A Royal Affair [Blu-ray] [Region B]

Those of us who have grown up in Western democracies can hardly picture and appreciate what life under despotism and absolutism was like. Our freedoms, handed down on stone tablets to us from a secular Moses, seem permanent. They are not. Democracy is a cultural work in progress and never free from external political threat, as events in the Middle East and elsewhere almost daily remind us. The experiment in freedom is recent, most of history despotic, a canvas of blood and suffering: few rights, many evils, much injustice. Power at the top, the mass of people beneath: poor, burdened, exploited. Protective laws came slowly. But if anything jumped started the Rights of Man it was surely the French Revolution, a seismic quake in human history. Heads rolled because they had to. A bloody mess ensued, literal and figurative. But out of the chaos came a better world for millions. We are among these, the children of that revolution and those times. To see what the world looked like before that event we have this grim but fine portrait from Denmark. Johann Friedrich Struensee (1737-72) is a modern man: educated, enlightened, liberal. In other words, dangerous. German by birth, he’s a physician of the mind and spirit, as well as the body. His private patient is King Christian VII of Denmark (1749-1808), and a difficult patient he is, as he suffers from what appears to be madness. Though Struensee (played magnificently by Mads Mikkelsen) lived and died before the revolution in France, Enlightenment ideas were in the air. In particular, he was highly influenced by the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Thus the concept of the Rights of Man and the French dictum liberté, égalité and fraternité were close to him in spirit. Struensee has a problem at the court of King Christian. The king is not his only worry. So is his English wife, Queen Caroline Matilda (1751-75). Why should she worry him? Because he loves her, and she him. This is inconvenient, not to mention dangerous. But if living means taking risks, Struensee clearly chooses life, death be damned. He will love because he can. Plus the woman he loves needs his love. A simple need on the surface, but intricately complicated in practice, this film is largely about these complications — how and why they happen, and what they lead to. It’s all quite sad and beautiful. In flashback we meet young Princess Caroline (Alicia Vikander, lovely and luminous as ever) in England before her departure to Denmark. England is warm and bright, the summer sun shining. The young princess (just 16), is seen among pleasant fields with colourful flowers. She lies in the grass in her long dress and petticoats, looking up at the blue sky. In a locket round her neck she carries a miniature painting of the young Danish king, her future spouse. She dreams of the day they will meet, not far off now, as her whole young life has been a preparation for it. She also worries a little about that day. How, she wonders, will he regard me? Will he love me? Am I able to inspire his love? She is given advice by an older female member of the English court. She is told to have the king visit her bedchamber on the night of the day they meet. She should show her love from the start if she hopes to be loved in return. Contrasted with the bright, happy sun found in England, Denmark looks bleak and grey, its skies dark and forbidding. It is not yet winter, but the season is moving toward it. Their meeting is awkward. The young king — immature, nervous, insecure — is socially self-conscious. This young woman, a foreigner whom he does not know, is to be his bride and queen. He’s emotionally ill-equipped to deal with this turn of events. A feast in the palace is held for the king and queen. Everyone seems taken by Caroline, as she is charming, gracious, polite and beautiful. But behind her composed and formal smile is a nervousness she feels among these Danish strangers. Yet she follows through on the advice given to her in England. During dinner she whispers to the king that she wishes him to visit her bedchamber tonight. He assents to her wish with a nervous giggle and tense smile. Their conjugal meeting does not go well, as both are inexperienced. He is clumsy, she rigid and frightened. One can even say she is appalled by him. He has no charm and ease of manner. He is rough with her, not affectionate. He’s a spoiled child, not a man with the grace and confidence of a king. She’s petrified, trapped in a cage called arranged marriage contrived for the political expedience of others. She will have to rely on every resource within herself to survive. The king is unstable, his new wife not the cure for which the court had hoped. Dr. Struensee, whose reputation in Prussia as a modern man of medicine reaches the attention of the Danish court, is recruited to help. The work is slow but Struensee is clever and patient, his hope to win the trust of the king. This, over time, he does. A bond between them develops; the king comes to depend on Struensee for advice and support. The doctor determines the king is not mad and can be helped. His diagnosis is clear and direct: the king is frightened, burdened by responsibilities he can’t emotionally handle. Thus to survive he retreats into the shell of childhood, a place of play and playacting. Struensee seizes on this idea and turns it to the advantage of the king and country, convincing the king to see himself as an actor in a theatrical, a person destined to read lines and perform. The king warms to this idea, sees logic and truth in it. He embraces it and this in turn gives him confidence. Struensee understands his own unique position. He alone has the unconditional trust of the king. How can he use this trust to advance his Enlightenment ideas and reforms? By giving the king the courage to confront his council of governors, the privileged men who have maintained the status quo by marginalising the king. Thus, as this drama unfolds (as it did truly in history) Struensee and his ideas begin to speak through the king. Dangerous, as I’ve said, and so were the times with revolution in the air. Thus Struensee became a risk taker and for a time succeeded. For instance, he fought the council to introduce a modern smallpox vaccine to counter the smallpox plague ravaging the working poor of Copenhagen. If not stopped it would infect everyone, nobility and royalty included. Put your faith in medicine and science, he said, not superstition. The vaccine, not God, will save people. It seemed like a miracle cure. It preserved the life of the young son born to Caroline and Christian, the boy who would grow up to be King Frederick VI of Denmark (1768-1839), a great emancipator and reformer who turned Denmark (during a reign of 55 years) into a modern progressive state. So the film is about the Enlightenment, that unique time in European intellectual history. It’s also about revolution and reform, events which occurred because of the Enlightenment. Finally, and much more personally, it’s a kind of three-way love story. The king comes to love Struensee for his friendship, care and guidance. In return Struensee in his benevolent way loves the king. Then of course the romantic heart of the story, an intimate love illicit in name only, not spirit. Caroline sees his goodness and wisdom. She adores him for being a man of the Enlightenment. She sees the future in him, he the emissary of ideas that will make a better world. She can’t help falling in love with him, and he can’t help resisting her fall. So they fall together — first on the dance floor into each other’s arms, then into bed, then later into scandal, despair and oblivion. The Rights of Man was a radical idea. Rousseau said, “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” He was right. Royalty and nobility held power, wealth, privilege. Those beneath the ruling class, the majority of people, were basically enslaved. The ideas of Struensee and the other philosophes survived. They made the world we live in even if we hardly ever think about it. They paid in blood for freedoms we take for granted. Why do we do this? Because the law of irony says it must be so. The end was tragic, as history records. A coup in 1772 overturned all the reforms Struensee, through King Christian, had established. The ousted old guard of councillors seized power again, politically emasculating the king. Struensee was tortured and condemned to death for both sedition and his private relations with the queen, a union which bore them a daughter (whose arrival raised the initial suspicions that led to their destruction). Struensee was publicly executed at age 32. Caroline was banished from Denmark and her children, whom she never saw again. She died, heartbroken in Germany, in 1775, aged just 23. In exile she wrote long letters to her children, explaining the life she had led and describing the life and work of Struensee. The reformer of modern Denmark, he was also the father of Princess Louise Auguste (1771-1843), their daughter. He was, Caroline wrote, along with her children, her greatest happiness in life. These letters, bundled together and carried by a confidante from Germany to Denmark, were to be read by her children when they were old enough to understand their contents. King Christian never forgot the kindness and goodness of Struensee either, passing along his doctor’s legacy to his own son, King Frederick. By the time the French Revolution was occurring in 1789, Denmark was already on the road to modernity, its history partly made by the extraordinary Johann Friedrich Struensee, true son, lover and apostle of the Enlightenment. He deserves to be better known and remembered, as this beautiful film understands.

