
With his execution, almost a new page is written in the history of the Kalmar Pact, in which the traitorous nobles control the affairs of things, and threaten him with demise after the king signed a treaty with the representative of England stipulating that the princess would take over the rule after him.
At that moment, the head of the two priests retreats a little from his position in support of the "coup", not out of remorse, but for fear of losing his interests and the interests of the church he represents, so he advises the king to listen to his mother.
This step preserved the existence of the union and the role of the queen in it, but in fact it opened the doors to future schisms, after which the alliance did not survive. Despite this, the name of the queen remained firmly rooted in the memory of the people of the north, who called her "Margaret the First", in recognition of her being the first queen whose history was unparalleled, and their cities did not experience prosperity like the one she witnessed during her reign.
On the artistic level, "Margaret the Queen of the North" is a beautiful, epic and suspenseful movie that passes its time (two hours) without the viewer noticing his passing.
The smoothness of his narrative, the power of his acting and the huge budget devoted to his production, which is among the largest in Danish budgets for a feature film; It made it a visual historical reference for the biography of a queen. The historical dimension of her union, which she established in the Middle Ages, is still present to this day among the countries of the North.
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