Word: victorias
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...Queen Victoria, in the great beyond, had a say in the matter, you could imagine her waving an imperious hand during the casting process for The Young Victoria, demanding that she be played by "that clever girl from The Devil Wears Prada." And her edict would have been wise, because Emily Blunt is utterly charming in this dramatization of the young Victoria's ascension to the throne and her courtship with Prince Albert...
...hands of director Jean-Marc Vallee and screenwriter Julian Fellowes, The Young Victoria adheres - mostly - to history. It's romanticized, with Victoria's beloved Albert (Rupert Friend) a more eager suitor than history indicates. And the movie may give British political scholars fits, because Lord Melbourne, the 58-year-old Prime Minister who coached Victoria in politics and queenly affairs, is played here by the dashing and quite youthful Paul Bettany, excising 20 years and at least as many pounds from Lord M.'s real person. (See the top 10 movie performances...
...teenage Victoria was heir to the throne held by her uncle, King William (Jim Broadbent), but living in royal lockdown at Kensington Palace. "Even a palace can be a prison," she tells us. We're well acquainted with the downside of royalty, thanks to the current Windsors' chatty ex-in-laws, but Victoria isn't just whinging. She sleeps in a room with her German-born mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson), has only her spaniel Dash for a playmate and isn't allowed to walk down stairs alone. Her governess, the Baroness Lehzen (Jeanette Hain), is the closest...
...Duchess and her "adviser" (in both boudoir and boardroom), the glowering Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong), try to strong-arm Victoria into signing over her power to her mother, just in case King William dies before she turns 18. We want her to be Queen so she can finally say, "Off with his head." Conroy is the film's only outright villain, but he's not really much source of tension: once she's Queen, she's the boss. Nor are Lord M. or Lehzen, even though they try to manipulate the young Queen, because this is primarily a love...
...wild love story for both parties? It can be a challenge to trust historical dramas. We're so used to being duped that even while we're enjoying a scene, we may think it's all made up. The Young Victoria features the jolly King William at his birthday banquet, quite in his cups, trashing Victoria's mother. It's a funny bit, ending with Richardson huffing off and some dry old man saying, ruefully, "Families." This scene has the mark of something written expressly for Broadbent by Fellowes, but in Lytton Strachey's biography Queen Victoria, and again...