A Royal Affair

Well it was posted as a November release in the US ( Stereotypical American voice "Its history - History's HARD!" ) LOL
Maybe it will be pushed up...I do hope so!

BeerIsFood wrote:

At about 1.34/1.35 mins in, she is on the floor screaming, whereas in the film I saw, the camera is close up and she screams, bending forward, holding her stomach.

Um. I really can't remember, if it was in the movie or not. Maybe I only think of the scene in the trailer and not of the movie. I can't imagine, that we have seen another version. We could talk in November the next time, when I could buy the DVD.

Luin wrote:

Um. I really can't remember, if it was in the movie or not. Maybe I only think of the scene in the trailer and not of the movie. I can't imagine, that we have seen another version. We could talk in November the next time, when I could buy the DVD.

Will this DVD version be dubbed in German? Will it have an English translation?

Surely there will be a English DVD too. But Amazon promotes the DVD in German yet.

I would say, there will be the German version and the English or the Danish.

Is the movie in England in Danish with subtitles or in English?

If there's only the Danish version, than the DVD will have the English (and maybe more languages) subtitles.

In the UK, as per usual, the film is in all it's original languages, so English and Danish, with English subtitles where appropriate.

http://www.studiomagonline.com/features/interview-mads-mikkelsen-studio-magazine/

I don't know if you have already read it...

"Mads Mikkelsen gives a perfect interview. The night before we met he was celebrating the completion of Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt – a glorious comeback for the Festen director that won Mikklesen a Best Actor Award at Cannes. But far from bleary eyed and grumpy he's charming, funny, candid and free of vanity. He even apologises for being five minutes late, which in the world of celebrity interviews is virtually unheard of.

Ethereally handsome and abundantly versatile, 46-year old Mikkelsen's acting repertoire is broad. He's convincingly played a Bond baddie (Casino Royale), a swashbuckling knight (King Arthur), a violent drug dealer (Pusher), a one-eyed Viking (Valhalla Rising) and now he's a romantic lead in A Royal Affair, Nikolaj Arcel's splendid historical drama that tells the little known story of the love affair between Johann Friedrich Struensee, a physician turned social reformer who falls in love with the Queen of Denmark and foul of her insane husband, King Christian VII.

Fresh off a plane from Copenhagen, Nicolas Winding Refn's original muse spoke to STUDIO about 18th century Danish rebels, his sex symbol status and whether he'd ever consider doing a musical.


STUDIO: Did you have to get up horribly early to catch your flight?
Mads Mikkelsen: Yeah.

STUDIO: Are you a morning person?
MM: I'm normally a morning person, but I was out celebrating another film we've just finished.

STUDIO: Which one?
MM: Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt.

STUDIO: We haven't seen much of him in the UK lately.
MM: Oh, he's back! This is a good film.

STUDIO: And you're playing someone who's accused of child abuse?
MM: Yes. It's a heartbreaking story.

STUDIO: It must be difficult getting into that mindset.
MM: Well, I'm innocent so it's not so bad.

STUDIO: I was completely swept away by A Royal Affair. It's a fascinating story that we know very little about over here.
MM: It's very famous in Denmark. Obviously you guys have so many stories with the Royal Family... but we have a few. This one is by far the most interesting and the one that changed Denmark for good, so it's a well known story and for that reason we had to be quite delicate because everyone has an opinion on what did and didn't happen. Our approach was very much inspired by what we know and then what goes on behind closed doors was up to us.
STUDIO: Struensee is a complex and emotionally rich character and you managed to convey the struggle he has juggling his principles with his desires. He wasn't black and white.
MM: We did try. In the history books he's brought to life in different ways. History is written by victors and he lost, so the first couple of things we knew about him were from his opponents. Later on, when people started digging into the story and history in general, it gradually changed.

What we're trying to do is see him as a doctor and a man of enlightenment, but he's not active, he's not a revolutionary. He's writing anonymous little articles and that's his life. So when he gets the chance to work for the King it's not like a social climb, it's not like he's in it to change Denmark. He's opening the King up and making him stand up for himself and gradually you see him thinking, "Why should they whisper in his ear? Why shouldn't it be me?" and then it takes over. Like every good dictator starts out – they believe and then it changes.

STUDIO: His good intentions were very evident.
MM: We had a strong feeling that there must be some kind of love between the King and Struensee. From what the King wrote about him, he was full of love. For that reason we wanted that to be a part of it, so it's a triangle about three people who love each other in different ways. Struensee had a conflict of emotion for him. He was obviously very fond of the King, but he was also betraying him by having an affair with his wife and using him to his own ends.

STUDIO: Your character and Queen Caroline were obviously very much in love, but their relationship was so doomed...
MM: We know for a fact from her letters and diaries that it was a stormy love relationship that went both ways. It wasn't a political alliance and that was a gift for us because we could make a romantic film as well and not just a cold political thriller.

