SHAKESPEARE

Alternative title

Inheritance

Synopsis

Feature film. Christoffer - heir to an industrial fortune - finds himself caught between professional duty and personal conflicts when his father commits suicide and he is summoned home to Denmark by his mother to take charge of the family steel business. His decision to renounce his former life as restauranteur alienates him from his wife Maria, an up-and coming actress at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, who has just been offered the leading part in Romeo and Juliet on the main stage. Embracing a corporate life, he finds that he has entered into a system that leaves no space for love. Even though Hamlet seems to stand godfather to the tragic inevitability that drives this feature film and its protagonist, the explicit Shakespeare references in the film are tied to Maria (see notes).

Language

Danish

Country

Denmark; Great Britain; Norway; Sweden

Medium

Film

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Year of release

2004

Duration

115 mins

Credits

Director

Per Fly

Producer

Ib Tardini

Editor

Morten Giese

Screenplay

Dorte Hogh; Kim Leona; Mogens Rukov; Per Fly

Music

Halfdan E

Costume

Lotte Trolle; Stine Gudmundsen-Holmgreen

Art Direction

Soren Gam

Contributor

Harald Gunnar Paalgard

Cast

Diana Axelsen	Annika
Ghita Norby	Annelise
Karina Skands	Benedikte
Lars Brygmann	Ulrik
Lisa Werlinder	Maria
Peter Steen	Nils
Ulf Pilgaard	Aksel
Ulrich Thomsen	Christoffer

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Plays

As You Like It; Hamlet; Romeo and Juliet; Twelfth Night

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

Explicit references to Shakespeare revolve around Maria, the protagonist’s wife, who makes her first appearance in the role of Ganymede on the stage of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. She is shown quoting lines from As You Like It which significantly end with the following exchange:
Rosalind: ... and for lovers lacking- God warrn’t us!- matter, the cleanliest shift is to kiss .
Orlando: How if the kiss be denied?
Rosalind: Then she puts you to entreaty, and there begins new matter. (IV .i l72-76)
Comedy prevails when Maria playfully rehearses a scene from Twelfth Night with Christoffer where , once again, the theme is the denial of love. The lines quoted begin with Caesario/Viola declaring: "In your denial I would find no sense ..." (1 v l260). Tragedy inevitably sets in when the couple moves into their new estate in Denmark and Christoffer surprises his wife with a film poster of Zeffirelli’s ROMEO AND JULIET.

The DVD is available in Danish and Swedish with English subtitles.

General

The movie was shot using a two-camera technique. In order to enhance the improvisational/documentary style, actors often did not know where the cameras were positioned.

History

Inheritance is the second film in a planned trilogy about social classes by Danish director Per Fly . The film was originally released on February 21, 2002 in Denmark.

Awards

Inheritance won six Danish Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director in 2004. The film has also won several international film festival awards.

Reviews

Jonathan Barnes, reviewing for Sight & Sound, comments: "Fly could have borrowed a little more from Hamlet: Inheritance could benefit from a sword-fight, some stabbings and a ghost" (Volume 15:2, 2005, p.54).

Online Availability

Online URL

http://www.cinemaguild.com/inheritance/

Production Company

Name

Spillefilmkompaniet 4 1/2

Phone

22 94 24 94

Fax

22 94 24 99

Address

St.Olavsgt 21C
Oslo
0165
Norway

Name

Zentropa Entertainments

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7436 0165

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

Distributor

Name

Trust Film Sales

Email

post@trust-film.dk

Web

http://www.trust-film.dk External site opens in new window

Address

Filmbyen 12
Hvidovre
2650
Denmark

Distributor (DVD)

Name

Drakes Avenue

Web

http://www.vervepics.com External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7436 8001

Address

c/o Verve Pictures
Kenilworth House
79/80 Margaret Street
London
W1W 8TA

Online Retailer

Name

amazon.co.uk

Web

http://www.amazon.co.uk External site opens in new window