Worth a Look: The Young Victoria (2009)

 

Since people may be staying at home for a little bit longer, because of the pandemic, I have continued the reviews of movies you can get on streaming services. 

The Young Victoria

Three and a half stars

Director: Jean-Marc Vallee.

Stars: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Miranda Richardson, Mark Strong, Jim Broadbent, Paul Bettany.

Rated: PG (for some mild sensuality, a scene of violence and brief incidental language and smoking).

Running time: 1:45

When England’s Queen Victoria lost her husband, Prince Albert, she retreated from the public eye for several years.

The depth of their love for each other and Albert’s value as a trusted advisor to her and the monarchy meant that much to the Queen.

“The Young Victoria” illustrates the year leading up to Victoria’s coronation and just how she and Albert, first cousins, came to be so close. It is first a love story. But it also plays like a chess match on the most elaborate and ornate chess board.

With Victoria just a teenager and her uncle William IV in failing health, there is talk that Victoria is far to young to assume the role of Queen when her uncle dies. Her mother (Miranda Richardson) and her mother’s personal secretary, Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong) want Victoria to sign a regency order, which would allow her mother to rule until Victoria reaches a certain age. Conroy pushes signing the order on Victoria because it would give him a degree of power as well.

Though she’s young, Victoria is astute and recognizes that her mother and Conroy only see her as a hurdle to their own power grab.

Victoria and Albert’s love isn’t borne of the purest intentions.

Albert, son of King Leopold of the Belgians (Thomas Kretschmann), is dispatched by his father to woo Victoria. Leopold needs an ally in England that will pledge support for him. Belgium is on the brink of civil war that could envelop much of Europe. Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany) is a candidate to become England’s Prime Minister, but will not spill a drop of English blood in support of a foreign throne. With Victoria’s support, Melbourne is more likely to send English troops into Belgium to maintain order for Leopold.

Albert and Victoria have much in common and they recognize that early on in their courtship. Both are being manipulated by those around them, handled like pets. Both want to get out from under such control. Together, they see they can do it more readily than alone.

“The Young Victoria” isn’t for passive viewers, especially for those who don’t know much about English history. But I suspect those who aren’t familiar with it won’t see this in the first place.

But to get all the ins and outs of who’s related to whom, and who benefits from this alliance or that, one must pay close attention. It is all laid out rather clearly. Yet I’m thankful director Jean-Marc Vallee doesn’t treat his audiences as though they have to be guided by the hand like a fragile young monarch. He credits his viewers with enough of an attention span that he doesn’t have to go to greater lengths to spell everything out.

Melbourne does become a trusted ally to Victoria and he’s largely responsible for her most valuable lessons in the country’s affairs. However, as she and Albert grow – together as well as individually – they begin to trust their own judgment more.

With the setting and the characters, this film could easily have felt stilted, stuffy and alienated audiences in the process. Director Vallee and screenwriter Julian Fellowes avoid that by subtly stressing universal concepts many can relate to: asserting oneself, knowing when to trust someone and when to trust one’s own instincts and being perceptive enough to navigate shark infested waters without being bitten.

Besides its lush and beautiful look, the inclusiveness the two bring to the script is this film’s greatest achievement. They give the audience a reason to want to stick with it to see how events are played out.

The 1997 film “Mrs. Brown” with Dame Judi Dench is the bookend companion to this film, illustrating the first years after Albert’s death and Victoria’s retreat from public. I only wonder why it took so long for “The Young Victoria” to come forward.