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MovieMail's Review
Rebecca Smith enjoys this beautifully filmed historical romance about the young Queen.
Judi Dench won rave reviews for her portrayal of Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997), a film which showed the Queen in her later years. In The Young Victoria, Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, 2006) takes the crown in a beautifully filmed historical romance which depicts the Queen not as a grieving widow, but as a fresh-faced, strong-willed young woman in the early years of a reign that would define a century, and at the start of a love affair that would last her lifetime.
Written by Julian Fellowes, who won an Oscar for his witty, multi-layered screenplay for Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001), the film shows Victoria's very modern rebellion against the confinements and pressures of palace life and her very old fashioned relationship with the shy but practical Prince Albert (Rupert Friend).
Produced by Sarah Duchess of York and Martin Scorsese, The Young Victoria has a royal pedigree as well as a cinematic one, and French-Canadian director Jean Marc Vallee (C.R.A.Z.Y., 2005) reveals a deft hand for period drama. With fabulous costumes and locations, scenes such as Victoria's 1838 Coronation are brought to life with a fine eye for detail as well as a grand sense of spectacle.
The film opens with Victoria as a 17-year old heiress presumptive who must be chaperoned up and down staircases and share a bedroom with her overbearing mother, the Duchess of Kent (a steely-eyed Miranda Richardson). Soon, these personal frustrations begin to take on political dimensions: Victoria's aged uncle, King William IV (a scenery-chewing Jim Broadbent), is sick, and should he die before her 18th birthday, Victoria's mother would be appointed Regent and she and her lover, Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong), would be free to dominate the young Queen's early reign.
Forced to rely on the Whig Prime Minister Lord Melbourne for advice (Paul Bettany), Victoria finds herself caught between political networks and rivalries, subjected to facing constitutional disaster (including the 1939 Bedchamber Crisis, which is not nearly as racy as it sounds), assassination attempts, and a neverending parade of would-be suitors. The contemporary twist is that, as monarch, Victoria is the one who must propose.
Britain's longest-serving monarch (to date) is usually depicted as if perpetually trapped in haughty old age, but this well-written, finely acted drama breathes new life into a familiar historical figure, and captures the youth and energy of the Victorian era.
After an acclaimed performance in My Summer of Love, Emily Blunt stars in this biopic focusing on the early life of Queen Victoria and her romance with Prince Albert. Produced by Sarah Ferguson and directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, this is a visually stunning film that gives candid insight into the challenges faced by those growing up in the public eye.