A Royal Affair is the story of English Princess Caroline who was betrothed and later married to King Christian VII of Denmark. Directed and written by Nicolaj Arcel, based on documented Danish history of the 1770's, the film is a wonderful period drama. Caroline (Alicia Vikander) arrives at the Royal Court in Copenhagen only to find that her husband the King is prone to bouts of psychosis, and that her liberal views and books are under suspicion, both opinions and books are censored and The Enlightenment seen as a threat. King Christian brilliantly played by Mikkel Boe Folsgaard in what was his first film, plays the character with almost childlike sensitivity and great passion an excellent performance. Despite the "madness" he seemed a likeable man. Finding the need to 'control' the King's outbursts Johann Strauensee, a German Physician (Mads Mikkelson) is brought to the palace and becomes mentor and counsellor to King Christian, who is until then totally under the thumb of his High Council of Ministers who rule in his behalf. Seeking to help the King find his feet, Strauensee becomes so close to the monarch as to control him, whilst at the same time having a passionate affair with the Queen which results in the scandal of an illegitimate baby. Things eventually come to a head when the King learns that his most trusted aide and friend has betrayed him, Strauensee is then imprisoned and the King is pressured by his Ministers and the populace to have him executed. Having read quite a lot about this in Danish history, I find that the film sticks to the known facts as much as possible. Very little artistic licence has been taken, with the result being a brilliant film, well acted and directed with much sensitivity. Everyone involved should be proud of this production. It had limited circulation at the box office due to it being in Danish, but the subtitles are adequate enough to convey the story. Running time of approx 128 minutes with a few extras, such as cast interviews. Subtitled in English. Published to DVD in 2012. Well worthy of 5 stars, wish I could give more!

