Mrs. Brown
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Antony Sher, Billy Connolly, Geoffrey Palmer, Gerard Butler, Judi DenchBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-06-15
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Miramax
Movie Reviews of Mrs. Brown
Movie Review: Was Victoria Amused?
Summary: 5 Stars
British director John Madden's well-done 1997 opus stars Dame Judi Dench as Queen Victoria, the woman of an era, and concentrates on an unlikely (and almost certainly platonic) relationship that arose during her darkest years, those that came in the time between Albert's passing in 1861 and before the resurgence of royal popularity after her Golden Jubilee in 1887.
As Mrs. Brown opens, we are confronted with an emotionally-weakened Queen Victoria who is unlike the iconic figure of popular memory. Having retreated into depression and mourning, the seldom-seen Victoria's popularity is declining, and with it a vocal minority among her loyal subjects have begun to speak out about the relevance of a monarchy in a modern industrialized democracy. Though always a woman of duty, Victoria dwells in isolation, with one of her few contacts being the charming Conservative Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, well-portrayed here by Antony Sher, whose attempts to coax his queen back into London society meet with limited success.
Into this predicament comes a Scotsman named John Brown, Victoria's personal servant and eventually her friend and confident during this time spent mostly in self-imposed exile at the royal estate at Balmoral. Brown, played here by the magnificently larger-than-life Billy Connolly, was a plain-spoken, rugged outdoorsman, whose loyalty and lack of formality led to a greater closeness with the queen than had existed with any man save the late Prince Albert. While as we see in this film, Victoria came to rely more and more on this rustic Scot, insiders at court, particularly the heir to the throne, Prince Edward, grew alarmed at the influence Brown might be exerting, and also speculated at the propriety of it all. As word leaked of the close bond shared by the sovereign and her servant, rumors percolated and some took the step of calling Victoria by the mocking title of "Mrs. Brown".
John Madden is at his best directing pieces set in the past and nowhere is this more true than here. This movie utilizes an exceptionally talented cast and takes full advantage of its setting in the Scottish high country, and overall the mid-Victorian era is reproduced with a careful tidiness that lends a great deal of realism to a subject that is in many ways based on guesswork and prying speculation. Although Mrs. Brown lacks wide appeal and hasn't found its way onto many best-of film lists, it is a five-star production with very few noticeable flaws. I enjoyed seeing it in Boston when it first came out during its sadly limited theater run, and haven't regretted buying it on DVD. It's the kind of motion picture that should more often get made.
Summary of Mrs. Brown
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