The Inheritance (2003)
"Arven" (original title)

A young man is torn between his individual hopes and his sense of duty when his father dies and he is expected to take over the family industry.

Director:

Per Fly

Writers:

Per Fly (screenplay), Kim Leona (screenplay),

Stars:

Ulrich Thomsen, Lisa Werlinder, Ghita Nørby

17 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Christoffer
Lisa Werlinder	...	Maria
Ghita Nørby	...	Annelise
Karina Skands	...	Benedikte
Lars Brygmann	...	Ulrik
Peter Steen	...	Niels
Diana Axelsen	...	Annika
Jesper Christensen	...	Holger Andersen
Ulf Pilgaard	...	Aksel
Dick Kaysø	...	Jens Mønsted
Sarah Juel Werner	...	Marie-Louise
Linda Myrberg	...	Ung skuespillerinde (Young actress)
Lucy Andoraison Hansen	...	Mira
Eric Viala	...	Frederic Rousseau
Valerie Quent	...	Frederic Rousseaus kone (Frederic Rousseau's wife)

Storyline

A young Danish man, Christoffer, lives a life of joy and happiness with his wife Maria in Stockholm. When his father dies his mother insists that Christoffer take over management of the family industry which is in danger of bankruptcy. He is torn between his chosen life and his sense of duty to his family and its past. When he chooses to step in as manager his family life and self-respect languish.

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Plot Keywords:

duty | trust | baby | bistro | rumor | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [es]

Country:

Denmark Sweden Norway UK

Language:

Danish Swedish French Norwegian

Release Date:

9 July 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Inheritance

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zentropa Entertainments, Spillefilmkompaniet 4 1/2, Memfis Film & Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 107 min (Filmfest Hamburg)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie is the second of a trilogy, consisting of "Bænken", "Arven" and "Drabet", dealing with Danish lower-, upper- and middle class respectively.

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Goofs

In some scenes you can clearly spot that they have been filmed in Malmö, and not in Stockholm where they supposedly take place. For instance are the public transport buses not in "Stockholm" colours and in another scene there is a phone number visible on a shop window, which has the Malmö prefix.

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Connections

Referenced in Det store lærred: Arven (2003)

User Reviews

Shakespearean Tragedy Updated to the Family Business

"The Inheritance (Arven)" is the best look since "The Godfather" at the corrosive impact of family business where there's no boundaries between family and business.

The starting premise is strikingly similar to another Scandinavian drama, the Icelandic "The Storm (Hafið)," as in both we start off with a prodigal son happily and romantically involved abroad but forced back to deal with the patriarch's dramatic decision that has ever widening ramifications.

But whereas the first went off in psycho-sexual directions from a fishery, this Danish film stays realistically in the board room of a steel plant as much as the bed room.

Here, his wife is a Shakespearean actress and the Shakespearean references I caught are played up beyond "King Lear,"as the matriarch, a scarily formidable Ghita Nørby, whose role could be taken by Judi Dench or Glenn Close in an American remake, is a Lady MacBeth, and he's baited by a CFO with a pronounced Iago modus operandi, while the wife, the very moving Lisa Werlinder, is left to plead like Portia in "Julius Caeser."

Un-Hamlet-like, Ulrich Thomsen's manipulatable Christoffer plunges into decisions that succeed at high psychological prices for him and those around him, reminding me of the classic closing line of the adaptation of Henry James, "The Heiress": "I've learned from masters."