This transfer uses very light subtitles, so light that it is more often than not very hard to read them. As few viewers will speak Danish this is a very serious fault which I am astonished was not identified in the pre-print proof run. (Perhaps it was all done by Danes who did not need or bother to read them!) Many viewers have commented on this on the amazon website and they are spot on. It is not as bad as some make out but it is far from ideal and makes watching the film hard work. A real shame as otherwise this a well acted and beautifully crafted story. Probably better to rent as the subtitle issue discourages too frequent re-watching, at least for me.

Dieser zweistündige Historienfilm des dänischen Regisseurs Nikolaj Arcel aus dem Jahr 2012 entstand in Zusammenarbeit mit Rasmus Heisterberg und Lars von Trier. Was wie der Stoff eines typischen Kostümfilms klingt, ist in Wahrheit reale dänische Geschichte. Den Arzt Struensee gab es wirklich, ebenso seine Affäre mit Königin Caroline bis hin zu seiner Machtposition. Dänemark 1770: Schon als Kind ist die aus England stammende Prinzessin Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander) dem Prinzen Christian VII ((Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) versprochen und soll den königlichen Gemahl nun bald ehelichen. Der Bräutigam in spe sei, so sagen ihr die Hofdamen, ein kultivierter Mann, ein Liebhaber des Theaters und überhaupt als kommender König von Dänemark eine gute Partie. Doch Christian entpuppt sich gleich bei der ersten Begegnung als mindestens exzentrischer Lüstling mit seltsamem Lachen, merkwürdigem Benehmen und einem unglaublichen Appetit auf Hofdamen und Prostituierte. Nachdem Caroline ihrer Verpflichtung zum Gebären eines Thronfolgers nachgekommen ist, begibt sich der psychisch Kranke Christian auf eine ausgedehnte Europa-Reise, von der er den preussischen Aufklärer Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) als Leibarzt mit an den Hof in Kopenhagen bringt. Schnell gewinnt Struensee an Einfluss und kann den König zu dringend benötigten Reformen bewegen. Die vereinsamte Königin und der Leibarzt verlieben sich ineinander, denn auch Caroline ist ein Freigeist und sehnt sich zugleich nach einem liebevollen Mann an ihrer Seite. Doch diese Verbindung wird ihnen zum Verhängnis , denn Struensees Treiben wird durch den königlichen Rat bereits mit großem Misstrauen verfolgt.... Die Geschichte konzentriert sich ganz auf die Gefühle dieser verrückten Ménage à trois. Die beiden Liebenden grenzen den labilen König gar nicht aus, sondern bleiben ihm sogar verbunden. Man spürt auch Struensees tiefes Verständnis, das er als Arzt der geschundenen Psyche Christians entgegenbringt. Wenn er den König im Kabinett zum Durchsetzen seiner eigenen Ideen einspannt, wirkt das nicht wie ein intrigantes Ausnutzen, sondern wie der Kampf zweier verlorener Seelen für Veränderung. Aber es ist keine Heiligengeschichte. Mads Mikkelsen durchläuft mit einem stoischen Gesicht und gnadenlos aufrechter Haltung alle Aggregatzustände dieses Lehrstücks von Aufstieg und Fall eines Aufklärers , der zu viel wollte...alle Liebe, alle Macht, alle Freiheit – gegen alle Chancen und Realitäten. Alicia Vikander ist eine hinreißende junge Königin, ihre Blickwechsel mit Struensee und die Haltung, die sie angesichts ihres Ehemannes und ihres Schicksals bewahrt, sind so intensiv, dass sie sogar Mads Mikkelsen fast an die Wand spielt. In einer der wunderbarsten Szenen beginnt die Affäre zwischen Caroline und Struensee. Als die beiden während eines Tanzes begreifen, dass sie sich lieben. Sie umkreisen sich, sie tanzen, sehen sich starr an, die Blicke werden immer weicher. Die Zeit wird aufgehoben, die Musik steht still....lange verweilt die Kamera auf ihren Gesichtern, während sie sich weiter im Kreis drehen und sich anschauen... Eine Szene zum Dahinschmelzen...;-) „Die Königin und der Leibarzt“ ist ein bewegender, opulenter Kostümfilm mit Bildern, die manchmal wirken, als wären sie von Jan Vermeer gemalt. Und es ist auch ein Film über die Anfänge der Aufklärung in Europa und die Hindernisse, die es zu überwinden galt. Wobei sich die Handlung hauptsächlich mit der dramatischen Romanze befasst und das Ringen am Hof zwischen den leidenschaftlichen Aufklärern und den religiösen Fanatikern doch mehr im Hintergrund steht. Einen historischen Politthriller darf man deshalb nicht erwarten. Mir hat der Film sehr gut gefallen.