STUDIO: I notice Struensee was very buttoned up. You weren't wearing flamboyant brocaded jackets or wigs like the other characters. Was that decided so that he would appear different to the rest of the court?
MM: We wanted Struensee to be somehow recognisable. He was not a big fan of wigs. You will see paintings where he is wearing wigs, but at the court and in private he was not. And he referred to the power people as The Wigs. You would have seen him in a wig once in a while, but it just looked stupid.

STUDIO: Do you like the dressing up aspect of your job?
MM: Yes. For certain films it definitely gives another aspect to my work. The good thing is that everybody is dressed up so you don't stand out. I remember when we did Clash Of The Titans and all the boys were wearing mini skirts and after a couple of days we didn't think about it. It was so absurd sitting around when we weren't shooting smoking cigarettes and giving dead arms, but we were wearing mini skirts. So sometimes that kind of setting helps you to join the film's universe.

STUDIO: Can you talk about working with rising star Alicia Vikander who played Queen Caroline? (23 year-old Vikander will be seen next alongside Keira Knightley and Jude Law in Joe Wright's Anna Karenina)
MM: I think we were the last to get our hands on her in Scandinavia. She's just flying away, but she's got all it takes. She's young, pretty, very talented, but most importantly she's a very hard working actress and the camera simply loves her.

STUDIO: Are you happy with the end result of the film or looking back is there anything you'd like to change?
MM: Nothing. I'm super pleased. When we were shooting it was like being away on a summer camp. There was an atmosphere of something very different from a Danish film I'd ever done before.

STUDIO: You've got a massive back catalogue and you've played extremely varied roles. Taking it for granted that you always accept well-written scripts, what other criteria draws you to a part?
MM: The director. I have to be able to communicate with them. It doesn't necessarily have to be a straightforward communication, it can be weird and awkward, but I have to find some level that we can communicate on. And I don't have to understand exactly what he wants as long as I can feel that he's dedicated.

STUDIO: You're scheduled to work with Nicolas Winding Refn again...
MM: I'm scheduled to be working with him for the rest of my life.

STUDIO: In an untitled heist project?
MM: Yeah. I don't know what's up next, but I know he's in Los Angeles right now working with Ryan (Gosling) and they're doing a good job together, so if there's a hole in there I can fill up one day that's what I'll do.
STUDIO: What's he like to work with?
MM: We're not friends, but we're working friends, you know. We have absolutely nothing in common. I'm a huge fan of sports and he can only, I mean only, talk about films. But when we work it's like me translating him. I'm interpreting him, lets put it that way, and he likes to be interpreted.

STUDIO: The New York Times called you "a slightly unearthly sex symbol"...
MM: Oh my God.

STUDIO: And you've been voted the best looking man in Denmark on a number of occasions...
MM: But that was a long time ago.

STUDIO: How do you manage to keep your ego in check when you're surrounded by all this adoration?
MM: Oh, I don't have to. My wife will take care of that! (laughs) I think if that sort of thing happens to you when you're 17 you might fly away a little bit. When it happens to you when you're past 30 you know what it is. You know that they have to find someone and if it's not me next year it will be the weatherman or whatever.

STUDIO: You're just about to start filming action comedy The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman alongside Shia LeBeouf.
MM: It's down the alley of the Coens or David Lynch. It's very beautiful. It's produced by the guy who wrote Little Miss Sunshine.

STUDIO: I've not seen you in much comedy.
MM: I've done several comedies back home, dark, black comedies – Adam's Apples, The Green Butchers –really dark crazy, crazy characters. This is a little bit the same. I think it's more drama than comedy, but it's definitely ridiculous once in a while.

STUDIO: You used to be a dancer and a gymnast. So what turned you on to acting?
MM: My body gave up. (laughs) I don't know. I was always in love with the drama of dancing and when that wasn't happening decided to do drama full time.

STUDIO: Would you consider doing a full-blown song and dance movie? Can you sing?
MM: I can sing, but I'm sure nobody wants to hear it! (laughs) There was a time when you could do it. Singin' In The Rain is a fantastic film. I've done Chicago in the theatre twice. I've done a lot of that stuff, but in the theatre, way back when I was a dancer. I don't know. Maybe."


Words by Rachael Scott

THANK YOU!

What a wonderful interview - this is great!


By the way I am spreading the good news of Mads to the other fan sites I visit - it is always so interesting how other fans react to him in their 'home' territory...

I will add that this has Mads' most contemporary sex scene in it, normally he always performs in the missionary position...Am I right about that? Can't think of any film off hand where he doesn't. Here, she is on top, and holds him down by the wrists, and takes the lead, and it is a very playful scene. So I think Nicolaj succeeded in many ways to make this a contemporary film, not just in the dialogue, etc.

BeerIsFood wrote:

... normally he always performs in the missionary position...Am I right about that? Can't think of any film off hand where he doesn't.

The Door! Right up against the wall... just saying^^

and also in
Coco & Igor... on the Piano bench, among other things

Oh yes, the piano bench scene.... Extra phwoarrrrrrrrrrrr!

