If there was one aspect conspicuously missing from a string of films on the British monarchy, it was the early years of Queen Victoria. In The Young Victoria, Emily Blunt plays a blossoming woman who ascends to the throne at the age of 18.
The movie begins with an overview of the historical context narrated in captions and a montage of little Victoria growing up. This, at first, gives the impression that we are about to watch a period drama playing out as a concise history of the British monarchy and Europe in the 19th century.
The first five minutes of The Young Victoria proves to be a poor choice to kick off a movie that focuses on a romanticized story of a young woman as she comes to grip with the arduous job ahead of her. The film seems more like a coming-of-age story, spiced up with untainted romance in a historical context, rather than a packed biography of a historical figure.
Growing up as the sole heir to a monarchy, we see Victoria suffocate under strict set of rules and protocols, in total isolation. Her mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson), and her comptroller and supposed lover, Sir John Conroy (a sinister Mark Strong), ensure that they control the strings. All of this takes place because, if Victoria succeeds the throne before the age of eighteen, her mother will be appointed the regent.
We are reminded once again that tight rules for a teenager can backfire. Growing up with resentment and a sense of imprisonment, Victoria becomes a hard-headed woman, developing an intuitive sense of the subtle dynamics of power games.
Queen: A kind of magic
At some point in her years before being a monarch, she is courted by Prince Albert (Rupert Friend), her first cousin from another royal family in Europe. Their courtship is carried out as a political game by both sides. Both Victoria and Albert overlook the reasons behind their introduction and develop a friendship cemented by regular correspondence over years.
The king dies soon after Victoria turns eighteen. The young Queen first distances her mother and Sir Conroy from her immediate circles, then takes a keen interest in learning her new job and finally opens her heart and her palace to Albert.
The two build their relationship like a modern one built on love, respect, equality, friendship and, as presumed in couple of scenes, good sex. The chemistry between Blunt and Friend is sparkling, better than most of the couples in recent romance films and romantic comedies.
Those who know history well will know Victoria and Albert’s relationship as depicted in the movie is not far from the truth. The two stayed married for 20 years, bearing nine children before Albert’s death at the age of 42. For the remaining 40 years of her life, Queen Victoria stayed in mourning, secluded in the palace, earning the name the “widow of Windsor.”
Emily Blunt’s performance reminds us of another British queen in cinema, Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of the Queen Elizabeth in two movies. Both actresses played their subjects with rich layers and made their queens women who were resolute, strong, sexy, inhibited and vulnerable all at the same time. The Young Victoria is a testament that a good actress can make a queen look royal.
Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News on 16 April 2010
0 yorum:
Post a Comment