Review #854 - Royal Affair, A (2012)
THE SCOOP
Director:
Nikolaj Arcel
Cast: Alicia
Vikander, Mads Mikkelsen, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
Plot:
A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with
her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation
forever.
Genre: Drama / History / Romance
Awards:
Won Silver Bear for Best Actor & Best Screenplay (Berlin). Nom.
for 1 Oscar - Best Foreign Language Film.
Runtime:
137min
Rating:
M18 for sexual content and some violent images.
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: NO)
Power. Desire.
Consequence. These are three words that aptly describe what A Royal Affair is about. They provide the
thematic framework for this sumptuous period film set many, many centuries back
in Denmark. It targets the upper classes of Danish society with its main
narrative focusing on how power fuels desire, which inevitably results in
personal consequences that do not bode well.
Director Nikolaj Arcel consolidates Denmark's status as one of Europe's
filmmaking powerhouses outside the big four - France, Britain, Germany, and
Italy, with an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film, an award last won by
Susanne Bier's Into
a Better World two years ago.
A Royal Affair features performances that are delightful to watch. The star
performance, I feel, belongs to Mads Mikkelsen (The
Hunt, 2011), who does a brilliant job channeling the
subtleties that come with playing the King's physician, who falls in love with
the King's wife, played by the elegant and graceful Alicia Vikander (who has a
smaller role in another period film – Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina (2012)).
The forbidden relationship plays out quite conventionally, and on many
occasions, too straightforwardly. Thus, emotions may come across as
plainly distinct and perfunctory to the setup, rather than achieving any sort
of layered complexity that provides viewers with a range of ambiguous emotional
responses.
Arcel, however, weaves political intrigue and social class issues into
the common 'forbidden love' tragidrama narrative trope. This is after all
a royal affair which can be read in sexual, political, and even nationalistic
terms. The King's physician is a German who thinks liberally and makes
rational choices in politics.
This is in stark contrast to the self-appointed Danish elites who are
bounded by conservatism and religious faith. The presence of the German
physician personifies the idea of foreign indoctrination. But it is an
‘invasion’ that justifies itself through the law of rationality. Arcel
does a quite excellent job infusing such themes into an otherwise standard
story.
A Royal Affair also features outstanding cinematography with beautiful, wide shots of
horses striding across green plains. Interior shots are lavishly captured
with soft lighting, accentuating the grandeur of royal life. This is
contrasted by shots of decay and disillusionment of the impoverished and
ill-treated Danish citizenry.
As far as costume period dramas go, this is one of the better efforts to
come out in recent years. It is also a Danish film, which strikingly
proves that the Brits don't always have a monopoly in this genre.
Verdict: The polished cinematography and quite excellent performances
are standouts in an otherwise conventional period film about the consequences
of power and desire.
GRADE: B
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