I was reading the Guardian review, and it seems there was a lot of stuff emitted from the film:

I didn't realise that Caroline Matilda was the sister of Mad King George III of Gt Britain. Cripes, poor girl. Out of the fire pan into the fire! Apparently, Christian was severely beaten by his guardian who brutalised him as a child, which might explain his descent into 'madness.' He wasn't just into prostitutes, but young men and sado masochism.

Also, at the point in the film where Caroline is mad at Christian and Johann for coming in late, she was supposed to be ill, but it is unclear with what. Johann diagnoses her with being 'in a bad mood'. Court gossip was that it was a venereal disease she caught from Christian. It was supposed to be a very serious illness....????

Also, Caroline was into transvestism, and wore men's breeches and coats, and would walk arm and arm around town with Johann like this.

Struensee was also apparently having an affair with Elisabeth von Eyden, Caroline's lady in waiting, and they hated each other because of this.

Certainly didn't see all this in the film!

BeerIsFood wrote:

I was reading the Guardian review, and it seems there was a lot of stuff emitted from the film:

I didn't realise that Caroline Matilda was the sister of Mad King George III of Gt Britain. Cripes, poor girl. Out of the fire pan into the fire! Apparently, Christian was severely beaten by his guardian who brutalised him as a child, which might explain his descent into 'madness.' He wasn't just into prostitutes, but young men and sado masochism.

Also, at the point in the film where Caroline is mad at Christian and Johann for coming in late, she was supposed to be ill, but it is unclear with what. Johann diagnoses her with being 'in a bad mood'. Court gossip was that it was a venereal disease she caught from Christian. It was supposed to be a very serious illness....????

Also, Caroline was into transvestism, and wore men's breeches and coats, and would walk arm and arm around town with Johann like this.

Struensee was also apparently having an affair with Elisabeth von Eyden, Caroline's lady in waiting, and they hated each other because of this.

Certainly didn't see all this in the film!

The Hic mulier (mannish woman) or women dressed in men's clothes was not that unusual from the late 16th through to the late 18th century. Empress Elizabeth of Russia liked it. I did know who Caroline was - but I didn't know about Struensee's affair with a lady in waiting...

From the Toronto International Film Festival 2012

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Toronto #5: Loopers and the looped

By Roger Ebert on September 11, 2012 9:46 PM

"A Royal Affair" is a first-rate historical drama based on a romance that changed history. In Denmark, circa 1800, a fragrant young virgin named Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander) is selected to marry the feckless King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), an idiotic spoiled brat who values his cute little dog above all else. The kingdom is effectively ruled by a council, mostly concerned with using Christian VII to feather their own nests and continue their policies of exploiting the working classes. Sone royals exiled from his circle make a tour and meet a young German doctor named Johann Struensee (played by Mads Mikkelsen, an actor who seems destined to become the next international star from Europe.). They introduce him to the King in hopes of ingratiating themselves

Johann is an intellectual, a follower of Voltaire, a social reformer. Caroline is very smart, uneducated, left physically cold by her goofy husband. The king reserves more affection for his doggie, and is regarded by his cabinet as a moronic but useful puppet. Nevertheless, Caroline is in fact the queen and wields great power, and under the subtle and crafty tutelage of the two of them, the King begins to declare various social reforms, to the horror of his puppet-masters. What's this? Will the backward Denmark join the rest of Europe in joining the Enlightenment?

This is the first feature written and directed by Nikolaj Arcel, who earlier wrote "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." His sense of period is accurate, his locations and costumes persuasive, and the plot slides easily from comedy into serious drama. It is a dangerous matter to steal not only a king's wife, but his prerogatives. As the king, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard portrays a man who may be a fool, but has an engaging innocence. The film opens on Nov. 9.

Source: Blog Roger Ebert

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History Spawns Peak Films at Telluride Festival

By JOE MORGENSTERN, September 6, 2012, 6:03 p.m. ET

Affleck thrills with Iran-set 'Argo,' Chilean drama 'No' rates a big yes, Dane reigns in 'Royal Affair'

Telluride, Colo.

Being out in the world took on new meaning at the 39th Telluride Film Festival. All of the natural attractions were in place—the perfumed breeze, the azure sky, the scudding clouds, the Rocky Mountains as backdrop to a whirl of urban sophisticates done up as alpine rustics. Still, watching many of this year's films meant being out in the larger world of political strife, seething violence and history's tumult.

In some cases, the chosen mode was entertainment. "Argo," a terrific Hollywood thriller directed by and starring Ben Affleck, takes place during the Iran hostage crisis that began in the fall of 1979; it's just the kind of smart, accomplished film the studios should be making, and seldom do. In "No," Pablo Larraín's sensational fact-based political drama from Chile, Gael García Bernal plays an outwardly callow ad executive who's determined to drive the Pinochet dictatorship from office. (His genial insight, which the movie explores with a playful sense of paradox, is that democracy can be packaged like any other consumer product.) "Hyde Park on Hudson" has Bill Murray as a buoyant FDR on the eve of World War II, and Laura Linney as one of the women who loves him.

