The Young Victoria (2009)

A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.

Director:

Jean-Marc Vallée

Writer:

Julian Fellowes

Stars:

Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany

Won 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emily Blunt	...	Queen Victoria
Rupert Friend	...	Prince Albert
Paul Bettany	...	Lord Melbourne
Miranda Richardson	...	Duchess of Kent
Jim Broadbent	...	King William
Thomas Kretschmann	...	King Leopold
Mark Strong	...	Sir John Conroy
Jesper Christensen	...	Baron Stockmar
Harriet Walter	...	Queen Adelaide
Jeanette Hain	...	Baroness Lehzen
Julian Glover	...	Duke of Wellington
Michael Maloney	...	Sir Robert Peel
Michiel Huisman	...	Ernest
Genevieve O'Reilly	...	Lady Flora Hastings
Rachael Stirling	...	Duchess of Sutherland

Storyline

Dominated by her possessive mother and her bullying consort, Conroy, since childhood, teen-aged Victoria refuses to allow them the power of acting as her regent in the last days of her uncle, William IV's rule. Her German cousin Albert is encouraged to court her for solely political motives but, following her accession at age eighteen, finds he is falling for her and is dismayed at her reliance on trusty premier Melbourne. Victoria is impressed by Albert's philanthropy which is akin to her own desire to help her subjects. However her loyalty to Melbourne, perceived as a self-seeker, almost causes a constitutional crisis and it is Albert who helps restore her self-confidence. She proposes and they marry, Albert proving himself not only a devoted spouse, prepared to take an assassin's bullet for her, but an agent of much-needed reform, finally endorsed by an admiring Melbourne.

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Plot Keywords:

prince albert | belgium | prime minister | king of england | stubbornness | 

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Taglines:

Love rules all

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild sensuality, a scene of violence, and brief incidental language and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Facebook Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

6 March 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

La joven Victoria

Filming Locations:

Arundel Castle, Arundel, West Sussex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$160,069 (USA) (18 December 2009)

Gross:

$10,991,381 (USA) (23 April 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

GK Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 100 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (as dts) SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emily Blunt's costumes wore were insured for £10,000 each.

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Goofs

In the closing credits, the word "principal" is misspelled as "principle."

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Quotes

Queen Adelaide: You are confusing stubbornness with strength, my dear. And I warn you, the people will not like you for it.

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Crazy Credits

In the on-screen credits, Heidi Miller and Georgiana Sayer are each listed twice as Costume Assistant.

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Connections

Version of Victoria Regina (1961)

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Soundtracks

"Da Pacem Domine"
Performed by Paul Hiller and Eesti Filharmoonia Kammerkoor (as The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir)
Written by Arvo Pärt (as Arvo Paert)
Publishing by Universal Edition, AG
Courtesy of Harmonia Mundi USA

User Reviews

Emily Blunt Shines as Queen Victoria

Sometimes I'm glad that my grasp of English history is pathetically feeble. It makes movies like "The Young Victoria" much more suspenseful than they might otherwise be. I of course knew that Victoria reigned for a large part of the 19th century and that she died in 1901; I also knew that she was a renowned and powerful monarch. I didn't know much about her love life, and "The Young Victoria" filled that gap in my knowledge nicely.

Emily Blunt plays Victoria with a distinctly modern edge of feminism which may feel a bit anachronistic to picky historian purists but which also works. After all, women like Victoria WERE the feminists of their time, forced into making their mark in what was largely a man's world by a man's terms. I'm convinced that Blunt is one of the most promising of today's young actors. She has tremendous presence on screen; while she's on it, you don't want to look anywhere else. That presence is somewhat wasted in this movie, because her biggest competition comes not from any other actors but from the period sets and costumes. But she gives this rather light and inconsequential film some substance by virtue of simply being in it.

Rupert Friend plays Albert, the man Victoria eventually marries, while Paul Bettany plays her chief adviser and confidant, the man angling to get himself married to her for his own political gain. The cast of British regulars also includes Jim Broadbent, who gets crazier with every role he plays, Miranda Richardson, as Victoria's doormat of a mother, and, notable in a small role, Harriet Walter as Victoria's widowed aunt and the only person other than her eventual husband who gives her any advice that's worth a damn.

Grade: B+