Confident Royal

My wife and I attended a preview screening last night with no preconceived ideas about the movie, not having even seen a trailer.

We were immediately drawn in and pleasantly surprised by the story, even though we thought it may have been a little far fetched. Until we found that it is a biography and mostly fact. That made the story even sweeter.

Dame Judy Dench's acting was peerless as usual, but by far the biggest revelation was Ali Fazal, who put in a wonderful performance from comedic through emotionally intense.

There was so much I didn't know about Queen Victoria's twilight years that this movie put into perspective, in a way that was consistently entertaining. We laughed and cried. Highly recommended.

Last year it was ethnicity that dominated the Oscars and this year it could well be longevity. I recently predicted that, at the age of 91, Harry Dean Stanton could be Oscar's oldest ever Best Actor and even now there is every chance he will be posthumously nominated while Dame Judi, a mere 82, should have no worries in being a sure-fire contender for her performance as Queen Victoria in "Victoria & Abdul". It's a part she has already played in "Mrs. Brown", (losing out to Helen Hunt in "It's As Good as it Gets"), and to be fair, this is something of a walk in the park for her.

We are told the movie is 'mostly' based on actual events but I think we have to take a lot of what we see with a pinch of salt. It's certainly an entertaining picture, if a little twee and whimsical at times, but there is also a little more heft to it than meets the eye. As written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Frears this is no mere sentimental, historical romp. It is, of course, the story of the Queen's friendship, in the years before her death, with her Indian servant Abdul Karim, (Ali Fazal, an actor new to me), which until recently was something kept very much under wraps and which was very much opposed to by the Prime Minister, her son the Prince of Wales and the entire royal household and Hall makes this another post-Brexit movie, (I have a feeling we are going to see a lot of post-Brexit movies in the next few years).

What we have here is a film about racism and about empire and it's quite as relevant today as it was back in Victoria's time. Not that you have to take it too seriously; there's a lot of low comedy on display and Frears has assembled an outstanding cast of British character actors. Eddie Izzard is an obnoxious future king, the late Tim Piggot-Smith is quite wonderful as the toadying head of the household, Michael Gambon is the befuddled Prime Minister and Paul Higgins practically walks off with the picture as the Queen's concerned doctor; concerned, not with her health, but with the number of Indians about the place. As a piece of film-making there is, naturally, a large dose of Masterpiece Theatre on display but that, in itself, isn't such a bad thing. "Victoria & Abdul" goes down a treat.

2/4/18. What a beautiful and true story of a very unlikely friendship that crosses many cultural borders at the time. Of course, today, this would be just as unlikely as it was then, but it is a true wonder that this story was ever told at all. Does not paint a good picture of Queen Victoria's children who mistreated the aging queen with such disrespect and Abdul with such racist disdain. The true story of what Victoria's children did, expunge any trace of the friendship Victoria had with Abdul, is a cautionary tale of how adult children should not treat their aging parents. It's called parental abuse. Today such a friendship would be fodder for the tabloids, but at least it would have been told. Well done and worth seeing.

This movie is a treat for the eyes with gorgeous Scottish locations, stylishly detailed costumes, stately summer palaces, and consists of many professional performances. It's good to see Dame Dench give a strong performance following some by-the-numbers of late. It also holds the attention for most of its run time by offering a tell-tale story of a little known relationship between this long reigning Queen, with a randomly selected Indian - who was one of two 'local subjects' brought to England to present her with a specially minted gold coin - as token of appreciation from British ruled India. The close relationship that follows between her and one of the guest presenters tends to become perhaps a little too romanticised for the level of believability expected of its audience. Victoria's Burqa comments made at her first sight of Abdul's wife - seem far too 'fanciful' if not highly doubtful.

It's more like a case of this older woman maybe being mesmerized by the mystical East or the BBC perhaps, following a mandate to sell a political message of Muslim cleansing to the British populace and the world. Either way there's a feeling that, at its core, maybe lays a major thread of PC manipulation. If you can brush this aside you'll enjoy a well-made tale of highly unusual interracial fascination but, there remain other odd facts to overcome. As head of the Church of England this Queen is allowed to slowly die - without a representative of her church being in attendance - highly suspect if this is being claimed as true! The introductory credits tell us; "This story is based on real events...well, mostly". Make of that what you will.

The first thing anyone will say after watching this movie is how utterly amazing Judi Dench is, and rightly so, she ones again dons the robes of Queen Victoria and gives a commanding performance as one of the most famous monarchs. A performance worthy of an Oscar, she is an actress with unrivalled talent. This film is so much more then Dench's performance, spellbinding though it was.

Ali Fazal, also worthy of accolades and awards, for his superb performance as Indian servant Abdul Karim. His performance is actually rather captivating, The Queen was taken under his spell and as a viewer so was I. Such an intriguing, fascinating character, probably unlike any other man she'd ever encountered.

Superb production values throughout, the film was visually dazzling, sumptuous settings, jaw dropping costumes, this was a treat for the senses.

A film is meant to move, and allow for escapism, when it can educate as well, it's worth of the elevated sore of 10/10.

Absolutely loved it.