In the festival's most powerful film, "The Gatekeepers," the mode was polemic, and the mood was somber. Dror Moreh's feature-length documentary turns on extended interviews with all six former directors of the Shin Bet, Israel's feared and traditionally secretive internal-security service. None of them seems burdened by a bleeding heart; some have unsavory chapters in their careers. But they are, to a man, manifestly intelligent and exceptionally articulate. They are also formidably persuasive, as well they might be, having presided over half a century of efforts to protect their nation from its all too proximate enemies.

The retired directors acknowledge some of the Shin Bet's egregious lapses—the "Bus 300" affair, in which agents executed two terrorist hijackers without a trial, and the agency's failure to prevent the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, which effectively marked the death of the nascent peace movement. They note such successes as a reduction in terrorist activity that resulted, one of them contends, from cooperation with Palestinian authorities who were acting in their own self-interest. Surveying the current situation, they insist on the necessity of negotiating with one's enemies, and speak with unanimous scorn of their nation's political leadership: "I don't take politicians seriously any more," another says. Looking to the future, they see nothing but danger and decline unless Israel's leaders replace expedient tactics with strategic vision. A polemic, to be sure, but delivered by polemicists whose religion has been unblinking realism.

If "The Gatekeepers" paints a bleak picture of the Middle East, "The Act of Killing" portrays the darkest side of human nature. There are no good guys in Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary, only squalid gangsters and paramilitary thugs who killed on behalf of the military dictatorship that ruled Indonesia for three decades. The film is much too long, thereby squandering the force of its dramatic device, which invites the killers to play their former selves in recapitulations of their loathsome deeds for a fiction film. (It's eerie to behold the similarity between their simulated rage and the real, murderous thing.) All the same, "The Act of Killing" is valuable for what its interviews reveal about the sort of stone killers who seem to be in ever more abundant supply.

These vile guys know right from wrong, but drive the distinction to pragmatic conclusions. ("Killing is the worst crime you can do, so the key is not feeling guilty.") The most notorious of the lot, a trim and genial old gent called Anwar Congo, confesses to suffering nightmares about a victim he once beheaded. Yet there's no suggestion that the dead man as a whole is on the killer's mind; what bothers him is that he should have shut the eyes on the severed head. And there's no relief from the cheerful tone of Anwar's recollections. A case study in the banality of evil, he's also a poster monster for evil's joviality.

Most of my dispatches from Telluride have followed the same pattern in recent years—the summer releases from the studios have been dispiriting, the festival has rekindled my spirits and here are some of the films that did the rekindling. In point of fact, this year's summer films were especially atrocious—with deservedly dismal revenues to match—while this year's festival has been exceptionally good at reminding festivalgoers of how much they've been missing in international fare. And despite the two examples cited above, plenty of films from other countries were a pleasure to watch.

In "The Sapphires," an Australian debut feature directed by Wayne Blair, three aboriginal sisters plus a cousin who'd rather be white take their Supremes-ly exuberant Motown songs to U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. Though the production is unpolished, the music is great and Chris O'Dowd is delightfully droll as the group's boozy manager.

The pleasures of "Barbara" flow from an urgency and complexity that are concealed, though only for a while, by Christian Petzold's spare style. Set in East Germany in 1980, this German-language drama stars Nina Hoss in the title role of a physician who, after her banishment to a small-town clinic, is as icy toward her colleagues as she is caring and compassionate toward her patients. Ronald Zehrfeld is André, another doctor and fellow exile with a rich soul and a secret life no less dangerous than Barbara's, which involves a handsome lover from the West. Given the setting, and the pervasive paranoia, "Barbara" will inevitably be compared to "The Lives of Others." It isn't the equal of that masterpiece, but it's impressive and absorbing in its own right, an urbane thriller that plays out in a suffocating little sinkhole of a rotting Communist state, and draws suspense from the question, among others, of whether Barbara will choose the right man.

Mads Mikkelsen, the Danish actor who was such a vivid presence in Susanne Bier's "After the Wedding," gives a marvelous performance in "A Royal Affair." He is Johann Struensee, a German physician at court in Copenhagen. Nicolaj Arcel's period piece, which is superbly entertaining and sumptuously produced, combines seminal Danish history with juicy scandal. Late in the 18th Century, when Denmark was in desperate need of progressive ideas, the freethinking Struensee won the trust of the nation's tormented, infantile king (a performance of complementary virtuosity by Mikkel Boe Følsgaard); seduced the passionate Queen Caroline Matilda (Alicia Vikander); and tried to seize power in order to bring Enlightenment ideas to the impoverished nation. Although the periods of "A Royal Affair" and "No" are separated by two centuries, both films are about contests for a nation's future. In this one the contestants invoke Voltaire on the streets and murmur sweet nothings in bed.

It's always fascinating to discover what can make us happy, both as moviegoers and citizens of the world. "Wadjda" does the trick, even though it's a bit wobbly, as first features sometimes are. Haifaa Al Mansour's film represents two other firsts—the first feature to be shot in its entirety in Saudi Arabia, and, more remarkably, the first Saudi feature to be directed by a woman.

