Mary Queen of Scots (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
Setting a tone from the beginning & never letting us forget what happens to Mary Stuart, director Josie Rourke opens her film, 'Mary Queen of Scots' by showing us her eventual execution in 1587; then dives back into the turbulent, complex 16th century feud btwn. Mary (Saoirse Ronan) & her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie). Queen of France at age 16, yet widowed at 18, the very Catholic Mary Stuart defies pressure to re-marry right away. Instead, she ventures across the sea in 1561 & returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her 'rightful throne'. But England AND Scotland fall under the rule of her mysterious cousin, the very Protestant Queen Elizabeth I; whose claim to the throne is weaker due to her lack of wanting marriage or supposed inability to produce an heir. Each young Queen regards her "sister" in both fascination & fear -- via letters & scheming/duplicitous emissaries, their tenuous relationship is fraught with uneasy demands & uncertainties.
Female monarchs in a man's world, these 2 powerful women must also decide how to play the tricky game of marriage vs. independence. Elizabeth refuses to wed, explaining she's already married to her country. That doesn't prevent her, however, from having a romance with Earl Robert Dudley (Joe Alwyn, who's everywhere this year). And over in Scotland, on their wedding night, Mary catches her 2nd husband, Lord Darnley (Jack Lowden, her beau in real life), with her gay courtier, David Rizzio (Ismael Cruz Cordova). Livid, and now more determined than ever to rule, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth's authority. A downward spiraling Mary starts alienating allies (such as her brother). And Protestant Church of Scotland leader, John Knox (David Tennant) considers Catholic Mary to be a French papist and someone quite unfit to rule the land. Betrayals, scandals, rebellions, murders & conspiracies within both courts endangers both thrones; hence, changing the course of history forever.
Director Josie Rourke's debut features edgy, feminist themes {or "all men suck", basically}, John Mathieson's sweeping camerawork, Alexandra Byrne's costumes, Max Richter's music & some resplendent production design, but the film has problems, too. I felt the length {2 hours of intermittent interest & slog}. Some plot incidentals felt tampered-with to produce a more dramatic effect. The dialogue is a bit broad; with little nuance. I felt like most scenes included various characters clomping down echoey, stone corridors only to burst in & out of rooms to proclaim their next over-the-top line deliveries -- to that, most everyone is Acting with a Capital "A". The 'action' scenes are directed statically and without proper editing. And if I'm nitpicking, so be it ... the hair & make-up on these characters looked like they came straight from a runway shoot and not from something urbane to the times. Hmm. Maybe I enjoyed this film even less than I previously thought, haha.
For as much as I complain about this movie, there ARE attributes that I inherently enjoy. The proceedings feel Shakespearean, at times, with all the court intrigue, clandestine romances, treacheries and the like -- always down for that. As mentioned, the movie looks stupendous {cinematography, locales, sets, costumes}. Saoirse Ronan is good, but the villainess take on Mary made me loathe her while watching. Better off is Margot Robbie, who lends poignancy to the role of Elizabeth. I liked seeing Guy Pierce, Gemma Chan & Brendan Coyle pop-up. But everything felt loud & movie-fied. Acted. Not genuine. The best moment is the big scene in the 3rd act when the 2 queens finally face off - but that didn't even happen in history; a creative choice that paid off, but it came a little too late. As far as costume dramas go, I say, check out the superior The Favourite in theaters now, as well.
Female monarchs in a man's world, these 2 powerful women must also decide how to play the tricky game of marriage vs. independence. Elizabeth refuses to wed, explaining she's already married to her country. That doesn't prevent her, however, from having a romance with Earl Robert Dudley (Joe Alwyn, who's everywhere this year). And over in Scotland, on their wedding night, Mary catches her 2nd husband, Lord Darnley (Jack Lowden, her beau in real life), with her gay courtier, David Rizzio (Ismael Cruz Cordova). Livid, and now more determined than ever to rule, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth's authority. A downward spiraling Mary starts alienating allies (such as her brother). And Protestant Church of Scotland leader, John Knox (David Tennant) considers Catholic Mary to be a French papist and someone quite unfit to rule the land. Betrayals, scandals, rebellions, murders & conspiracies within both courts endangers both thrones; hence, changing the course of history forever.
Director Josie Rourke's debut features edgy, feminist themes {or "all men suck", basically}, John Mathieson's sweeping camerawork, Alexandra Byrne's costumes, Max Richter's music & some resplendent production design, but the film has problems, too. I felt the length {2 hours of intermittent interest & slog}. Some plot incidentals felt tampered-with to produce a more dramatic effect. The dialogue is a bit broad; with little nuance. I felt like most scenes included various characters clomping down echoey, stone corridors only to burst in & out of rooms to proclaim their next over-the-top line deliveries -- to that, most everyone is Acting with a Capital "A". The 'action' scenes are directed statically and without proper editing. And if I'm nitpicking, so be it ... the hair & make-up on these characters looked like they came straight from a runway shoot and not from something urbane to the times. Hmm. Maybe I enjoyed this film even less than I previously thought, haha.
For as much as I complain about this movie, there ARE attributes that I inherently enjoy. The proceedings feel Shakespearean, at times, with all the court intrigue, clandestine romances, treacheries and the like -- always down for that. As mentioned, the movie looks stupendous {cinematography, locales, sets, costumes}. Saoirse Ronan is good, but the villainess take on Mary made me loathe her while watching. Better off is Margot Robbie, who lends poignancy to the role of Elizabeth. I liked seeing Guy Pierce, Gemma Chan & Brendan Coyle pop-up. But everything felt loud & movie-fied. Acted. Not genuine. The best moment is the big scene in the 3rd act when the 2 queens finally face off - but that didn't even happen in history; a creative choice that paid off, but it came a little too late. As far as costume dramas go, I say, check out the superior The Favourite in theaters now, as well.