A Royal Affair (2012)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Blistering performances.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

I found the story itself rather intriguing and the fact that it is based on real events makes the movie even more worth seeing. I assure you won't be bored watching this, lots of things happened during the relatively short period of time at the Danish court that this movie pictures. The characters are believable and you get a deeper understanding for the complex relationships between them. The actors are all very skilled and I can feel how kings and queens back then where only just people, looking for love and a meaningful life. This is unlike many other period dramas, where the dialogue tend to be too formal and characters archetypal. This is not the case with this film. I truly enjoyed it.

We had very recently seen Alicia Vikander in 'Testament of Youth', and I had also enjoyed her in 'Ex Machina', so I searched Netflix streaming and came upon this one which I had failed to see when it came out. I just want to first say that Vikander is super in her role.The story seems mostly fact-based on real Danish royalty in the late 1700s, starting about 1767. The Danish heir to the throne is a young man who needs a queen. As was common in those times, I suppose to help keep relations smooth between countries, his bride was chosen to be an English princess. She makes the journey to meet her King when she is only 15. Vikander plays the young Caroline Mathilde, a pretty and talented young girl. The actress is from Sweden, and also speaks proper English, but had to learn Danish for this role. At least learn the Danish required for her script. The young King is Mikkel Boe Følsgaard as Christian VII, seemingly of normal intelligence but also very unusual. He seems frivolous most of the time and is given to unprovoked outbursts when something makes him unhappy. And very insecure, when Caroline is being introduced to the royal family and court, and she is playing piano beautifully, the young King gets agitated and yells loudly for her to stop that noise and get her fat butt to a chair and sit down. He was fearful that she was going to be liked more than he and that displeased him.Hardly necessary to state the young King and his new Queen never were able to develop a loving relationship. She did her duty to invite him to her bedroom, he did his duty to sire a son, an heir to the throne, but during their time together they did not have much to do with each other. He preferred to be visiting brothels.The country was hardly ruled by the King, the old men on the council pretty much told him what to do, what to sign, and when to shut up. Then along comes Mads Mikkelsen as a German doctor, Johann Friedrich Struensee. The King was on a long tour of Europe and was convinced he needed a personal physician, and Struensee got the job. Back home in Denmark not only did the German begin to give the King ideas on new laws for Denmark, he also took a keen interest in the neglected Queen.All this drama plays out very well with a superb script and a super cast. A rebellion led by the King's mother ousted Struensee and banished the Queen who died at only 23 from smallpox. But the son of this bad relationship with the bad King ascended to the throne at a young age and ended up being a superb King for Denmark.Mostly in Danish with English subtitles.

A historic fiction placed in the 18th century Denmark deals with the power struggles in the royal circle.It is the time when the church has a firm grip on the society, serving the nobility to maintain the laws of serfdom. But progressive thinkers are starting to publish their enlightened ideas and use science to question the church's doctrine. The king of Denmark is mentally ill and those around him recognize that gaining his trust could lead to advancing their agenda. When a German doctor finds a way to gain king's trust and friendship, he enacts many progressive laws to improve the lives of the people. Progress is short-lived because the opposition, assisted by the church, plots to gain their power back.A romance between the doctor and the queen starts when they share similar liberal ideas. A conflict between duty, exploitation and pursuit of personal happiness is portrayed in the formal manner of nobility.Filmed at the Prague Castle and in Denmark, the movie is well acted and the story is compelling. The message of enlightenment and using the voice of science and reason to defeat church's oppressive ideas is still very valid today in the 21st century.I give it 9 out of 10.

Nominated for best foreign movie Oscar, this Danish film revolves around the eighteenth century love story between Queen Caroline Mathilde, married to the mad King Christian VII of Denmark, and the court's German doctor Johann Struensee, father to the queen's second child Princess Louise Auguste. Mads Mikkelseen, as the doctor, gives a likable and assured performance as the tragic character who attempted to introduce reforms into the Danish constitution that would have bettered the health and prosperity of the masses and weakened the powers of the aristocracy. Mikkel Folsgaard, as the mad Christian VII, gives a scene stealing performance as the hapless individual unable to control his impulses. His performance is both frightening in its irrationality, yet sympathetic in its vulnerability.Which brings us to Swedish actress Alicia Vikander as the central character of Caroline Mathilde, given in marriage to a man she had never met. Hard to say where the fault lies for the inadequacies of her performance -- her lack of experience as an actress or with the director, who should have exerted a much firmer hand. From start to finish Vikander plays her role as though headed down the inevitable path towards doom. If a character is to appear more sympathetic to audiences, then she should begin with a sunny disposition that would instantly have the audience on her side. From start to finish Vikander plays the role like a glum, combative shrew, a totally miscalculated interpretation that offers no shading of any kind. Any royal wife of this time who both verbally and physically assaulted her husband, mad or not, would instantly run the risk of divorce, imprisonment or execution. England's Henry VIII set the bloody example for the manner in which royal wives could expect to be treated if they failed to toe the line. That Caroline Mathilde would have been stupid enough to ignore the perils of such behavior would be foolhardy in the extreme. So who is to blame for this interpretation, the actress or the writer/director Nikolaj Arcel? The story itself is both fascinating and eminently watchable -- aided to no small extent by Mikkel Folsgaard's showy performance as the mad king and Mads Mikkelsen as the new-thought foreigner struggling to update a backward country, confronted by an intransigent government dedicated to preserving the past. The direction is fine, the film's look is fine -- if not quite up to the extremely high standard set by similar French period pictures -- which are very hard to match. Alas, alas, while Vikander may very well have some fine performances to give in the future, this one fails to ignite due to the lack of vivacity, charm or sympathy elicited by her character. Her scenes with Mikkelsen, which should have revealed a side of her that would have evoked audience sympathy, are as flat and charmless as all that have gone before. This is simply a one-note performance. How could the director not have seen this? Would I recommend this movie? Absolutely! There is a lot of hard working talent in evidence and the story itself is enthralling. But you know where the weaknesses lie...