Queen Marie of Romania

The opening in Timisoara/Romania, drew a big crowd as a sign of great interest for this piece of art. Really nice locations were recollecting the atmosphere of 1900's beginning, the costumes were perfect, the use of alternate English/Romanian subtitles gave a complete experience to us, and the sound was very clear and musical. This movie came out at the right moment because Queen Marie remainings were brought back to Romanian soil recently.

Looking for love it - that was, in my case, the desire of me. And for love it - many reasons, from the admirable performance of Ruxandra Lupu, giving the fair and the nuanced , full merited portrait of the Queen to the imppecable costumes, use of English and Romanian and atmosphere. The only , basic , in fact problem, remains the dialogue. It reminds the wood language, the melodramatic speeches from the Romanian cinematography before 1990 and few films by Sergiu Nicolaescu after. Maybe it is not a real sin, maybe is trait of specific but , behind the story, very useful to be known , something remains not exactly finished. But, no doubts, a beautiful film and necessary for some reasons.

While as a film it may not "check all the boxes" it is a beautifully made film with excellent performances. But most importantly it gives us a look at an incredibly important time in the history of the world. The Treaty of Versailles turned out to be one of the most controversial documents ever signed, by the "winners" of the First World War, some even arguing it was the root cause I'm bringing about the Second WW. Romania's fight for their country's unification was just one part of what the post-war world would look like. The rest is history.

Greetings again from the darkness. There are likely those who know less about the history of Romania than I, but that list is pretty short. Co-writers and co-directors Alexis Sweet Cahill of Italy and Brigitte Drodtloff of Germany, along with three other listed co-writers: Gabi Antal, Ioana Manea, and Maria-Denise Teodoru, bring us the more than 100 year-old story of Queen Marie, and it's "based on True Events" (including the Queen's own writings).

Roxana Lupu, originally from Romania, plays Queen Marie, a Monarch who likely doesn't receive the historical credit she deserves. Her husband, King Ferdinand I is played by Daniel Plier, who really isn't given much to do here ... hence the film's title. A spectacular opening shot takes us over a frozen river and drops us into Bucharest in 1919. World War I has recently ended, and no one seems to care much about the state of Romania, except Romanians. Having sided with the Triple Entente (Russia, France, and Great Britain), hopes are now fading for a united Romania.

Against the preferences of Romanian Parliament, her husband, and just about everyone else, Marie headed to the Peace Talks being held in Paris ... yes, the talks that led to the Treaty of Versailles. Though most tried to encourage her to let the politicians handle the politics, Marie reminded them that she was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and thus is not silenced easily. She forced and maneuvered her way in to meetings with powerful world leaders of the time to negotiate for international recognition (and assistance) of a united Romania.

Above all else, this is the story of strong woman fighting for her country. She goes toe-to-toe with Prime Minister Ion Bratianu (Adrian Titieni), French Prime Minister Clemenceau (Ronald Chenery), and U. S. President Woodrow Wilson (Patrick Drury) in her efforts to be heard. She even battles her own son Prince Carol II (Anghel Damian), who would later become King. Ms. Lupu is excellent in the role, and she has previously played Queen Elizabeth (twice), as well as a Princess and a Grand Duchess, so clearly has the screen presence to pull off such royal and regal roles. The film only teases her attraction to Prince Stirbey (Emil Mandanac), and the personal history between her and her cousin, King George V (Nicholas Boulton).

It's a period drama with the requisite costumes, hair styles, and set design necessary to whisk us away to a century ago, and mostly we learn there was more to this popular Queen than her commitment to feeding citizens during a difficult time. The closing credits give us archival footage as well as the political developments that occurred. The time period covered is limited, but one that was crucial for a country and her Queen.

Available On Demand and on Digital May 7, 2021.

A great movie about a subject I knew nothing about, beautifully made with good cast, great costumes and sets. I would have liked to have delved deeper into the Greater Romania thing. I know that present days Romania has chunks of what Hungary calls its own and Moldova the same. It didn't show how the monarchy's of Central Europe after WWI where doomed by their own weakness. In the movie its mentioned that the Royal Family of Romania are German Princess given the job because had nothing to do after the unification of Germany in 1871. But back to the movie, really the only ones who seem to be able to tell these stories in modern cinema are the European co-productions. They have a feel and of course the wonderful locations are no harm. the lovely scene near the end between Ferdinand and Marie at the castle was just gorgeous and ended the movies in a lovely way.