A Royal Affair (2012)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Too much of everything

good back-story, and good acting

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A Royal Affair opens with a melancholy Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain narrating as she pens a letter to her unseen children. Flashing back in time, she is a young and beautiful teenager about to be shipped off to Denmark to marry her cousin, King Christian VII of Denmark, giggling and dreaming about what her new life will be like with a man who sounds like the ideal husband. It would seem that we are in very familiar costume-drama territory, and director Nikolaj Arcel's film makes sure to include all the factors that make the genre so appealing to some: the beautiful young bride; an unknown kingdom; handsome period costumes; a bastard child; and a love affair that is passionate but ultimately doomed. Yet a careful, character-driven approach ensures that A Royal Affair doesn't boil over into overwrought hysterics. What emerges is a tense tale of political intrigue and terrific performances, and a fascinating history lesson to boot.As the Princess, played by Alicia Vikander, arrives in Denmark, she immediately encounters her husband not as the gallant artist she expected, but as a nervous man-child, giggling to himself while hiding behind a tree. The King (Mikkel Boe Folsgaard) is a puppet on a throne, and quite clearly mentally deranged. He doesn't take much of a liking to his new Queen, and prefers to spend his free time getting drunk in the company of big-breasted prostitutes. Her optimism is quickly turned into bitterness, and is pleased when her husband decides to take a year off his duties to tour Europe. Shortly after his return, German Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), a skilled yet humble doctor, is recruited as the King's personal physician. He instantly forges a strong bond with the mad King, who is pleased to have a man of stature and intelligence by his side amidst his stern, old-fashioned council. Struensee's influence in court grows, but he finds himself caught up in a dangerous love affair with the Queen that could mean both of their heads should they be discovered.This being 18th century Denmark, the King is surrounded by a council of religious old men looking to keep the country firmly in the Dark Ages. Struensee is a believer in the Age of Enlightenment, a progressive philosophical movement spearheaded by the likes of Voltaire and Rousseau. The Queen also shares his liberal views, and their love story isn't so much about their own sexual impulses but a driven and united desire to illuminate their country. Realising just how great an influence he is on the King, the doctor quickly sets about abolishing oppressive laws such as capital punishment, the torturing of suspects, and censorship. This immediately puts him at odds with the ruling aristocracy, who view him as a foreigner destroying their fatherland, and they waste no time looking for a way to expel him from court. It's alarming just how familiar it all sounds with the general one-step forward, two-steps back nature of politics. The three leads are all strong, with Mikkelsen in particular convincing as the reserved man of Enlightenment. By avoiding dramatic melodrama, A Royal Affair succeeds as a simmering portrayal of social disintegration and an intimate, intellectual love story.

Based on true events, this film depicts the life and marriage of the Danish King Christian VII with the British princess Carolina Matilde, and her love affair with the court physician Dr. Struensee. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel, this European film, Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, has a screenplay by Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaj Arcel. The cast is headed by Alicia Vikander, Mads Mikkelsen and Mikkel Boe Følsgaard.Royal weddings have always been source of controversy throughout history, mixing romance with politics or, most often, completely excluding love and giving rise to numerous extramarital affairs with the children that resulted from them. This is one of those cases, fueled by the youth of a dreamy Queen and the revulsion that she developed by her husband, a mad king endowed with an obscene and repulsive behavior. The actors fulfilled their roles well, but Alicia Vikander stood out throughout the film, managing to impress the audience with the dreams and illusions of her character, in a route towards a tragic destiny. Mikkel Boe Følsgaard also shone in the king's role, showing us, thanks to a superb interpretation, not only a mad king but a very sick and troubled man, torn between his uncontrollable appetites and his duties as absolute monarch, innocent as he cannot control himself. Mads Mikkelsen also did an excellent job, but was less convincing in his role. His Struensee seems more interested in changing the country's laws than to live a romance with the Queen. The way the actor thought his character suffers from lack of passion and romance in the way he counter-acts with Vikander. It seems that Struensee also sleeps with the Queen for convenience, not for having in love with her.The scenarios are excellent and can perfectly acclimatize history in the country and the palace. The use of computerized effects to show, early in the film, the arrival of the Princess's ship to the Danish harbor, is the scene that mostly disengages from the rest of the film. It simply odds with everything else and it would be preferable to represent this moment in another way. The soundtrack complied well with its role, and the sad melodies that fill the film are truly remarkable.

This movie is a decent enough attempt to present a quite interesting time in Danish history, when with an unhinged King on the throne a 'Man of the Enlightenment' tried to force through his new ideas as Chief Minister on a very conservative, almost feudal, society in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Oh, and by the way, Struansee (Chief Minister played by Mads Mikkelsen) was conducting a lusty affair with the young Queen from England/Hanover. (Played by 2015's It Girl Alicia Vikander). Of course, it all ends in tears, and the conservative court triumphs and overturns all the progressive work done by the reformers. It is a good presentation of the romance, but the budget looks thin in places; the court itself is never fully portrayed; the so-called progressive ideas are barely illustrated; their impact on the people never demonstrated; Ms Vikander never convinces by looks or acting that she is a Princess and brother to the King of England; and it all feels far too modern and sloppy. The worst illustration is the King and Queen's first night together. He pushes himself upon her, which she rejects like a 2015 modern woman who says 'no' at the last minute. But then the king saunters over to the other side of the bedroom, orders her to bed and get undressed. Without a murmur, Ms Vikander gets into bed and strips off to become pregnant immediately! The script is dull and plodding, while the direction is absent without leave. Characterisation is minimal, except for the role of the King, but even here things are not clear enough. History is altered to favour the lovers, and the film is far less than it should be.

You get the feeling early on in this film things are not going to end well. But it is movie making and not a documentary as the kings first wife in real life had seven kids and the second supposedly had twelve (then another half dozen or so with several mistresses... the man liked to copulate). It's a good film nonetheless, and the acting is top notch.. Mikkelsen and Vikander.. bit.ly/12EJNhc .. are superb.. the entire cast is truly deserved of high praise. Should you enjoy period movies this one could be right up your alley. Wonder what it is these period films have such an allure. In reality the lives of a majority of the population were totally unappealing.. but we're really not watchin most any of that.