Like some of her colleagues in Iran, the filmmaker uses an ostensibly simple story to address crucial issues. The spunky heroine of the title is 11 years old and wants to buy a bicycle in order to race Abdullah, a young boy in the neighborhood. Lest you think this a variation on the theme of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," the story operates at the nexus of gender politics and cultural repression, since Saudi girls aren't allowed to ride bikes, any more than Saudi women are allowed to drive cars. "I Am a Great Catch" proclaims a T-shirt that Wadjda wears in the privacy of her home. For all its imperfections, the movie is a great catch too, funny and touching in equal measure.

Of the 15 features I managed to see over the long Labor Day weekend, two other films made strong impressions. "The Central Park Five" is a harrowing piece of investigative work by Sarah Burns, her father, Ken Burns, and David McMahon. Their documentary examines the notorious case of five teenage boys from Harlem who were sent to prison for the 1989 assault and rape of a white middle-class woman in Central Park, a crime to which a known serial rapist confessed many years later. And at the opposite end of the seriousness scale, "Hands Up!," a silent comedy from 1926, showcased the all-but-forgotten talents of Raymond Griffith, although, in fairness, it also reminded us why both Chaplin and Keaton were beyond compare.

In fairness to the many passholders who complained of long lines and sold-out screenings, this year's event was not problem-free. The transition to digital projection caused technical glitches, while the festival's egalitarian principles were severely stressed by a plethora of platinum, go-to-the-head-of-the-line patron passes. Still, Telluride puts on a show unlike any other, and I've got to believe that the festival will solve its problems before next year's edition rolls around. At an altitude of almost 9,000 feet, the stakes are too high to do anything less.

A version of this article appeared September 7, 2012, on page D9 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: History Spawns Peak Films at Telluride Festival.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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'En kongelig affære' bliver Danmarks Oscar-kandidat

AF STEFFEN BOESEN, ANDERS HJORT OG TOMMY GRØN, 21. SEP. 2012 KL. 12.32

Nikolaj Arcels Struensee-film skal repræsentere de danske farver i Oscar-kapløbet.

Den danske Oscar-komité har afgjort, at 'En kongelig affære' skal konkurrere om en af de fem nomineringer til det amerikanske filmakademis store prisfest til næste år.

Nikolaj Arcels fortælling om trekantsdramaet mellem livlægen Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), kong Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) og hans dronning Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander) er blevet valgt frem for Susanne Biers nye film 'Den skaldede frisør' og Bille Augusts 'Marie Krøyer'.

Komiteen, der har valgt den danske Oscar-kandidat består af chefen for Det Danske Filminstitut og filmbranchens organisationer.

Henrik Bo Nielsen fra Det Danske Filminstitut er formand for komiteen. De øvrige medlemmer er Tivi Magnusson fra Producentforeningen, Jan Weincke fra Dansk Filmfotograf Forbund, Kim Pedersen fra Danske Biografer, Mette-Ann Schepelern fra Danske Filminstruktører, Louise Kidde Sauntved fra Filmmedarbejderforeningen samt Steffen Andersen-Møller fra Det Danske Filminstitut.

Komitéen har blandt andet lagt vægt på, at 'En kongelig affære' er en film med stort internationalt potentiale, og at den har vist det i Nordamerika og resten af den engelsktalende verden på diverse filmfestivaler.

Nominerede offentliggøres i januar

Proceduren frem mod at blive endeligt nomineret til en Oscar er lang.

Hvert land indstiller en film til kategorien Best Foreign Language Film. Det amerikanske akademis udenlanske komité gennemgår fra 1. oktober filmene og udvælger seks film til en shortliste. Derefter tilføjer en særlig komité yderligere tre film til shortlisten, så der er ni film med på shortlisten.

10. januar offentliggøres det, hvilke fem film, som i sidste ende bliver nomineret til en Oscar i 2013 i Los Angeles.

'The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' har tidligere givet tre danske film en Oscar i kategorien Best Foreign Language Film. Nemlig 'Babettes gæstebud', 'Pelle Erobreren' og Susanne Biers 'Hævnen'.



'A Royal Affair' is Denmark's Oscar candidate

by STEVE BOESEN , ANDERS HJORT AND TOMMY GREEN, 21ST SEPTEMBER 2012 KL. 12.32

Nikolaj Arcel's Struensee movies to represent the Danish colors in the Oscar race.

The Danish Oscar committee has decided that the 'A Royal Affair' to compete for one of the five nominations for the American Film Academy high price event next year.

Nikolaj Arcel's tale of triangle drama between livlægen Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) and his Queen Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander) has been chosen in preference to Susanne Bier's new film 'The bald hairdresser' and Bille August ' Marie Krøyer '.

The committee that chose the Danish Oscar candidate consists of the Head of the Danish Film Institute and film industry organizations.

Henrik Bo Nielsen from the Danish Film Institute is chairman of the committee. The other members are tivi Magnusson from Producers' Association, Jan Weincke from the Association of Danish Cinematographers, Kim Pedersen from the Danish Cinemas, Mette-Ann Schepelern from the Danish Film Directors, Louise Kidde Sauntved from Film Employees Association and Steffen Andersen-Møller from the Danish Film Institute.

