The Young Victoria (2009)

Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallee | 104 minutes | drama | Actors: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Mark Strong, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Thomas Kretschmann, Jeanette Hain, Jesper Christensen, Harriet Walter, Rachael Stirling, Julian Glover, Princess Beatrice, Morven Christie, Jo Hartley, Michael Malon

Why the producers chose Jean-Marc Vallée as director is striking. In addition to some television work and unknown films, his last film, four years before ‘The Young Victoria’ in 2005, was ‘CRAZY’, which was showered with prizes at smaller festivals, that is. But the subject, an adolescent boy in Quebec, is as far removed from 19th-century England as can be, as is the tone of that film. So there must be some other reason they saw something in him. Their choice turned out to be a good one.

Filming the life of such a personality, at that time, in that country, requires a great deal of empathy for a person of this time, especially if he was born in a non-European country like Canada, you might say. But the strength of this film does not lie in its typical British character. The characters are people who come to life in a world of power and political games, but in which love and loyalty still stand alone, who bite through everything and blossom all the more strongly. And that is a timeless, universal fact.

Movies about royalty can sometimes be a bit stiff, especially if they’re made by English people. Apparently they see the stiff upper lip as the invention of their nobility (which it probably is), which they want to honor at all costs. Other costume dramas, often based on famous books, sometimes suffer from this shortcoming. A film that broke through this fact was ‘Elizabeth’ (1998) and yes, this director, Shekhar Kapur, is not from England either. It helped him to keep the characters fresh, universal, in which Vallée also succeeds. It is nice to see that historical figures are given so much love and life, without the whole thing turning into a sentimental dragon. Victoria’s honesty and sincerity are infectious. Only once does she cross the line and that almost kills someone she loves. But hey, sometimes big dramas are needed to get where you need to be.

Victoria and her beloved Prince Albert are evenly matched. As a young couple in the prime of their lives, finding each other in a world that wants to control them, this is touching to see. Like a kind of Romeo and Juliet, they battle through a not-so-friendly environment, with the motto: learn the rules of the game and become the best, so that you can rise above them. And above all: support each other, unconditionally. With Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend respectively, the two are well cast, they click. Their love feels genuine, but again: without the film turning into a typical romantic costume drama.

Visually, everything is well done, without Vallée shouting it from the rooftops. The coronation scene is beautiful and one clear visual trick (when Victoria ‘slides’ onto the dance floor) is striking and even hip, but subtle enough to stay within the heartfelt atmosphere and also functional in dramatic support. Other stylistic devices are also used functionally, without exaggeration, such as the costumes, beautiful, but subtle.

‘The Young Victoria’ keeps its promises. Both the queen herself, and the film Vallée made about her. Not a romantic costume drama as we often saw, but a film about all-conquering love, both between two lovers and between friends and family. A beautiful film about loyalty and dedication, without it all getting too serious or too heavy. A story about how loyalty and dedication on a personal level and for a country do not have to exclude each other, but can also reinforce each other. A story that is well written and directed, because it gradually sucks you in from the beginning and only lets you go after the credits. Magnificent.