Fuelled by faith:
A new drama starting on TVNZ 1 this week centres on a family of priests and the patriarch’s god-like influence over them. James Rampton reports.
Biblical plotline for a new drama series.
The highly successful Danish TV producer Adam Price moves from politics to priests in his new series.
The writer of Borgen, the acclaimed, Bafta-winning series about the Machiavellian goings-on in Danish politics, has followed that up with Ride Upon The Storm, a compelling examination of how religion shapes people’s lives.
This new drama series focuses on Johannes (Lars Mikkelsen, House Of Cards), a patriarchal clergyman who rules his family like a god.
In the manner of a divine figure, he dispenses love and punishment to his wife, Elisabeth (Ann Eleonora Jorgensen), and his two sons – August (Morten Hee Andersen) and Christian (Simon Sears).
In a plotline with obvious echoes of the biblical tale of Cain and Abel, Johannes clearly favours August and is disappointed with Christian.
This preferential treatment obliges both sons to make extreme decisions, either to win his love or be liberated from him.
Their story takes the audience into war and clashes between different religions. But it is all viewed through the personal prism of a family drama.
Price outlines the genesis of Ride Upon The Storm.
“Our starting point is the Christian faith, but then we go on to tackle the great world religions, and the dilemmas of faith, how you search for a new meaning in your life and a new path when you lose faith,” Price says.
“All these big ethical and existential questions are played out in the most intimate arena of a family – between a father, a mother and two sons. So in essence the show is a family drama.”
Price explains why he was so eager to address the subject of religion in Ride Upon the Storm.
“This is a show very much written
out of curiosity and the general feeling that if we’re not able to discuss religion, conversations will grind to a halt and we will end in fundamentalism.
“You could argue that religion is even more political than pure politics these days. You deal with religion when you discuss immigration, integration, the refugee crisis, how secular our societies really are.
“In these troubled times, if we could start a debate perhaps we wouldn’t be killing each other, building walls or digging trenches. And, in Denmark, we very much like the principle of discussing.”
Price continues that, “From a dramatic point of view, I also thought that understanding people of faith and faith as the motivating factor for the characters’ actions would be very interesting.
“We’re used to realistic dramas, cops investigating crimes, straightforward plots, but here it’s more complex.
“People are motivated by their faith and the great dilemmas of being simply human and aspiring to being closer to God.”
At the heart of Ride Upon The Storm is the magnetic, yet deeply flawed, figure of Johannes. Mikkelsen describes his character as someone who, “Is very good at telling people what to do, pointing the ‘right’ way for people, while he probably chooses the wrong path for himself. That’s his dilemma.
“It’s not unfamiliar to me. It is easier to show others a direction to follow than to follow it yourself. Johannes is rational and irrational, totally unpredictable. He has been one of the best parts ever for me.”
The other notable aspect of Ride Upon The Storm is the fact that it diverges from the ‘Nordic Noir’ approach that usually characterises ‘Scandi-dramas’.
Price reflects on why he decided to produce something more heightened with this drama.
“Ride definitely takes a new angle on storytelling from Nordic countries. ‘Noir’ is a term for the gritty realism that has become universal and has come through in Nordic crime dramas. But we are taking a step away from realism with this show.
“When you deal with God and people’s convictions in a show like this, you also have to take God and miracles seriously.”
Price closes by musing on how a person might succeed in keeping faith in today’s turbulent world.
“Johannes often says that you need courage to actually put your faith in God, to step aside, to try to diminish your own part in your own life. And, of course, we’re living in extremely individualistic and egoistic times, so the contrast is obvious. Everything is contained in Lars’ character. He has the highest aspirations of the whole show, but also the greatest demons.”
“He is very good at telling people what to do, pointing the ‘right’ way for people, while he probably chooses the wrong path for himself.”
– Lars Mikkelsen, above, on his character Johannes