YOUNG VICTORIA
In the tradition of the recent series of early films about the great Elizabeth I of England, we are offered a similar glimpse of Queen Victoria. I suspect most of us non-19th century English historians associate her with “victorianism” and it’s stern and conservative approach to manners and mores, hearth and home. Pictures of her as an older, grandmotherly figure, in black with full skirts have always left the impression of someone who was the antithesis of modern, hip, up to date. In fact, she did miss modernism by a few years when she died in 1901.
But we were all young once: young and coltish and very sexy and thus a perfect vehicle to dust off the other side of “victorianism” and take it round the block. Moreover, since Victoria’s romance with Prince Albert was legendarily passionate, a not so common occurance in arranged royalty situations (not so for Marie Antoinette and King Louis) there is a real love story. Whereas films about Elizabeth I are quite speculative about the details of her various dalliances, Victoria and Albert are on record, nine children and all.
Here we get the super saucy. and I think ultimately miscast Emily Blunt as the 18 year old Victoria. Blunt is a truly talented young actress but she seemed too headstrong and independent to be the closeted Victoria, a woman who had been cut off from the English Court and raised with a strict series of rules of decorum by her mother the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson.) When her uncle, King William (Jim Broadbent) dies, she ascends to the throne, relying, perhaps too much the film suggests, on the advice of Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany.) One year earlier she had met her first cousin, Albert (Rupert Friend) who, according to the film, was being pushed as a mate for the young queen by their uncle King Leopold of Belgium. Albert seems to have become immediately infatuated but Victoria holds him off for a couple of years.
In fact, by this time the monarchy in England had no real political power, so the film has no choice but to emphasize the romance. Furthermore, Victoria was, contrary to the impression left by the film and Ms. Blunt, very passive in relationship to Albert, and let him call the shots as to official pronouncements from the throne. But without the kinds of political machinations and intrigues that make the Tudor (Henry and Elizabeth) predecessors so exciting the filmmakers constructed a somewhat tepid love story, sprinkled with a tiny bit of intrigue. It’s as if they couldn’t decided how to play it. Overemphasis on the love story didn’t seem like an option because there wasn’t really any argument: everyone wanted them to get married. There were a few incidents which made the throne unpopular early on, but none with any long term impact. But since the politics aren’t there, since Victoria herself was somewhat unformed as an early monarch, and since the love story is only about half of the subject of the film, it doesn’t add up to a work of art.
At the end we usher the youngsters into their marriage and years together. As the credits roll, we are treated to a dopey and anachronistic pop song declared by the great New York Times critic, Manohla Dargis, who attended the same screening, as, “their song.” Clearly any monarch who ruled for 63 years had to have lots of stories to tell. We have already been treated to the rumored late life romance of Victoria, as embodied by the magnificent Judy Dench, in Mrs. Brown. That left at least 40 years unaccounted for. But we all know that traditional marriage, Victorian family values ultimately aren’t so much fun.
The Young Victoria is now playing.
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée; written by Julian Fellowes; produced by Graham King, Martin Scorcese, Tim Headington and Sarah Ferguson (Dutchess of York); Director of Photography, Hagen Bogdanski; edited by Jill Bilcock and Matt Garner; music by Ilan Eshkeri. Released by Apparition. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.
With: Emily Blunt (Queen Victoria); Rupert Friend (Prince Albert); Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany); Miranda Richardson (Duchess of Kent); Jim Broadbent (King William); Thomas Kretschmann (King Leopold) and Mark Strong (Sir John Conroy.)