The Committee has, among other things emphasized that 'A Royal Affair' is a film with great international potential, and has shown it in North America and the rest of the English-speaking world at various film festivals.

Nominations will be published in January

The procedure toward being finally nominated for an Oscar is long.

Each country sets a movie in the category Best Foreign Language Film. The American Academy are foreign committee will review the first October films and selects six films to a short list. Then add a special committee further three films to short list, there are nine films on the short list.

10th Jan. published it, the five films that are ultimately nominated for an Oscar in 2013 in Los Angeles.

'The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' has given three Danish film an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Namely 'Babette's Feast', 'Pelle the Conqueror' and Susanne Bier's 'Better World'.

Source: Politiken

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'A Royal Affair' Is Denmark's Oscar Hopeful

4:21 AM PDT 9/21/2012 by Scott Roxborough

"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" screenwriter Nikolaj Arcel directed the period drama starring Mads Mikkelsen and Alicia Vikander.

Denmark has anointed Nikolaj Arcel's period drama A Royal Affair to be the country's entry for the 2013 Oscar race for Best Foreign Language Film.

Based on a true story from the 18th century, the film looks at the love affair between Denmark's young queen and her royal physician - a romance that will transform the country even as it dooms the pair.

A Royal Affair stars Mads Mikkelsen as the doctor, Alicia Vikander as the queen and newcomer Mikkel Boe Folsgaard as the mad King Christian VII, a role which won Folsgaard the best actor honor at the Berlin International Film Festival in February. Arcel and co-writer Rasmus Heisterberg also took Berlin's best screenplay prize.

The drama is already being tipped as one of the Foreign Language Oscar frontrunners. Denmark won the Best Foreign Language prize this year with In A Better World from director Susanne Bier.

In addition to its criticial honors, A Royal Affair has been a commercial success. At home, the film has earned $6.2 million at the Danish box office, and has broken records abroad. In the U.K. A Royal Affair earned more than $580,000 at the till, a record for a Danish film, and in Australia it has taken in more than $1.6 million to date. Magnolia has domestic rights to A Royal Affair and will bow the film stateside on Nov. 9.

TrustNordisk, which is handling international sales for the title, has sold A Royal Affair to more than 78 countries worldwide.

Source: Hollywoodreporter


I wonder, if "A royal affair" is the best choice for Denmark. I mean, it's a good movie, one of the better ones. But I suppose - without seeing it - that "The Hunt" will be better. You know, with more and deeper emotions. More drama. More great Mads. But well, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard is great too. Alicia is pretty nice and smart.

The question is too, which other good foreign movies there will be. I wonder, if for example "The Untouchables" (Ziemlich beste Freunde) would be a foreign candidate (for France) too. Because it is probably more known, more mainstream. But it's after all hard to understand why a movie wins an Oscar.

Sadly in the US 'the Hunt' would probably be seen as too difficult or painful.
In this very silly country - if someone is accused of 'anything' by a child - then it must be true - the child's word is considered true no matter what ... I know it makes no rational sense but that's so often the impression here...
Until I can see either of these films I can't imagine which one would stand a better chance...

I'm sure, that it is in many countries so, that the child must be right. After all the terrible things children have to get through, if it's accused, it's of course the right way to trust at first the child. But you have to check, if this is really the truth. It's very terrible for men, who done nothing but never can clean themselves from this suspicion. I think it's very difficult. Because we have to protect the children first, because they can't protect themselves. But a wrong suspicion is hard too for an innocent man.

I spoke some days ago with a friend of mine, a young mother and we found out, that men are much more frightened of the abuse of their children, than the mothers. Fathers want to protect their children of other suspicious men or situations and mothers are much more cooler and see not everything that dark and evil. For example I know a man, who doesn't want to hand the underwear of his children on the clothesline. And another one doesn't want any photos in newspapers because a child abuser could see that and choose him as his new victim. I'm sure this would rarely happen. A child abuser would search for a child in the neighborhood, I suppose.

But it's crazy not to show the movie in the USA! That's art! And there are much more violent movies, who shouldn't be shown. Stupid. But Americans …

I agree with you Luin, and while I do think it will be shown in theaters I feel that many people will find it disturbing- but that's what the best films should do - provoke and inspire people to think in new ways!

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2013 Oscar Predictions: Best Foreign Language Film

BY PETER KNEGT, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012 12:39 PM

Indiewire will provide regular updates of our predictions for the 85th Academy Award nominations through January 15th, when the nominations are announced.

Here's our very early take on best foreign language category. Some really exceptional, challenging work is in contention (check out the list of submissions here) that collectively represents an impressive year in world cinema. Michael Haneke's "Amour" (Austria), Cate Shortland's "Lore" (Australia), Pablo Larrain's "No" (Chile), Christian Petzold's "Barbara" (Germany), Nikolaj Arcel's "A Royal Affair" (Denmark), Ursala Meier's "Sister" (Switzerland), Rama Burshtein's "Fill The Void" (Israel) and Cristian Mungiu's "Beyond The Hills" (Romania) have all been submitted so far.

