Young Victoria
starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Thomas Kretschmann, Mark Strong, Jesper Christensen and Harriet Walter
written by Julian Fellowes
directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Queen Victoria, the longest-reigning British monarch to date (64-years), ascended the throne at the age of 18 in 1837. I remember the year because it coincides with the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada (no relation, though). Young Victoria is an excellent film, but I think the story of the personality and life of the real Victoria could have been told even more interestingly. Like Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett, 1998), Young Victoriahighlights the behind-the-scenes goings on at court, and how many factions tried to use the sovereign for their own ends while positioning themselves and their families for enduring benefit. But unlike Elizabeth, or Shakespeare in Love (Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow, 1998), or Master and Commander (Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, 2003), or Becoming Jane (Anne Hathaway, 2007), other period stories that I favor, I felt that Young Victoriawas weak in the matter of portraying the age in which the events took place because it focused so much on her relationship with her German suitor, Prince Albert. It’s a good story and a good film, though.
I really like Paul Bettany. I’ve seen him in a lot of films now. He is very English, by which I mean he is tall, thin, with sloping shoulders and a gigantic, round head.