A Royal Affair

A fascinating insight into the Danish court of the time. After my usual explorations of Wikipedia, I can report that this was a pretty accurate portrayal of the facts.

Christian VII was the son of Frederik V and his mother was Louisa, youngest daughter of England's George II. So Caroline, who was a sister of George III was actually his first cousin. Is it any wonder these people were barmy? (George III was grandson of George II).

Christian VII was also the great great great great grandson of Christian IV, another potty Danish king who was featured in Rose Tremain's terrific book “Music and Silence”, one of the best novels -historical or otherwise - I've read.


It seems that some of the more gory details of Johann's execution were watered down -

“First, Struensee's right hand was cut off; next, after two failed attempts, his head was severed, stuck on a pole and presented to 30,000 bystanders; then, after disembowelment, his remains were quartered”

- but I thought you should know.

Well I agree with several people who said the subtitles were  unreadable against a light background. For what it's worth, I tried out the DVD with other equipment and brightness and contrast settings but I couldn't make them any more legible. I also found a couple of comments on-line from people who made the same observation. If it were up to me, I would deny this film an Oscar on these grounds alone. It's really inexcusable with the technology that's available today.

The last few subtitles went through too quickly to give time to read them. Here they are:

• With his father's help Frederik staged a coup d'état -
• and seized power at the age of 16.
• Guldberg, Juliane Marie and their Cabinet were banished from Court.
• In the course of Frederik's 55-year-long reign -
• almost all of Struensee's laws were reinstated.
• Frederik went even further than Johann when he abolished serfdom and liberated the peasants.

The actress who played Caroline was Alicia Vikander whom you may have seen playing Kitty in last year's Anna Karenina. And for Scandinavian TV fans, actors too numerous to mention appeared in various episodes of The Bridge, The Killing and Borgen. I don't watch them myself but seeing how the actors are more inter-related than the royal houses of Europe, it's no surprise the programmes all look the same. If you really want to know I would suggest following the links in the IMDB reference below.

The Bishopgarth-O-Meter (based, as ever, on audience feedback sheets) rated the film at 91% so “A Royal Affair” enters this season's hit parade at number 2. And here's the detail from the feedback sheets.

A	Very evocative. The music & scenery swept you along. Life at court very interesting, very graphic.
A	Tore at the heart strings.
A	Beautiful cinematography. Great film.
A	Beautiful film, riveting performances
A	Brilliant. Wish I had been able to read the final subtitles.
A	Excellent film. Thoroughly enjoyable.
A
A	Stunning visually, a wonderful film, sensitive and multi-layered.
A	An absorbing drama. Beautifully filmed and with an excellent cast.
A	Beautifully told piece of history.
A	Insightful, interesting and entertaining.
A
A	Elegant, beautifully presented – slow moving.
A	Stunning production. It was a shame that white writing on white background spoiled the seeing of all the text.
A	Visually stunning. V. well acted – intelligent portrait of the historical events.
A	Excellent.
A	Beautifully crafted & very moving. (I'll have to research Danish history to see how true it was.)
A	Excellent film. Knowing nothing about Denmark you expect all Europe to be developing at a similar rate. My only criticism is that the subtitles written white were sometimes hard to read.
A
A
A	Fascinating introduction to Danish history! Excellent drama!
A	Interesting story with subtleties and ambiguities.
A	GOING HOME TO READ UP SOME HISTORY.
B	Well acted (esp the king), beautifully photographed and designed – but the 'affair' itself seemed to lack passion. Well worth seeing
B
B
B
B	Enjoyable film depicting Danish Royals. Well acted – can see how Danish country is still admired nowadays – for the reforms.
B	I knew absolutely nothing about Danish history so no idea how accurate it was but it came across as very authentic and actually looked good!
B
B	Good film let down by poor subtitling, which spoiled it for me.
B
B	So sad. Thought provoking.
B	A lovely film
B	Too bright to read all the subtitles
B	A piece of history not known to us. Well acted.
B
B	Intriguing film – beautiful score by Gabriel Yared.
C	Overly romantic, some problems reading subtitles on background. Beautiful to look at.
C	“Something's rotten in the state of Denmark” particularly apt.

Finally, for any of you who appreciate a right royal knees-up, here's a great picture:

On-line:
Here's a tourism site for Copenhagen explaining how you can visit places featured in the movie:
http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/see-and-do/a-royal-affair
(You can even visit Gallows Hill where Struensee's body parts were displayed for several years after his execution.)

Alex von Tunzelmann  in The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jul/06/reel-history-royal-affair

Robbie Collin in The Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9331863/A-Royal-Affair-review.html

IMDB users gave it 7.5 out of 10:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276419/

Rotten Tomatoes audience rating 85%:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/en_kongelig_affaere/

Mark Kermode's DVD round-up in the Observer:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/oct/28/a-royal-affair-dvd-review-mark-kermode