We’re in a pine forest, and the frame is starting to spin. The trees are now upside-down, and a foreboding melody is heard in the background. This is how Queen of Hearts / Dronningen, Danish-Egyptian filmmaker May el-Toukhy’s film, begins. A woman, played by Trine Dyrholm, then appears within the frame, as she is walking a dog through the forest. Starting with this very first shot, which seems to shout “what does the author mean by this?” at its audience, we’re placed within the woman’s personal space. The vertigo one feels after watching this scene – it is suggested with little subtlety – is, in fact, her vertigo. Additionally, the fact that the woman is followed from behind and at a certain distance imposes onto the spectator a voyeuristic manner of relating to the film’s events, one which will be kept and consolidated throughout the feature.

Codrin Vasile

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He studied directing at UNATC, where he wrote articles for Film Menu. He also wrote his degree paper on D.A. Pennebaker’s early filmography. He is interested in analog photography and video art. He hopes for a Criterion release of Shrek 2. He makes movies.

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