Mrs. Brown
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Actor: Antony Sher, Billy Connolly, Geoffrey Palmer, Gerard Butler, Judi DenchBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-06-15
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Miramax
DVD Reviews of Mrs. Brown
DVD Review: Dramatic License and Then Some
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie leaves me in a quandary. I like costume dramas, and I have a particular fondness for depictions of the private lives of royals. This fondness, combined with the general paucity of such movies, causes me to cut them considerable slack regarding historical accuracy.
This movie was not too far off the mark in terms of hard fact. The death of Prince Albert really did send Queen Victoria into an excessively-prolonged grieving and withdrawal from public duties that began to unsettle the political equilibrium of Britain's constitutional monarchy. And there really was a John Brown, he was Scot, he was in service to Prince Albert at Balmoral, and he became a much-depended-upon personal attendant to Queen Victoria during her widowhood. All these things are accurately reflected in this movie.
So what's my quandary?
Well, the movie just feels wrong "tonally". Some movies about royalty take such liberties with the truth that they become purely dramatic constructs with no pretense to accuracy (and they can be fine entertainment). But when they seem to be conscientious about accuracy, as this movie appeared to be, the standard -- at least for me -- extends to include not just dramatic impact, but realistic portrayal of the complex, burdened, exposed, and heavily-examined lives reigning monarchs lived.
Judi Dench does her usual top-notch job of creating a sense of a character. But is it Victoria's character? Among her family, was she really an unrelentingly dour, domineering, censorious creature capable of opening her soul only to a servant? If her surviving correspondence and the recollections of her vast array of grandchildren peppered all over Europe are to be credited, the answer is no.
While Albert's death admittedly paralyzed Victoria emotionally for too long, she was never as cavalier about the effects of her withdrawal on politics as this movie implies. The monarchy was in a sorry state when she took it over in 1837, with the public and statesmen of the era having thoroughly tired of the spendthrift rake who preceeded her. She (and Albert, after their marriage in 1840) made it their mission to restore the monarchy to respectability and political impact, and Victoria never took that duty lightly.
Billy Connolly also gives us a vibrant character. But was it John Brown's? We know Brown was outspoken and that he stood his ground on occasion with the Prince of Wales and other family and staff members. But being outspoken and resolute is one thing. Being so in as rude and confrontational a manner as possible is something else . . . and something almost inconceivable when dealing with royalty in that era. We know the real John Brown gained the trust, respect, and perhaps emotional attachment of Victoria. But did he really do so by bellowing "woman" at her in front of her court? Highly unlikely. Victoria was a human with personal needs. But she understood full well that she was also the representative of an institution that could survive only if it commanded a certain regal reserve and respect from all.
Paradoxically, this movie is weakened by getting so close to accuracy and then missing on such subtle -- but profound -- points. There was something very complex going on between Victoria and John Brown. In treating their relationship as high melodrama, this movie misses that complexity.
Description of Mrs. Brown
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