A Royal Affair (2012)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Great Film overall

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"En kongeling affaere" deals with a German doctor in the age of enlightenment, who is called to the Danish court to become personal doctor for the king, who is very eccentric and loves the theater more than reigning his country. He manages to take advantage of this fact and pushes through a lot of very modern laws. Unfortunately, in the process he falls in love with the queen, who is rejected by her spouse and soon finds himself in the middle of a serious intrigue.The movie is pretty much what you'd expect from the genre of historical drama. You get a more or less accurate overview of the historic events, mixed with a lot of emotions and a clear black/white scheme in characters. It is, however, produced very professionally, looks clean and comes with a set of well-known and respected actors. The story has enough depth to remain interesting, still it is rather hard to really emphasize because of the historical border and it surely is a rather slow and careful film.All in all this is a good choice for anyone who is either interested in the historical events or a fan of dramatic movies. It is a very solid adaption that does nothing wrong, but it is in my opinion a bit too sensere to awake rarely-seen emotions.

Set in 1767, the British Princess Caroline is sent to Denmark to marry the mentally ill and promiscuous King Christian. A German doctor, Johann, a free thinker, is recruited to help organize the king's affairs. He influences the king's policies with Enlightenment ideas, undermining the interests of the ruling class. Johann has a child by the king's neglected wife which gives the conservative ruling council their opportunity to indict Johann of treason, resulting in his execution and restoration of feudal law.Based on a true story this is an intriguing piece of history well told in a well made film. Convincing, excellent acting within luscious, superbly filmed settings.

A ROYAL AFFAIR has distinct intertextual links to Nicholas Hytner's THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE in its portrayal of a mad king (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) who prefers his dogs and mistresses to marriage to a 17-year-old British heiress Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander). Both of them develop a close relationship with German physician Johann Friedrich Streuensee (Mads Mikkelsen): the king regards him as his closest adviser, while the young queen falls in love with him. Eventually that "royal affair" proves the undoing of both Caroline and Streuensee.Told in flashback by the now-banished Caroline, A ROYAL AFFAIR creates an unsympathetic picture of Danish court life in the mid-eighteenth century, one where the King is ruled by his cabinet, and where intrigue is rife. No one can ever be sure of their jibs, especially when the King is so eccentric; but while they are in power, they exploit his weaknesses for all they are worth. The Danish court are explicitly racist in their attitudes; not only do they mistrust Streuensee for his closeness to both monarchs, but they resent his presence on account of his Germanness. The only way to force him out is to insist that he does not "think like" a Dane, and therefore cannot be allowed to influence government policy. While the King stoutly supports Streuensee, he lacks both the guile and the self-possession to protect him.Shot on location in the Czech Republic as well as in Denmark, Nikolaj Arcel's film creates a claustrophobic world in which every gesture can be interpreted as political. The environment is as formal as the costumes; no one can ever have sufficient temerity to speak for themselves. The exterior shots are familiar from most Anglo-American costume dramas (carriages pulling away from stately buildings, elaborately costumed balls etc.) but here they are invested with added meaning, as many of the landscapes outside the court appear both bare and poverty-stricken. Clearly the King and his courtiers are too preoccupied with their own intrigues to worry about the people.The pace is slow-moving, but this gives us a lot of time to focus on the protagonists' expressions - specifically the public faces that they show to the world that mask rather than disclose their true feelings. A ROYAL AFFAIR is a savage denunciation of hypocrisy - although it might focus on the past, its political significance remains significant today.

In the late eighteenth century Denmark, a radical German doctor soothed the mad King, seduced the Queen and governed the country as an enlightened liberal. Understadnably, it didn't last, and Nikolaj Arcel's film tells the story of his extraordinary rise and fall. It's a compelling story, a historical 'Borgen' and the tragedy of a man who ends up assuming an unsustainable position almost by accident; as a film, it's well-acted but also slow, drawing out a tale that can only ever move in one direction. A touch of sympathy for the old guard might have added some depth. It's interesting to think that the British king of the same period also had his own issues with mental health, another story that has been filmed: the politics here is stronger than in Alan Bennet's 'The Madness of King George', but it's not as much fun.