Whether or not any of these end up making it on the Academy's short list is a whole other story (though if "Amour" doesn't, it would be a legendary snub), especially considering quite a few of them are not exactly mainstream. But, hey, if "Dogtooth" could make it two years back, anything's possible.

Best foreign language film predictions below, taken with a serious grain of salt at least until mid-Fall. Check out all predictions in all the categories here.

The Predicted 5:
1. Amour (Austria)
2. The Intouchables (France)
3. A Royal Affair (Denmark)
4. Lore (Australia)
5. Fill The Void (Israel)

Possible Spoilers:
6. War Witch (Canada)
7. No (Chile)
8. Sister (Swizerland)
9. Barbara (Germany)
10. Beyond The Hills (Romania)

Longer Shots:
11. Our Children (Belgium)
12. Pieta (South Korea)
13. After Lucia (Mexico)
14. Kon-Tiki (Norway)
15. Our Homeland (Japan)

Source: Indiewire

If these five will make it, if would be hard, I suppose. I watched "The Untouchables" and this is a pretty nice movie. It was funny but with a charming story behind and with great actors. The other ones I didn't see.

And where's Mads name here????

I contacted Amazon today, to get information, what's on the double DVD of the movie. This is what I get:

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Es handelt sich wie auf der detail Seite zu sehen um eine DVD mit dem Spielfilm „Die Königin und der Leibarzt“( Sprache: Dänisch (Dolby Digital 5.1), Deutsch (Dolby Digital 5.1)) und eine Zusatz DVD mit dem Dokumentar-Spielfilm „Eine königliche Affäre“. Dieser erzählt anhand von Experteninterviews und lange geheim gehaltenen Originaldokumenten den historischen Hintergrund zu „Die Königin und der Leibarzt“.

Den Inhalt der Dvd, können Sie auch auf der Produktseite nachlesen:

Die Königin und der Leibarzt ist die Verfilmung einer der emotionalsten Begebenheiten der europäischen Geschichte: Das Macht- und Liebesdreieck zwischen der dänischen Königin Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander), ihrem wahnsinnigen Mann, König Christian VII. (Mikkel Følsgard) und dem deutschen Arzt und Aufklärer Johann F. Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) stürzte die dänische Monarchie in eine tiefe Krise. Die skandalöse ménage à trois endete mit der Scheidung des Königspaares, eine Ungeheuerlichkeit im 18. Jahrhundert, und der Hinrichtung des Leibarztes.

I asked for some special things like interviews and so on. But it seems, that there's nothing on it. Only this German movie, a documentation. I'm disappointed.

The single DVD has this extras:

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Extras:
Trailer
Interviews Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander und Nikolaj Arcel
Berlinale 2012:
Silberner Bär für Mikkel Boe Følsgaard als Bester Darsteller
Silberner Bär für Nikolaj Arcel und Rasmus Heisterberg für Bestes Drehbuch

Not that much, but more than on the double DVD. I don't understand it.

I post the interview annesrake has found once again, because I think it belongs a lot to this movie here.

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Mads Mikkelsen talks losing his head in ‘A Royal Affair’ & following Anthony Hopkins’ bloody footsteps as TV’s ‘Hannibal’

By mattmcd | The Reel Breakdown – Sat, 10 Nov, 2012 5:12 PM EST

Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, 46, courts Oscar in the 18th-century romance "A Royal Affair," (opening today) the Danish entry for Best Foreign Film. In that sexy historical drama, Mikkelsen plays the German doctor and philosopher that charms crazy King Christian VII of Denmark (Mikkel Boe Folsgaard) and beds his young English queen (rising star Alicia Vikander).

"Mads? Of course, as a Scandinavian I had seen a lot of his films," Vikander told Yahoo! Movies this week. The Swedish actress, 24, who also has a major role opposite Keira Knightley in "Anna Karenina" continued: "He's one of our greatest actors. When I met Mads for the first time at a screen test in Copenhagen, it took me one second to realize he's one of the most down to earth men. He's funny, witty, brilliant and a real inspiration."

Despite his high profile in Scandinavia — and a standout role as the Bond villain Le Chiffre in "Casino Royale" — Mikkelsen's career has reached a new high this year. He won best actor honors at Cannes for "The Hunt," and he's currently filming "Hannibal" in Toronto opposite Hugh Dancy. The highly anticipated NBC series will premiere in 2013 with Mikkelsen in the title role made infamous by Sir Anthony Hopkins, Hannibal Lecter.

When I met the tall, high-cheek-boned actor in Toronto last September, he struck me as a cross between Viggo Mortensen and Ciaran Hinds — intelligent, physical and grown-up sexy. And every bit as down-to-earth as Vikander says. As for his hot streak, he was philosophical: "I never really planned a career," Mikkelsen said. "I've tried to avoid it. I've tried to do this stuff I felt for, the stuff I like. So, I've just been meeting these fantastic directors who've offered me a variation of different parts and different films. And now it's landed here."

