January 13, 2010: The Young Victoria
I saw The Young Victoria during the lead-up to Oscar season, getting it out of the way because it seemed a likely nominee for costume design. I wasn’t mentally prepared to see it this night, but had fallen victim to the continuing box office success of Avatar and was forced to make alternate plans. What I got was a fun little movie which greatly exceeded my expectations, although it doesn’t come anywhere close to the category of “must-see”.
I wasn’t sure exactly what time period would be defined as that of the “young” Victoria. We begin the story during the lead-up to her 18th birthday, as the sitting King is in poor health and Victoria happens to be first in line for the throne due to a curious lack of male heirs through the royal family. Various parties including her own mother are engaged in a power struggle over her Regency in case she becomes the monarch prior to age 18, since she will not yet be permitted to rule, and everybody wants to be her proxy. She realizes roughly what is going on but has been heavily sheltered for her entire life by her mother so as not to jeopardize her mother’s seizure of power from the innocent girl, her mother being manipulated by her partner, Sir John Conroy. When Victoria meets Prince Albert, a potential suitor from one of the territories which would eventually become Germany, there is an immediate bond as he sees that she is smart and warns her not to get caught in any of the traps which surround her.
The manipulative plots fail, and The King does indeed live past Victoria’s 18th birthday. When she eventually ascends to the throne, Victoria does things her own way and makes some mistakes as she goes along, as many people continue to try to manipulate her. Her relationship with Albert grows even as he is unsure of whether she’s interested in him at all, but she comes to realize that he is the only person in her life courageous enough to intellectually challenge her without an ulterior motive. And so they marry. They struggle with how to deal with the power structure in their relationship and how involved Albert is to be in royal affairs, and what we see are the trials and misfires of a couple trying to discover how they best work together. The film comes to a close shortly after the birth of Victoria’s first child.
I thought the pacing was handled very well, all things considered, because The Young Victoria wishes to explore a specific portion of the monarch’s life. There is just enough back story to start, followed by some title cards at the end to summarize her impressive reign which continued for 50+ years following the close of this story. There’s no need for this film to bite off more than it can chew, and as a result, we have a rich experience of a particular time in Victoria’s life.
I don’t necessarily seek out costume dramas. There are elements that I like – that careful formal manner of speaking is fascinating, and the period details in the costumes and architecture and decorations are impressive. I do prefer it when, as in this case, the drama concerns real and large-scale people and events, rather than fictional or minor characters (as in The Duchess last year).
Emily Blunt, as Victoria, has a challenging role, and while I don’t think she necessarily lets herself quite disappear into it, she manages well enough for what this movie is. She has Americanized herself nicely in her recent films, but I suppose she must still feel the need to prove herself in classy British work, to remain flexible alongside the likes of Kate Winslet or Keira Knightley. I’ve enjoyed watching her grow through The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and Sunshine Cleaning (2008), and I’ll continue to watch. I was shocked to find Paul Bettany in a movie which doesn’t involve Ron Howard, and while he’s an actor with limitations, his portrayal of the smarmy and underhanded some-time Prime Minister in The Young Victoria is well within his range. Jim Broadbent is marvellous as the aging and dying King who has no qualms about calling things as he sees them, to the horror of his etiquette-addled court. And it’s good to see Mark Strong playing a sad, pathetic loser as the man (Conroy) manipulating Victoria’s mother into betraying her own daughter. This is how he’s always come across to me, even when Guy Ritchie cast him as a smart and ruthless thug in Rocknrolla (2008), so he’s perfect for this role as a cowardly man trying to take advantage of a child.
I sure wouldn’t want to have people standing outside my bedroom door all the time, waiting to serve my every whim but also listening to all the sounds of my life. But that’s how the wealthy, and particularly royalty, have always lived. The Young Victoria brings us a taste of that time, anchored by a character who is too often portrayed as the prim and proper older woman rather than the very real young woman whose experiences gave her the wisdom to rule Britain for over 60 years. Emily Blunt brings elements of herself to the role, for better or for worse, but the result is engaging and entertaining.
Costume drama stands a notch above.
Post a Comment