Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Gustav Lindh in Queen of Hearts


'A successful lawyer jeopardizes her career and threatens to tear her family apart after engaging in an affair with her teenage stepson.'


While I was looking for posts for Mother's Day, I cam upon the 2019 Danish film Queen of Hearts.(Dronningen) Directed by May el-Toukhy, the film introduces us to Anne, (Trine Dyrholm) a lawyer who lives with her physician husband Peter, and their two daughters. The drama begins when Gustav, (Gustav Lindh) Peter's teenage son from his past marriage, leaves his mother's home in Sweden to move in with dad and his new family.


Gustav and Peter immediately begin butting heads with Anne playing both peace maker, and confidant to Gustav. After a series of events, Anne ends up in Gustav's bedroom late one night, and and 'affair' begins. I put affair in quotes as Anne is in her forties, and Gustav is a minor, it actually qualifies as sexual abuse.  I know many don't see male teenagers as victims when the sex is consensual, but it's not really about their reaction in the moment, but the impacts down the road.


Upon it's release, the film garnered a lot of buzz and was selected as the Danish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Although ultimately not nominated, the film did win the 2019 Nordic Council Film Prize.


The version I watched had Swedish subtitles, so I couldn't make out the dialogue, but the film was beautifully shot, and breathtakingly tragic. Although he plays a minor in the film, Swedish actor Gustav Lindh was in his early twenties during the filming.


There are several erotic sex scenes, including the couples first sex scene which includes Anne pleasuring Gustav orally. I'm quite confident the penis pictured was a prosthetic, it was still a little shocking to see a scene like this in a mainstream adult drama. I'm going to try to find a copy with English subtitles, but regardless, Gustav's eyes tell so many stories, I really enjoyed the version I watched.


No comments: