The Young Victoria
If you’ve seen The Other Boleyn Girl, you’ve seen an enjoyable film about the British crown. Once you see The Young Victoria, you will notice how much more can be said and how much better it can be done. With an intentionality missing from many period pieces, this film uses lighting and angle to highlight and shade the characters, their interactions, and the relationships that are so important to royal life. The pictures on the screen are beautiful and alluring, almost making one desire to live in that time, that place, dealing with all the pomp and circumstance that it might have required.
Set in the 1800’s, when Queen Victoria is still quite young and inexperienced, we follow her around as she grows, matures, falls in love with Prince Albert, and deals with the reality that she is indeed the new Queen of England, with all that entails. Ostensibly billed as a romantic film, it actually harbors more politics and power-play than any of the number of romantic endeavors. This is a not-so-subtle subtle reminder that the crown was as much a quest for control as it was for love and progeny. One gets the feeling that we are seeing what it was actually like to live in such an era, and in such fortune. The pomp is still ever-present, but it is outright shunned at times when other films might have simply played it down. The apparent authenticity yields a very genuine feel to the whole film, lending credence to its story, and the history behind it, much of which we are made privy to almost in passing, such as national pride in the arts, or the simple fact that politics hasn’t changed much in the past few hundred years.
Jean-Marc Vallée directs with intentionality and a very noticeable attention to detail. Every shot seems meticulously planned, as much as the gorgeous sets and extravagant costumes. This scrupulousness on Vallée’s part creates a definitive style, which the whole film exudes from scene to scene. Some slightly expressionistic passing moments in dreams or at the dance give a modern feel to an old world. Indeed, the whole directorial style is quite modern in many respects, speeding up time, shooting from a cacophony of angles in some scenes, using light and shadow to tell stories within stories.
Vallée chooses not to include much of what we have come to expect from romantic period pieces, creating a substantial distance between this and other period films. There are no sex scenes (though they are suggested), for instance, and most of the sentimental dialogue is warranted by the story’s through-line of power and the characters’ selfless actions. Additionally, Orlando Bloom is nowhere to be seen. However, an actor that resembles him is present (Rupert Friend as Prince Albert), though he’s probably twice the actor Bloom will ever be.
Stunning visuals, ornate sets and costumes, an extremely appropriate score, good acting on all fronts (Emily Blunt is fantastic as Victoria; Paul Bettany is a perfect choice for Lord Melbourne), almost impressionistic plot development, and calculated directorial decision-making work together and result in one of the better period films in recent years. Placards are used repeatedly throughout the film in order to communicate what might otherwise be forced into the dialogue, revealing another feature of this film: its unwillingness to force any contrived development of character or plot. Vallée chooses his pictures carefully, and the placards are no exception. There is, in fact, one near the end which brought me close to tears. If you enjoy period films, you should no doubt add this to your list. It is well worth it.
Rating: 3/4 Stars
