Australia's history was once described as like 'the most fabulous lies' and that is often true of real life. It can be so incredible that you cannot put it into drama for fear of being thought unrealistic. Strange but true.
Any life lived the way the royal families in Europe lived is very different to our life today but do we really need to have it mushed up and sweetened so that it barely resembles the original? Here is Victoria stomping around and using modern idioms and sexuality that seems very contemporary to me.
The costumes are magical, the sets and settings superb and they could not have better actors or better performances but I felt spoken down to. I saw a documentary about the early life of the young queen which was so much more interesting that I wish they had stuck to the original. The final insult comes with a chatty little pop song about 'true hearts' at the end.
BUT, and its a BIG one, the performances are fab. Both Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend are fabulous as the Queen and Prince Albert and they have a wonderful supporting cast including Miranda Richardson, Harriet Walter and Jim Broadbent. Emily Blunt keeps that lustrous balance between an imperious woman and a young girl in love to a tee and all power to her.
It is a great romance told romantically and at the very least it should stir some historical curiosity about the closeness of the European royals. Here is a scene in which the young queen tries to assert her authority over her husband which I like not only because Emily Blunt plays it so beautifully but because I wish I had the authority of a queen too some times. Even so, I wouldn't be using cockney terms like 'sorted' for all the tea in China.
To see a scene from 'Young Victoria', click here:
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