En kongelig affære 

English title: Royal Affair (A)

Genre: period drama

With: Alicia Vikander (Caroline Mathilde), Mikkel Boe Følsgaard (Christian VII), Mads Mikkelsen (Johann Friedrich Struensee), Trine Dyrholm (Juliane Marie), David Dencik (Ove Høegh-Guldberg), Thomas W. Gabrielsson (Rantzau), Cyron Melville (Brandt), Bent Mejding (Bernstoff), Laura Bro (Louise von Plessen)

Director: Nikolaj Arcel

Screenplay: Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaj Arcel (based on the novel by Bodil Steensen-Leth)

Release: 2012

Studio: Zentropa Entertainments, Danmarks Radio, Trollhättan Film AB et al.

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.6/10

  

Blind Dates Can Be Disastrous... But What About Blind Marriages? 

QuickView

Story-line: Continental Europe, in the latter part of the 18^th century. While aristocrats and intellectuals clash over matters of government and freedom for the common man, Caroline Mathilde tries to cope with her fate as a deposed queen and a banished mother. She had never expected that her marriage to King Christian of Denmark would turn out this way.   

Pluses: very strong performances by Alicia Vikander, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Mads Mikkelsen and a great supporting cast, steady direction, a riveting screenplay that stands out for its multidimensional characters, fiendish subplots and exquisite romantic scenes, a superb, understated classical score, sumptuous cinematography and highly aesthetic production values.

Minuses: the first ten minutes of A ROYAL AFFAIR may feel disappointing but let me reassure you: there’s lots of heavy drama coming your way.

Comments: Nikolaj Arcel’s magnificent film is rich in political manoeuvering and boasts a marvellous collection of characters either charismatic or despicable. The most prominent of them, of course, is Caroline Mathilde, a worthy, cultured, freethinking heroine who is forced into a thankless role as trophy wife and child-bearer. All things considered, royal families shouldn’t be envied: their opulent lives, as depicted here and in LA PRINCESSE DE CLÈVES, aren’t much better than those of their subjects.     

 

MBiS 

© 2022 – All rights reserved