Royalty, whether it is based on fact, an interpretation, real life events, observed from afar or an outsider, they provide the subject for countless films. Royalty, mostly past as present can be a but too dicey, are either fascinating or predicatable. How they are presented on screen is the interesting part. I've got British, French and Danish royalty in my picks this week. Don't forget to check out what
Wandering Through the Shelves picked, the blog that started Thursday Movie Picks.
Lady Jane
Technically, she was royalty, she reigned for 9 days, so that counts. Featuring a very young Helena Bonham Carter and an equally young Cary Elwes as Lady Jane and her husband Lord Guildford Dudley. It is actually descibed as a period costume romance. Half the film is about the hate at first sight relationship and how they fall in love as the sickly king looms news looms over them. The second half is the manipulation from the adults in court trying to control their children for their own gain only have them both be beheaded. From this film, Lady Janes never really wanted to be Queen, making it all the more tragic an end.
A Royal Affair
A love triangle. We've seen this before but this time love is only on one side. When Princess Caroline of Great Britain married the mentally ill King Christian of Denmark, she had an affair with the King's royal doctor, Johann Friedrich Struensee. She even had his child. They were in love, but the King who thought of the doctor as a friend preferred whores to his wife's company. It was a huge scandal. The cast are brilliant and scandals are always more fun to watch play out even though you can feel the downfall coming a mile away.
Maire Antoinette
It was made clear from the start that modern(ish) music would be the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's biopic. I'm not a huge fan of her work apart from The Virgin Suicides, but this was a brilliant interpretation (theres that word) of Maire Antoinette's life, leading up to but rightly so in not showing her death. She is literally stripped of her former life, married to someone she has never met, pressurised by family to have children but her husband is not willing. She then lets go and has fun, too much fun. We get a small glimpse at the lead up to the revolution but this is a teenager who has wealth and just wants to party with her friends. The music really helps this. As for events? No idea if its accurate, I just enjoyed the display of excess.
