Mary Queen of Scots

This film tells the story of Mary Stuart, the queen of Scotland int eh 1500's.

Within fifteen minutes into the film, I already lost all interest in it. The fact that the Royal Court is multi-ethnic back then is unimaginable and inaccurate, even to a person who knows only basic world history. Then, Mary addresses an effeminate man as sister? Really? Homosexuality was punishable by death those days. The story is slow most of the time, but critical plot points are just skimmed over. The fact that the supporting characters are mostly unrecognisable (except for Guy Pearce) makes the characters very confusing too. I can hardly tell who is who. It is a huge bore and a big disappointment.

Soarise Ronan is NO Vanessa Redgrave and Margot Robbie is NO Glenda Jackson. This is such a weak, denatured telling compared to the more glorious 1971 version; and yes, admittedly it was based on Maxwell Anderson's play. But it was precisely Anderson's language that gave the 1st go-around such dramatic fireworks. This one is a lame, telegrapher version that tailors the story to the camera; and similarly, panders to PC-ness by casting so many minorities in the Scot and English courts. REALLY? It is so distracting and a travesty on history and does a disservice to the paying movie-goer by feeding into that "casting diversity" BUT WHOLLY FALSE Representation, of historical fact. The hairdos of the 2 queens are quite silly and again, dressing all the men in BLACK and just giving color to the queens' costumes betrays such self-conscious techniques that they are all doing these FOR THE CAMERA, not in the interests of historical accuracy. Quite disappointing.

Mary (Saoirse Ronan) was raised in the French court. After the death of her first husband King Francis II of France, the 19 year old Scot monarch returns to her homeland to take back the throne from her Protestant half-brother. She faces opposition from her Protestant subjects under constant attack by cleric John Knox and a rival in her cousin Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie). Her lineage gives her a better claim to both crowns. Elizabeth is in love with Robert Dudley but she is blocked from marrying the commoner. Mary marries Henry Stuart, an English Catholic lord, and faces rebellion from her many foes including her own husband.

I'm no history expert and even I noticed some questionable takes by the movie. This is definitely trying to paint Mary as reasonable as possible. She's almost modern with a good helping of sisterhood. It's betrayed by a couple of incidents where she keeps pushing for the English crown. It's as if the settled history keeps interfering with the script's needs. It's also questionable to have Saoirse play Scottish when Mary is probably more French than anything. Margot Robbie could do better to show Mary's disconnection with her own country. I guess Saoirse at least looks more like Mary. The political intrigue is interesting but it does get jumbled with all the characters. Some get lost in the shuffle. I also don't know if England has a black ambassador at that time. It'd be great if true. There is the ethereal meeting in the cabin. I remember hearing that the two Queens never met face to face in real life. I can accept a bit of artistic license but this movie takes a lot more than a bit. At least, the cabin finally gets to the truth of Mary's character as far as I'm concern in her final outburst. As for the actors, Saoirse and Margot do exceptional work for what is asked of them. This is a movie of many battles and intrigue but the most defining victory may be a birth. I am uncertain about the accuracy of this movie and that taints any enjoyment.

I only watched this movie because my wife likes historical costume drama's. The history of Mary Stuart was the subject I thought that would be interesting but the more I watched it the more I had the feeling this wasn't an accurate telling of facts. For example I really doubt there would be a Black lord or an Asian countess at that time in England. Add on that the rather boring repetitive story telling and you get just a mediocre movie. The main actresses Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie didn't do a bad job but the inaccuracy of the story just made Mary Queen Of Scots a movie I will forget everything about it in a week.

I really wanted to love this movie. It was beautifully shot, and Ronin was, as always, very strong. And the rest of the cast was fine -- the problems with this Elizabeth were not Robbie's fault. The film was beautiful, but quite, quite dead. And it didn't flow, just a bunch of independent set pieces. Blame the writer and the director.