A Royal Affair
A Royal Affair
R | 09 November 2012 (USA)
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A young queen falls in love with her physician, and they start a revolution that changes their nation forever.

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Reviews
Unlimitedia

Sick Product of a Sick System

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FeistyUpper

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

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Executscan

Expected more

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Kien Navarro

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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parausted

THIS MOVIE HAS THE INCREDIBLE MERIT OF PRESENTING A PRACTICALLY DELETED REALITY OF THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF DENMARK. ITS PROTAGONIST, JOHANN FRIEDRICH STRUENSEE, IS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH TO THE FREEDOM OF THE MANKIND... THAT RESULTS VERY INDIGESTIBLE TO OFFICIAL HISTORIANS. THIS FILM BRINGS BACK SOMETHING THAT LOOKED LOST IN THE CURRENT CINEMA: DEPTH, MORAL RELEVANCE, PLASTIC BEAUTY, SINCERE EMOTION, GREAT INTERPRETATION, EXCELLENT DIALOGUES. THE THEME OF FREEDOM OF THOUGHT HAS BEEN FEW TIMES TOUCHED BY CINEMA (I REMEMBER "WITCH" IN 1920, "INHERIT THE WIND" IN 1959, "THE PHARAO" IN 1966), BUT AS IN THIS MOVIE, NEVER. EQUALLY "A ROYAL AFFAIR" (TITLE THAT HIDES THE TRUE SENSE OF THE ARGUMENT) SHOWS EMPATHY TOWARDS THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE, TOWARDS THE IDEALS THAT CAME IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, AND DENOUNCES THE DARK COMPLOTES OF THE EUROPEAN NOBILITY AND THE CHURCH. THIS IS THE DENIED HISTORY, THIS IS A WORK OF ART THAT OBEYS WONDERFULLY THE GREEK IDEAL OF THE DEEP LINK OF BEAUTY AND INTELLIGENCE. "A ROYAL AFFAIR", DESPITE THE TITLE, IS A GIFT FOR THE MIND AND THE HEART.

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freemantle_uk

A Royal Affair was a prestigious costume drama that works as a political drama as well as a tale of forbidden love and with its director Nikolaj Arcel and star Alicia Vikander becoming successful afterwards.Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (Vikander) is a British Princess who was betrothed to the insane King of Denmark, Christian VII (Mikkel Følsgaard) a man who acts like a child and has an unmanageable temper. Even worst Denmark was the backwater of Europe, a country that still practice serfdom and ruled by a conservative group of elites. However, Caroline and Denmark's fortunes improve when Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), a man of the Enlightenment, is hired to be King's physician and using his influence sets out to reform Denmark and make the nation into a beacon for the rest of Europe.A Royal Affair is a lavish looking production, having fantastic costumes and settings, being filmed on location in Copenhagen. The role of Caroline was part of a double whammy for Vikander who became know to an international audience (the other being Anna Karenina) and she was perfectly regal as in the dresses and elaborate hairstyles whilst Mikkelsen as Johann had a more man of the people look. Despite the pretty facade Arcel does contrasts the well-kept palaces of the elites to the streets and fields where the common folk live, filled with mud, rats and other nasties and peasants in field are tied to the land and tried as property by the aristocracy. This fuels Caroline and Johann's ideology.Caroline and Johann are drawn together because of their minds, being intellectuals and reading subversive literature, mainly the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. They are the ones who take over Christian's reign, creating a shadow government before seizing power for themselves. All the political manoeuvring makes A Royal Affair into a less violence version of Game of Thrones. The relationship between the trio is complex, Christian sees Johann almost as a father figure and the only person who can calm the king down whilst Caroline has nothing but loathing for her husband. One of the most powerful moments is when Johann tells Caroline she has to sleep with Christian so they can keep up the charade - an action that clearly causes both of them emotional pain.Although Caroline sets up the film with her letters and voice-over and being the one who opens the film it was Johann and his actions that the actual centre of the film. He is the one who has to befriend the king, be the one who uses the king, has an affair and essentially becomes the Prime Minister. He was the anchor of the film.A Royal Affair is a lavish production and fantastically acted, especially from Mikkelsen and Vikander and it detailed look in Denmark's history. It is certainly a treat for people who like The Duchess and Anna Karenina, touching on a similar subject manner of political marriages, social status and reform.

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paul2001sw-1

In the late eighteenth century Denmark, a radical German doctor soothed the mad King, seduced the Queen and governed the country as an enlightened liberal. Understadnably, it didn't last, and Nikolaj Arcel's film tells the story of his extraordinary rise and fall. It's a compelling story, a historical 'Borgen' and the tragedy of a man who ends up assuming an unsustainable position almost by accident; as a film, it's well-acted but also slow, drawing out a tale that can only ever move in one direction. A touch of sympathy for the old guard might have added some depth. It's interesting to think that the British king of the same period also had his own issues with mental health, another story that has been filmed: the politics here is stronger than in Alan Bennet's 'The Madness of King George', but it's not as much fun.

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Jonathon Dabell

One of the surprise success stories of the cinema of 2012 was the Danish-Swedish-Czech co-production A Royal Affair, from director Nikolaj Arcel. The film sounds very much like it will be something along the lines of The Other Boleyn Girl, The Duchess, or perhaps even The Young Victoria. However, it is not really like any of these other movies… for one thing the story (based on true events) is slightly more unusual and the handling of it more atmospherically gloomy; for another, the film is actually by far the best of its type in recent memory.In the 18th century, young English princess Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander) is offered as the bride to Danish monarch Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) in a bid to strengthen relations between the two nations. Initially excited, Caroline soon comes to realise what a terrible predicament she is in when she actually meets her husband-to-be. Christian, as it turns out, is mentally ill and acts like a child in an adults' body. He uses and abuses women on a whim; he throws tantrums over the most minor of things; he makes rudely outrageous statements regardless of the time and the place; he allows others to make all the important decisions of state without the slightest inkling of the consequences for his country. Into this farcical state of affairs comes educated country physician Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), a man of the Enlightenment who dreams of a better future. Quickly realising that the King is not particularly fit to rule, Struensee begins to help him to make better choices and decisions, and it isn't long before he is virtually running the country. There are many who are jealous of Struensee's position of power and importance, and they search desperately for a way to be rid of him. They get their chance when the doctor makes his one fatal mistake. Attracted to the alluring and unhappy Caroline, Struensee is unable to resist her charms and she, in turn, is unable to resist his strangely attractive looks and brilliant mind. The pair embark on a secret love affair, the consequences of which change their lives (and Denmark's future) for generations.Handsomely shot by Rasmus Videbæk, the film is a feast for the eyes throughout. It is a feast for the intellect too, with a very concise and well-structured script by the director himself and his co-writer Rasmus Heisterberg. They manage the impressive task of condensing and bringing sense to a huge topic without patronising the intelligence of the audience. Mikkelsen is superb as Struensee, exuding a charming sexuality which makes Caroline's decision to risk everything for him all the more believable. Vikander's portrayal of the unfaithful queen is quite wonderful, with further extraordinary acting coming from Følsgaard as the absurd puppet King. These three leading roles are so impeccably played that they keep one's attention glued to the on-screen events throughout. Building to a powerful and heartbreaking climax, A Royal Affair barely puts a foot wrong. There's the occasional over-melodramatic scene here, a touch of romanticised story-telling there, but all in all the film manages to be a thoroughly absorbing and believable account of extraordinary true events.

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