A Royal Affair

[sandik]

I saw this film a couple of weeks ago, and liked it very much -- one of the unexpected pleasures of it is a ballroom scene with a significant chunk of pretty authentic mid-18th century social dance. It isn't often that you get accurate reconstructions in costume dramas, so this was a special treat.

[Mrs. Stahlbaum]

I enjoyed this movie also. The actress who played the queen, Alicia Vikander, also plays Kitty in the 2012 Anna Karenina.

[dirac]

This played briefly in my area and I missed it, I'm sorry to say.

[dirac]

I saw this recently. Thank you for the recommendation, sandik. Not the liveliest example of costume drama I’ve ever encountered but a respectable – perhaps a trifle too respectable -- rendering of a fascinating historical anecdote. Mads Mikkelsen’s unconventional appeal holds limited appeal for this viewer, which didn’t help, probably. Alicia Vikander is good as Caroline Mathilde, if a bit on the bland side, and believable as a teenaged queen (sad to think Caroline never made it past her early twenties). Vikander and Mikkelsen do not make the sparkiest of couples. There’s no suggestion that Struensee’s romantic interest in the queen might also contain an element of self-interest, which might have added some complexity to the story. The peacock part belongs to Mikkel Følsgaard as the is-he-crazy-or-isn’t-he Christian VII (“I want a fun queen!”) and he’s a lot of fun to watch, with a fabulous giggle.

I had a vague recollection of the story before from a fictionalized version read when I was in my teens (I’m reasonably sure it was Norah Lofts’ The Lost Queen). I think there's a ballet in the Royal Danish Ballet's repertory as well.

[sandik]

"The peacock part belongs to Mikkel Følsgaard"

Absolutely -- he gave an over the top performance of an over the top character -- it was the best motor for the film.

[ABT Fan]

I loved this film and the social dance scene. I'm also partial to Mikkelsen and his fantastic portrayal of Stravinsky in 2009's Coco Chanel film.

[dirac]

Belated thanks for posting, ABT Fan. I didn't think much of the Stravinsky/Chanel film and I had doubts about the rightness of Mikkelsen for the role, but his charisma was certainly apparent.