Victoria & Albert

Victoria & Albert

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Movie Reviews of Victoria & Albert

Movie Review: get this movie ! You will enjoy it.
Summary: 5 Stars

So many films about Victoria concentrate upon the long years as a widow. It is refreshing to see her here as a giddy young teenager just handed the keys to the largest empire in the world. The adolescent battles with her mother would rock the kingdom. She is clearly reluctant to share her power and majesty with a husband, especially her dour straight-laced cousin Albert whom her family wants her to marry. However the 'arranged' part of the marriage goes out the window during a visit when Victoria conveniently falls in love with Albert and desires him for the many qualities that she perceives in him.

Despite her great love for him the early years are especially tempestuous as Albert struggles to fulfill the role that his family has raised him for. Victoria's ministers despise the German prince and struggle to keep him from becoming the power behind the throne (a position they want for themselves). Albert serves as something of a gigolo to the young woman and this is the cause of many 'storms' within the palace. Through hard work and ability Albert is able to bring the Queen around and become a key figure in Victoria's reign.

Sure this is not a history book, and many things go by the wayside. Their shocking inability as parents to view their children as more than diplomatic tools is a sad reality. In the movie this gets brushed aside for the most part (although Victoria is shown as being more concerned about doing her duty and having a son than about her child). This can be easily overlooked as the movie is "Victoria and Albert" not "Victoria, Albert, Vicky, Bertie, Alice, Affie, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, and Beatrice". The fact is that Albert mostly saw his children as ways to expand his power throughout Europe and into the future, Victoria mostly saw her young children as people who made Albert happy or cross. Since this movie is mostly about their early years of marriage the short shrift given to the children was understandable. It is a love story about two people and in that it succeeds.

Give that this show attempts to compress a marriage of over twenty years into a little more than 3 and half hours, it is a remarkable accomplishment and I highly recommend it. It is captivating from start to finish.

Summary of Victoria & Albert

Disc One:
Kept isolated form the court by her domineering mother, Victoria seems unprepared for the throne when King William IV (Sir Peter Ustinov) dies. But the teenage queen shows surprising strength and resolve, and puts her full faith in the political counsel of Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister. With the help of Belgium's King Leopold, a meeting is arranged between Victoria and her cousin, Prince Albert of Germany. Though initially reluctant, she falls utterly in love when she sees him, and they are married after a brief courtship.

Disc Two:
The changing political fortunes of Lord Melbourne finally afford Albert the opportunity to become involved in the affairs of state - a role Victoria had previously resisted. Soon, his wise counsel leads the Queen to call him "king in everything but name." But their joint rule would not last long, as Albert's tireless work on the Great Exhibition of 1851 comes at the cost of his health. He never fully recovers, eventually succumbing to typhoid fever in 1862, leaving Victoria to rule alone for nearly 40 years.

Victoria is barely 18 when her uncle King William IV dies. She is introduced by the family adviser to a young German prince called Albert, and in spite of their initial indifference to one another and a great deal of political opposition, they fall in love. Marriage brings its own problems, however, and as Victoria, grows from an inexperienced young woman into a shrewd and powerful monarch Albert struggles to find a role for himself in both the family and the nation.

The relationship between Victoria and Albert was a remarkable one and this film, while occasionally erring on the side of sentiment, brings that relationship to life. The young leads are charming, but it is the supporting cast of British acting stalwarts--including Nigel Hawthorne, David Suchet, and Diana Rigg--who make Victoria and Albert truly worth watching. --Simon Leake