A
Victoria is years away from becoming the queen so powerful that she has a whole era named after her. In fact, she’s so powerless when we first meet her that her mother insists that she be scrutinized and managed at all times, from which books she can read to never being allowed to walk down the staircase by herself. She is the heir to the throne of England, her childless uncle being the reigning monarch, and she has powerful enemies. Should her uncle die early, she will be pressured on all sides to turn her power over to a regent who can rule in her stead until she is old enough.
And in fact, her life seems to her nothing but a pawn in a giant game of chess, where she is manipulated by everyone in a struggle for power. And she feels powerless to prevent it, until the day she meets young prince Albert, the nephew of king Leopold of Belgium, who himself is being groomed by his uncle to marry Victoria. When she confesses how she feels like a chess piece used by those in charge, he advises her to learn to play the game better than they do. “Or to find a husband who can play it for me?” she asks. He responds, “Not for you. With you.”
What’s Good
I truly loved everything about this movie, but I’ll start with the strongest part, which is the performance of the cast. This is Emily Blunt’s finest performance yet, and she leads the way with a truly magnificent and nuanced performance as one of Britain’s most famous monarchs. While some performances are judged by the hyper emotional scenes that films sometimes thrive on, Blunt’s strength is in the ordinary moments when she brings a classic historical figure to life. The “monarch wishing to be free” has been done many times before, but rarely with the grace and ease that Blunt commands.
The rest of the cast is equally strong. Rupert Friend as young Prince Albert is fantastic, bringing life and depth to the character. You feel for his character as he grows to love Victoria, and he plays the role with equal parts restraint and ferocity. Paul Bettany has always been good, but his performance here is so strong you hardly recognize him as Paul Bettany. The rest of the cast is rounded out with great performances from Miranda Richardson, Mark Strong, and Jim Broadbent, among others, and all do a tremendous job in their roles.
The script is engaging, the dialogue believable and witty where it needs to be, emotional when it needs to be, and consistent throughout. The film is shot in a pretty traditional manner, but looks good. Jean Marc-Vallee gets the most out of his cast and crew.
What’s Not
Some critics have complained that the story is plodding. I didn’t find this to be so at all. It is a rather traditional biopic, and the tale of a young royal being used as a pawn by other powers isn’t unique, but it’s so well done here that I never found myself disengaged from the story at all. Everything clicks and the chemistry between the two leads is so compelling I found it hard to look away.
I guess that’s my way of saying I didn’t really have too much to complain about.
As the Credits Roll…
This isn’t the best movie I’ve seen this year, but it’s definitely near the top. In a period when crappy rom-com’s dominate the screen, this year has seen two of the more compelling on screen romances that I’ve seen in a long time. Bright Star and The Young Victoria are both great movies with brilliant performances and wonderful cast chemistry, and they deserve to be separated from the crowd and recognized for their distinctiveness.
