- A Royal Affair. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel. Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Folsgaard.
Rating: 8 (out of 10)
AN advantageous royal match, an unsuspecting young girl, a monarch who won't give up other women. If Prince Charles were slightly dottier, A Royal Affair might be Princess Diana's story, but it's not.
Nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars, the Danish film is the tragic and true story of the doomed royal relationship that ensued after an English girl was sent abroad to marry the King of Denmark in 1766. The monarch enjoys the theatre, Caroline (Alicia Vikander) is told. "I could not imagine a more perfect husband," she enthuses. But upon arrival she finds a husband who giggles more than he speaks, refuses to give up his prostitutes, and likes to bark like a dog: King Christian VII is mentally ill.
As in all great courtly tales there is a wicked stepmother (Trine Dyrholm) with ambitions for her own offspring, and the arrival of an accomplished young beauty is certainly a threat. And so before Caroline's first night is over, a seed of mistrust is planted. "Don't steal my light," is Christian's petulant threat to his new bride.
Caroline produces a male heir (at age 16, according to the history books) and, her primary duty fulfilled, she and the king become officially estranged. On a trip abroad the king becomes really ill, and a physician is needed. Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) may be rough around the edges but he proves to be the perfect tonic for Christian's manic episodes. Struensee becomes the king's playmate and constant companion, his personal physician.
The Age of Enlightenment may be dawning elsewhere in Europe but Denmark is still controlled and bled dry by a corrupt nobility. A system of serfdom remains in effect, whereby slaves who work the land are subject to torture and ill treatment by landowners. Struensee has some radical ideas and has written anonymous pamphlets advocating the end of censorship and the abolition of torture. He finds a kindred spirit in the well-read queen, sends her some of his writings, and the two begin a cerebral affair that inevitably turns physical.
Struensee becomes the most powerful man in the kingdom, the "de facto" ruler of Denmark, implementing many liberal ideals that liberate the people but incur the wrath of the noblemen. It's only a matter of time before the affair, and the revolutionary spirit that accompanies it, comes crashing down.
The fate of Christian, Struensee and Caroline is a well-known piece of history in Denmark but a surprising one for most Western viewers. Arcel, co-writer of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo screenplay, brings the tale to life, contrasting bucolic vistas outside of the castle with the queen's stifling life at court. Costuming and set design never overwhelm the story, as they do in so many period pieces. Mikkelsen makes a great romantic hero here (yes, he was the man who cried blood in Casino Royale) and Vikander only looks fragile, bringing great sturdiness to Caroline. A mesmerizing drama about passion and politics during the Age of Enlightenment.
