Newton Ramalho
colunaclaquete@gmail.com - www.colunaclaquete.blogspot.com - @colunaclaquete
Movies of the Week: "The
Girl King" and "A Royal Affair"
It is quite possible that most
regular movie consumers, used to Hollywood products, has no idea of the
brilliant production of European cinema, and in particular the Scandinavian
one. It is remarkable the quality of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish films, among
which I selected the titles "The Girl King" and "A Royal
Affair".
The two films have in common
portraying historical moments and important figures in their countries. These
moments and these personalities have certainly reflected the gap that now
exists when we compare the Scandinavian countries and the rest of the world.
"The Girl King" is a
Swedish film, and the title character is the controversial Queen Christina, who
ruled the country between 1632 and 1654.Cristina, played on screen by Malin
Buska, took the throne at the age of six, as she was the official heir of Gustav
II, who died in battle in the Thirty Years War. His father also expressed the
wish that his daughter was raised and educated as a prince, which was met by
Chancellor Axel Oxenstiena (Michael Nyqvist).
Cristina was anything but a
conventional queen. Very intelligent and studious, he had remarkable aptitude
for learning other languages, and a greed for philosophy, politics and the arts
in general. On the other hand, she wore men's clothes, she loved horseback
riding and other activities, in addition to maintaining a long relationship
with the Countess Ebba Sparre (Sarah Gordon) and others women.
The historical period shown in the
film was of extreme religious intolerance, with great influence of churches on
governments and citizens, and one of the adverse effects was the Thirty Years'
War between Catholic and Protestant countries, with huge loss of life and
resources for all of them.
Being the daughter of a defender of
Protestantism in the war, Cristina caused scandal when she abdicate in 1654 and
converted to Catholicism. She spent her remaining years in Rome, becoming the
leader of the musical life and local theater.
The film "The Girl King"
directed by Mika Kaurismäki, made a historical reading free of prejudices of
Cristina of Sweden, bringing to life this character so controversial, but which
greatly contributed to modernize her country and do it emerge from obscurantism
that was commonplace at the time.
The other film, "A Royal
Affair" ( "En Kongelig Affære"), is told from the point of view
of Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander), a young English princess who became
Queen of Denmark and Norway after marrying King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe
Folsgaard).
If an arranged marriage - a common
practice at the time - had its own difficulties, their was more complicated by
the influence of real stepmother, who dreamed of the crown to his son, and the
emotional instability of the king himself.
During a trip to Europe this
instability has reached worrying levels, and two Swedish nobles in disgrace,
Rantzau (Thomas W. Gabrielsson) and Brandt (Cyron Melville) proposed to
provincial doctor Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) applying to
become king's doctor. They would present the young mand, and if Struensee were
successful, they would use his influence to make them return to danish capital.
Struensee encouraged the king to
improve the relationship with his wife, and as the queen knew well that it was
Struensee who was behind these improvements, she began to take interest by the
young doctor. This interest quickly turned into attraction; in January 1770,
Struensee became entitled to have a room for him at the royal palace and in the
spring of 1770, he was the queen's lover. When he could manage a successful
vaccine to the Crown Prince in May of that year, their influence further
increased.
In 1770, the king began to
increasingly isolate himself and became less and less influential because of
his mental state. Caroline Mathilde, so far ignored by royal court, became the
center of attention.She began to gain new confidence and showed herself in
public on horseback and dressed in men's clothes.
Taking advantage of the new power
that Caroline had in court, Struensee began to rule by the king, dismissing the
old board that ruled the country. It had began the Age of Struensee, when
during sixteen months Denmark has undergone changes considered unthinkable
until then, such as the prohibition of torture in prisons, rights for farmers
and reducing the noble privileges.
These darings that contradicted both
the nobility as the church, besides the queen's behavior become a laughingstock
among the common people, led to a coup d'etat when the king was obliged to
order the arrest and subsequent execution of Struensee.
Denmark again plunged into
obscurantism, from where only would emerge through the son of Caroline and
Christia, years after Struensee's death.
This film is interesting by showing
a seething time, where the rule of the nobility and the church was questioned
by the Enlightenment, among which included Struensee, and it would have its
great reflection on the French Revolution, a few years after the events shown
here.
Although the exquisite season
reconstitution of work and costumes, the highlight of the film is the
performance of the cast, a result of the direction of Nikolaj Arcel. But the
soul of the film is the young actress Alicia Vikander, whose talent was
recognized this year with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in "The
Danish Girl".
"A Royal Affair" can be
timeless by showing how in the struggle for power the least important is the
good of the people, or the good values and virtues. The one who has the power
don't want to lose it, even if, for this, uses means or resources of the lowest
nature, such as slander and defamation.
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