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I was watching the movie "Peter von Scholten" the other day. It's an alright movie, a biopic about the Danish governor of the Danish West-Indies who emancipated the slaves in 1848. It was mostly made on-location, so that's a good point, though I would have wished that they would have shown a bit more of the ships - oh well...
But afterwards I couldn't help but wonder, why is it there are so few Danish historical movies? Or perhaps I should say, why is it that you practically never hear about the Danish historical movies that are there. I know they exist - "Peter von Scholten", "Gøngehøvdingen" and so forth - but they are never the big , famous movies for some reason. It's different with television series - when Danish tv makes a historical television series, it gets so much publicity - examples: "Bryggeren", "Gøngehøvdingen", "Krøniken", "Matador", f.eks. But most of these are about recent history - no later than the 19th century, I mean.
This whole state of affairs surprises me, especially because Denmark has such a rich history. The vikings, of course, but also all the rest. The Count's Feud, the Great Nordic War, our part in the Napoleonic wars, the story about how Dannebrog fell down from the sky, Queen Margrethe 1. who united Denmark, Norway and Sweden (it didn't last long, but still!), the murder of King Erik Klipping in Finderup Barn, King Christian IV, the story of Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, Struensee (why isn't there a movie about Struensee?), and so on and so on and so on - this is just a bit of the more famous bits. I mean, there is so much, why don't they hardly ever use it?!
Personally, what I would love to see would have to be a mini-series about Tordenskjold - complete with big naval battles. I mean, come on, biggest Danish naval hero ever - doesn't he deserve it as much if not more than the founder of some brewery? (Plus ships :-) - no, I am not shallow. Not in the least.)
But afterwards I couldn't help but wonder, why is it there are so few Danish historical movies? Or perhaps I should say, why is it that you practically never hear about the Danish historical movies that are there. I know they exist - "Peter von Scholten", "Gøngehøvdingen" and so forth - but they are never the big , famous movies for some reason. It's different with television series - when Danish tv makes a historical television series, it gets so much publicity - examples: "Bryggeren", "Gøngehøvdingen", "Krøniken", "Matador", f.eks. But most of these are about recent history - no later than the 19th century, I mean.
This whole state of affairs surprises me, especially because Denmark has such a rich history. The vikings, of course, but also all the rest. The Count's Feud, the Great Nordic War, our part in the Napoleonic wars, the story about how Dannebrog fell down from the sky, Queen Margrethe 1. who united Denmark, Norway and Sweden (it didn't last long, but still!), the murder of King Erik Klipping in Finderup Barn, King Christian IV, the story of Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, Struensee (why isn't there a movie about Struensee?), and so on and so on and so on - this is just a bit of the more famous bits. I mean, there is so much, why don't they hardly ever use it?!
Personally, what I would love to see would have to be a mini-series about Tordenskjold - complete with big naval battles. I mean, come on, biggest Danish naval hero ever - doesn't he deserve it as much if not more than the founder of some brewery? (Plus ships :-) - no, I am not shallow. Not in the least.)