Cert 15
106 mins
BBFC advice: Contains medical gore, moderate sex
Seldom am I as torn as I was after watching Mika Kaurismäki's The Girl King.
I was impressed by its cast, particularly Malin Buska and Michael Nyqvist despite the strangeness of a Swedish film being made in accented English.
But I thought at the time of watching that it took unnecessary liberties with history and a quick bit of research thereafter proved me correct.
It is true that Kristina became queen of Sweden as a child and when she acceded to power at the age of 18 she set about changing the philosophy of the country from military might to softer pursuits.
And it is also true that she abdicated, left for Rome and was holed up in The Vatican for the rest of her life.
But there are moments during The Girl King which are pure poppycock.
For example, one of the main planks of the film is the relationship between Kristina and the philosopher Descartes and her devotion to him. It is true that he lived and died in Stockholm but is unlikely they met more than a couple of times.
But one of the main thrusts of the film is true - namely, that Christina showed no interest in being married and, therefore, producing an heir to the throne.
This was mainly because of her love for the beautiful Ebba Sparre (Sarah Gadon) who she makes a 'lady of the bedroom'. For this, she seems to have become something of a lesbian icon.
Buska portrays Kristina as gradually becoming more eccentric during her ten-year reign, largely because she cannot get her own way.
Some might say her enlightenment was too much for a court brought up on war, others would claim she was akin to a spoilt child.
Either way, Buska gives an impressive power to a performance which makes this film engaging if not totally believable.
Reasons to watch: enlightening chunk of little-known history
Reasons to avoid: the unnecessary use of accented English instead of Swedish
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: yes
Nudity: yes
Overall rating: 7/10
Star tweet
Finally watching "The Girl King." It can only end tragically, but damn these women have chemistry. Whew.
No comments:
Post a Comment