As others have said, this film is based on a true story which is also an important story, especially for Denmark but also for the vastly more liberal Europe that was in the process of being born. The story begins with the arranged marriage between King Christian VII of Denmark and Princess Caroline Matilda of England. By the time the princess was born her brother was already King George III of England, the same king who presided over our own revolution as well as the uneasy union of Ireland with England, making him the first true monarch of the UK. One valuable thing the movie does is to flesh out the very appealing character of Matilda, who was both informal in her manners and a great reader, always curious about, and sympathetic with, the ideas of equality and liberty which were gaining traction in her lifetime. Evidently the realization that their young queen was always considered charming and bright is new even to Danes, who learn the rudiments of this story as schoolchildren much as we learn about our revolutionary figures when we are that age, which is to say, as little more than stick figures. Naturally enough the Danish focus has always been on the king whom Matilda married and their son, who became a very great, justly famous king. At the age of fifteen, Caroline Matilda voyaged to Denmark where she found that she was unlucky in her marriage. Whether Christian was mad or merely erratic, whether he was homosexual or merely inclined to confuse his wife with his daunting mother, he was always viewed as a foolish child by the nobility who controlled him and, through him, the country. Their wish was to insulate Denmark from the modern ideas beginning to permeate Europe while preserving and maximizing their own wealth and power. Social change began when a brilliant German doctor, Struensee, became Christian's first friend and, gradually, his sole political advisor. Eventually, however, for whatever reason (possibly bi-polar illness), Christian sank into a catatonic depression that left Struensee in power as de facto king -- and a very energetic king, too, issuing some 1,069 cabinet orders in about ten months. During this time the two free-thinking foreigners, a low-born German doctor and the English Queen, almost certainly found both joy and solace in the queen's bed, forming as a small and very happy family into which the queen bore a daughter who was almost certainly fathered by Struensee. These events comprise most of the movie which is a joy to watch, beautiful, fascinating, and very erotic. Perhaps because the acting is so very good, the film never becomes either a preachy history lesson or a stilted costume drama. Of course the preternaturally gifted Mikkelsen is a joy to watch, but so are the young Swedish actress who plays the queen and the novice actor who gives a masterful performance as the unfortunate king. Still, even as we enjoy watching the two sensual and charming lovers, we realize that they are behaving very unwisely, failing at every step to protect themselves from the malice of the nobles and the superstitious rage of the people over whom the nobles have great influence. Struensee's worst failure may have been scorning to form any coalition of power with the few nobles who might have been able to protect him from the many nobles who believed that both he and the queen were flouting all Danish custom while demeaning the beloved monarchy. Therefore, for the two lovers, the ending had to be sad, and because the movie has so much emotional power from the first scene, of course their downfall is sad to watch, although it is also brief. Moreover, as we learn in a final summary, in some sense the revolutionary doctor and his queen will triumph in the end, because the Denmark which they wanted so very much to create was soon recreated by Caroline Matilda's son, Frederick, who outdid Struensee himself in bringing about a famously bloodless, and even more liberal, revolution. And that revolution has, of course, endured. This is a movie I can unequivocally recommend as emotionally and aesthetically irresistible.

Excellent film, histoire vraie, costumes et mise en scène parfaits ainsi qu'une reconstitution historique impressionante. Acteurs au top ! Et Mads Mikkelsen une fois de plus au top A voir absolument

An absolutely intriguing film with phenomenal acting, beautiful costumes, and a gripping plot line based on a TRUE story. The people who refuse to watch this film simply because they “cannot be bothered” to read English subtitles, are idiots. You’re outright saying that you’re uncultured and an incompetent multitasker. Watch this masterpiece!!!

Preciosa historia biográfica sobre la vida de la reina Carolina de Dinamarca y su marido el rey Christian. Esperaba ver una película de época entretenida, pero me encontré con una gran historia de amor al mejor estilo de "La duquesa" basada en hechos reales realmente exquisita. Las interpretaciones son muy buenas y creíbles, la fotografía es hermosa y la película en general está rodada con un gran preciosismo. La historia de amor de la reina con su médico, Johann Friedrich Struensee es el centro de ella así como las diferentes ideologías que sufre el país durante el convulso gobierno del rey Christian VII, con la introducción de ideas procedentes de la Ilustración. Pasiones secretas, complot y revoluciones son sólo una parte de esta gran y silenciosa, injustamente, película.