Film Snail

Mrs Brown
Mrs Brown

6.7

Mrs Brown

NR·1997·105m

Summary

When Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown. But their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil to the monarchy.

Crew

Director

John Madden

Writer

Jeremy Brock

Reviews

Geronimo1967

Geronimo1967

August 27, 2023

7

There have been goodness knows how many theories about the relationship between Queen Victoria and her highland ghillie John Brown, brought from Her Majesty's estate at Balmoral to try to prize her from her routine of melancholy following the death of Prince Albert. In this version, John Madden cleverly decides to emphasise the characterisations of the Queen and of her Highland servant, rather than to try and create something that historians can argue over... Of course it's all speculative, but both Judi Dench and Billy Connolly excel here at building an honest, and ultimately loving friendship that is plausible - especially for the widow surrounded otherwise by an almost acolytic suite of staff. Geoffrey Palmer is also on good form as her Private Secretary (Sir Henry Ponsonby) trying to walk the line between protocol and productivity; and to deal with the resentment across the family and other staff caused by Brown's relationship with his Sovereign as the film progresses. Antony Sher also stands out as the politically savvy Disraeli, David Westhead as the seriously un-amused Prince of Wales and there is an early outing for Gerard Butler as John's brother "Archie". As you'd expect, the technical and creative aspects of the production lend their best efforts to make this a very craftful piece of cinema.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Keywords

assassination
england
scotland
widow
queen
prince
victorian england
royalty
19th century
british monarchy