Country: Denmark / others
Review: The title "A Royal Affair" could not have been more clearer about the essence of this story: a forbidden love affair wrapped in conspiracy and set in 18th Century's Danish Royal Court. It unveils the torments of a beautiful English woman, who became queen of Denmark, after having married with the crazy and childish king Christian VII. Her grief will be attenuated when she starts a passionate romance with a libertine doctor and freethinker, who additionally had become her husband’s best friend. The plan sequences are slow, frequently lacking intensity, while the content is too dense and lengthened. I could not feel any pity of the characters in this cold representation of Christian VII’s reign. Rasmus Heisterberg wrote the screenplay (also for “The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo”), based in the novel by Bodil Steensen-Leth.
Relevant awards: Berlin, Philadelphia.