Directors like Nicolaz Arcel, the Dane responsible for "A Royal Affair," and the screenwriter of the Swedish version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" with Noomi Rapace. When Arcel cast Mikkelsen as Johann Friedrich Struensee, the German who becomes King Christian's personal physician, he rose to the challenge — physical and emotional. "There's no such thing as easy," said Mikkelsen, "but it's easier when a script is good. Even though the characters may go through hell, it's nice for an actor because it's there on the paper."

And, in "A Royal Affair," his character literally goes through hell. Despite becoming the King's closest confidante, the doctor's radical ideas and his intimacy with the queen become his undoing. It's not a spoiler to say that things don't end well for the good doctor. It's a matter of historical record. "Yeah," agreed Mikkelsen. "I mean it's a well known story. Let me put it this way. They're both dead today."

The most heart-wrenching moment is when the doctor arrives at the scaffolding outside of town, still believing King Christian will stay his execution. As an actor, Mikkelsen had to get inside the doctor's head — and then lose it. Is it hard to recreate such a traumatic scene? "It was quite," said Mikkelsen. "We as actors imagine things like that. It's what we have to do. But if it's there and there was the scaffolding. The axe was there. It was really cold. It was really a sad day. I'm walking up these stairs now. I'm saying goodbye to my whole life. Also, he realizes it's not just fifty people out there watching. It's the whole city and they hate him. He didn't see that coming. It's heartbreaking for him."

The doctor considered himself a man of the people, given his enlightened political ideas, and then even the people turn, is that right? "They didn't have any idea what his job was. They thought he was trying to kill the King and shag the queen."

Mikkelsen's co-star Vikander added insight to the historical relationship between royal and doctor that began as a meeting of the minds and deepened from there with tragic results. "Both of them ended up in Denmark, a country where they couldn't speak out or express themselves," she told Yahoo! Movies. "In that way both of them suddenly met someone with whom they were soul-mates. They found someone that they could open up to and actually be themselves with and that was why they had such a strong connection and why they had this love affair."

While in "A Royal Affair," Mikkelsen's plays a doomed hero; he's equally adept at playing villains. Enter Hannibal Lecter, the TV series. The NBC show is set in contemporary America. It takes place before the FBI arrests Lecter for his serial crimes. "That was a nice shift of gear for me," said Mikkelsen of being cast in an American TV series. "Like wow, why not stick with something for a long time and see how it goes?"

Certainly Anthony Hopkins, who won a Best Actor for playing Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs," throws a big shadow over the character. "You can't avoid that," agreed Mikkelsen. "He made it iconic and for a good reason. He's absolutely outstanding in that character. We cannot move away totally from the fact that he is what he is, if not a little decadent then at least a man full of taste. But this takes place before he's captured. Before anyone knows what he is."

Mikkelsen offered a thumbnail of the plot, which is a prequel. "Lector is hired to help Will Graham [Dancy], who is a genius FBI profiler. But unfortunately Will suffers from too much empathy. It means he cannot deal with the cases. He's putting himself in the shoes of the killers and he cannot handle that situation. So, the FBI hires me to help him deal with his job."

Big mistake, right? "Right," Mikkelsen continued, "I'm a psychiatrist. And all of a sudden I find myself in this candy store where I love being in the middle of every investigation that comes in. It means I can do pretty much what I want. I can manipulate the cases that Will's running. I can get away with anything."

Does this Lecter commit murders or just solve cases? "There's a lot of solving cases and I do eat stuff occasionally," Mikkelsen said. "A man's gotta eat."

Source: Yahoo Movies Canada

In the US it appears 'Hannibal' will be used as a season replacement for a canceled program (if a program receives few views or is not considered popular it is canceled) and as one of my new favorite programs has been canceled (I should have known that Eddie Izzard and Mads Mikkelsen could not both be contained on US network television in the same season - too much goodness... ) so now I am looking forward to our Darling Dane ...Sigh.

At long long last "Royal Affair" will be in Denver at the end of the month!

A royal affair has very much promotion in the USA, hasn't it? I mean in comparison with other foreign or Danish movies. What do you think: Is it because of the probably Oscar-nomination, or the award of Mads in Cannes or because of the Hannibal-promotion?

Or maybe just, because it's a good movie.

I didn't have bought the DVD yet. I'm a little bit disappointed about the extras. I mean the interviews with Mads, Alicia and Nicolaj at the Berlinale I surely have seen on TV or youtube. I have hoped, there would be some deleted scenes on it. Maybe I should wait till February, when they win the Oscar. I I suppose, they wouldn't change the extras because of that.

Sadly there has almost no promotion that I have seen around here for either Hunt or Royal Affair! I've been the person looking for it, the one to bother various art house box offices with my requests...

It has really disillusioned me about this, sadly it seems that - in this silly country - if its not a blockbuster full of teen aged vampires or explosions no one will want to see it!

At lease I know when it will be in town - November 30th!!

Happy birthday to Mads!I celebrated it in a cinema,it was the première of The Royal Affair in Hungary.I loved it very much

Well although it was delayed twice I saw A Royal Affair yesterday!

Lovely! Mads was wonderful!

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