La Reine garçon

Kristina inherited the throne of Sweden at the age of six when her father dies in the religious wars that gripped Europe in the Seventeenth Century i.e.; fighting Papism. Her father had brought her up as a prince and she was accustomed to manly pursuits. Taken under the wing of Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna played brilliantly by Michael Nyqvist ('100 Code' and 'Europa Report').

She however has a mind of her own and is taken by the new thinking and philosophers of the time like Rene Descartes all of which are rejected by the austere Protestantism that her country has fought for. She also is a bit opposed to marriage and the many courtiers that come 'a wooing' her. Contrastingly she is enamoured with a certain Lady in Waiting and soon is breaking with more than one convention in pursuit of what she really wants.

Now this is a pan European production but is mainly in English with a tad of German and French. The acting is all top notch and the period detail is spot on too. This though is a personal view of the woman rather that a wider view of European politics and so is told on a smaller canvas than I was expecting. That said it is thoroughly watchable and is a noteworthy production – I wish it had been in Swedish though but English is now the Lingua Franca it would appear – so this is one that should appeal to lovers of modern European cinema who like a bit of spice in their lead roles.

Watching the score of this film here on IMDb I was not very eager to watch this film. I did anyway and did not regret any minute. Of course a lot of aspects a persons life disappear in a movie of 2 hours. But a film should be watched as a separate piece of art. And this piece is simply beautiful and enjoyable! I had never heard of Kristina of Sweden before, and I really like being introduced to her. Very interesting person in history. And certainly not only because she loved women, because that is of all times. Her ideas and curiosity made a change in history. That is what triggered me to find out more about her. And the low score here triggered me to write a review. This film deserves much better!

Guys, I'm pretty sure they're just really good friends. REALLY good friends..

The super-interesting trailer for The Girl Kind promised more than was really in the movie. It's kind of an open and unfinished story on multiple levels - Kristina's reign regarding the military campaign, country reforms and her personal life. All these important stories were merely touched in the movie. We never got to see whether or not Kristina actually reformed anything in Sweden at the time, the military campaign was also very vague and her relationship with the Countess deserved much more.

I indeed expected more to be seen between the two ladies in terms of chemistry and storyline. Though they shared enough time on screen, the relationship is missing a lot. We could only get a glimpse of Buska and Gadon's potential in a few scenes where they showed subtle, unspoken affection between the two characters. It's a pity the director did not use more of their talent to tell a very personal story of Kristina and how deep the relationship with Sparre must have been. There is enough historical evidence to confirm Kristina's sexuality. A character so passionate about knowledge, philosophy and art surely must have been even more passionate about the affairs of the heart. It's a pity only the dark side of it was depicted in the movie. In spite of this movie being about Kristina, obviously a lot of her is embedded in Sparre's character. Unfortunately, Sparre's side of the love coin was left unexplored.

I caught this film entirely by accident, with zero expectations or knowledge of the subject matter. I am unqualified to speak to the historicity of the events. But if it is close to historical events, what a beautiful film was made of it. Dealing with politics and religion and feminism, it is a rare little gem.

Christina, the Queen (actually "King") of Sweden from 1632 (age 6) until 1654, was tutored by a unique man, and grew up to be a young woman with curiosity about the world and a taste for life, she shook the institutions of the day, with an unkind mixture of success and failures. The film is mostly in English with a little French (accompanied by subtitles), the actors do a fine job, and I really appreciated the makeup team's subtle approach. I might have appreciated a script less focused on romance and more on personality and accomplishments, but then again, in our 20s, hormones can dominate all.