On Saturday, I finally got to see The Young Victoria, which of course did not make it to Kingston until The Screening Room picked it up last week. I get a kick out of historical biopics such as this one; throw in some romance, some beautiful period costumes, and at least one devastatingly handsome man, and I have fuel for a whole week's supply of happy thoughts. My god is Rupert Friend gorgeous! Keira Knightley is one lucky woman. Isn't it lovely when beautiful people unite to make a doubly beautiful couple? This brand of shameless superficiality has the notorious effect of cheering me up when I'm down - which is pretty much all the time at this time of year.
On to the film itself, which is actually extremely well done. Emily Blunt is fantastic as Victoria, although it's kind of weird to see the queen portrayed by such an attractive woman. (Usually when I think of Victoria, I picture a large, homely old hag.) That said, it did have the effect of making me let go of such assumptions, and open my mind up to learning new things about the queen. I never knew, for instance, what a troubled childhood Victoria had, and what a complicated relationship she had with her mother.
It's easy to get swept up in the young Queen's struggle to learn the ropes in the turbulent early years of her rule; the best part of the movie by far, however, is the portrayal of her desire for Albert - who is, obviously, utterly irresistible. Their relationship is what ties The Young Victoria together; without it the film would definitely have seemed a bit disjointed. If anything, I could have used more Rupert Friend and less political drama - but that's probably just me!
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