Royal Affair

I had the great fortune to be invited to attend the World Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this evening of this wonderful film -and opportunities like that don't come often.

A Royal Affair is Oscar level material in many respects. The screenplay, directing and photography are all superb but the performance of Mikkel Følsgaard as Christian VII of Denmark was perfection. It is so difficult to act a madman acting as if he were sane and I cannot believe any actor taking an Oscar this year could have put up a better performance. Mikkel got the loudest cheer from the audience and he thoroughly deserved it.

The plot revolves around the machinations of power behind the throne of a simpleton monarch. Christian may be King but he simply wants to play like a child. He is married and fathers a son quite brutally but he loves his dog more than his family. And so a German Doctor is called to treat him. Christian befriends his physician and leaves more and more power in the hands of this foreign commoner. And then the Doctor falls in love with the Queen....

It's all true and I won't tell more than that. Just go and see it as soon as you can. It puts Hollywood and Bollywood both straight into the dust bin. Classic drama, brilliant script and a piece of thespian-ism that puts Olivier to task. Just brilliant.

Within the last decades, Denmark has become the leading film country around the Baltic Sea, several films have been praised in major festivals around the globe. En kongelig affære is a pleasant supplement to the succession. Based on real events and persons, the film focuses on broader issues than a simple love between 2 powerful persons. Despite some not-so-good characteristic features of the doctor Struensee, his appearance in the Danish royal and executive circles changed the country thoroughly. And today, Denmark is one of the most progressive countries in the whole world.

The cast is evenly strong - not the leading roles only, but supporting performances as well. Mads Mikkelsen is great as usual, irrespective of the role, but the biggest surprise to me was Mikkel Følsgaard (as Christian VII) - I had never heard about him before; as he managed to win the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival, I am sure he will be used often both in Denmark and internationally.

Well, the total length could have been less, 2 hour 15 minutes included some protracted scenes. Nevertheless, the film is recommended to all those fond of historical palace dramas.

This was a magnificent film, with stunning performances by the star cast and the supporting roles.

I am not an unconditional fan of Mads Mikkelsen, but he really was strong and convincing in this role.

And one could easily forgive the good doctor for falling in love with Queen Caroline, as portrayed by the lovely Alicia Vikander.

And one even had sympathy for poor old Christian in the end. I was beginning to wonder whether he was quite as insane as people thought him to be. There seemed to be a genuine friendship between him and Dr Struensee also. Had things gone slightly differently, one could have imagined them forming a happy and successful ménage à trois, and living happily ever after.

And the villains were truly villainous :-)

(I spotted a few familiar faces from Forbydelsen I and other places, including Søren Malling (Jan Mayer ), and Bent Mejding who was the standing mayor (playing a not dissimilar sort of character)

A very interesting and surprising historical lesson as well.

Highly recommended.

"A Royal Affair" is a Danish/Swedish/Czech production about the reign of 18th century King Christian VII of Denmark, his Welsh wife and a German physician whose progressive ideas shake Denmark's conservative ruling class to its foundations. As best I can discern the film tries to keep true to actual history with some embellishments added concerning the role of the Queen in the political machinations along with some reasonable speculation about a possible menage a trois. The screenplay by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg does a nice job of capturing the unusual atmosphere of life at a court governed by a mentally unstable monarch who's little more than a nuisance puppet of the nobility and the church. In the middle of all that is the young English Queen trapped in a loveless marriage. She is also disturbed by the unwillingness of her adopted country to accept the ideas of the Enlightenment then circulating around Europe. Under the direction of Nikolaj Arcel "A Royal Affair" is an effective recreation of a bygone age yet one in which we can see our contemporary quagmire between those who advocate change and those condemning it. Mikkel Folsgaard is excellent as the King. He never descends to caricature and is both powerful and pitiable. Mads Mikkelsen is compelling as Dr. Johann Struensee a noble but flawed man given a rare opportunity to improve the lot of the lower classes who are suspicious of him as a foreigner usurping the state. Alicia Vikander is Caroline Mathilde a Welsh princess sent to Denmark in an arranged marriage of noble households with no idea of what's in store for her. This is very good intelligent costume drama that should please fans of the genre. Well worth seeing.

You could dismiss this film as a Danish history lesson but it is more than that. It is a love story with an improbable background in a rather gloomy setting, the Danish Court of the late 18th century. Mad (or at least seriously disturbed) King Christian VII (Mikkel Folsgaard - superbe) marries 16 year old English princess Caroline (Alicia Vikander) who happens to be George III's sister). He prefers the company of his dog and mistress to her. It is not surprising that Caroline falls for Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) who becomes the king's personal physician on the strength of his knowledge of Shakespeare (especially Hamlet). The king is, as they say, easily led, and for a year or so Sturensee, despite being German, has a fine time as de facto ruler enacting liberal measures such as the abolition of serfdom and the repeal of censorship laws, not to mention free smallpox inoculations. But the forces of reaction led by the king's stepmother gather. It was surprising to learn that 18th century Denmark was such a backward society.

Mads Mikkelsen gives a nuanced performance – 'quiet intensity' in fact, and Alicia Vikander is equally intense. They are a serious couple imbued with the ideals of the 18th century Enlightenment but their passion is physical as well as intellectual. Unfortunately their ideals are a little advanced for Denmark of the 1770s despite support from writers such as Voltaire. The local book-burners led by Hoegh-Guldberg (David Dencik) are not swayed by argument of course.

The production is full of atmosphere. The castles are suitably gloomy and there's plenty of medieval squalor beyond the castle gate. Much of the action takes place in winter which adds to the chilly atmosphere. The aristocracy are suitably heartless and the peasants downtrodden. The king provides some zany (if not quite authentic) moments, appointing his Great Dane to his council and ordering Struensee to make Caroline a "fun queen".

This is quite a long movie at 140 minutes yet is enthralling from start to finish. Even though you can guess the ending you are swept along by the story and the performances. You can see why the audiences at Cannes loved it.