The Young Victoria Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Is The Guardian upset that a Canadian is directing a film about Queen Victoria? I don't know, but I find it strange that Jean-Marc Vallée is not mentioned anywhere in Guardian Unlimited's new piece on The Young Victoria, the biopic of the 19th century Monarch being co-produced by Martin Scorsese (he's not British either, but he is named in the article). Anyway, I'm sure he was simply forgotten by accident, but it is important to realize how significant Victoria is to the Canadians (ever hear of Victoria Day?). The piece mostly spotlights screenwriter Julian Fellowes and titular star Emily Blunt. It also lists a cast member we haven't yet heard about: Miranda Richardson, who joins Blunt, Mark Strong and Rupert Friend, who we just recently learned is playing Prince Albert. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Richardson will be playing Victoria's mother, Princess Victoria.

From Fellowes we learn about the focus of the film, which begins shooting next month. And from the description, I'm imagining the mostly brilliant Marie Antoinette with less hair and more tea. Actually, The Young Victoria will begin with the future Queen's repressed childhood, as she is forbidden to do anything or spend time with anyone out of her mother's fears that Victoria might die before taking the crown. Once Victoria does become Queen, though, she kind of breaks loose. Certainly not Marie Antoinette loose, but definitely more free spirited than we typically think of Victoria to have been. Taking place from 1836 to 1840, the film likely climaxes with her marriage to her first cousin, Prince Albert. The article stresses that this wedding was not simply an arranged affair -- so expect plenty of romantic scenes. Just don't get carried away too much by the romance; I wouldn't want you to think about committing incest, too.

"Do you have Prince Albert in a film can?" That's a question director Jean-Marc Vallée may be asked soon, and if he doesn't understand it's all a bad joke, he might give a literal answer like, "yes, and he's played by Rupert Friend." The casting is for Vallée's The Young Victoria, a film about the 19th century Queen and her first cousin/husband, Albert, whose name is better known these days for the awful practical joke and the awful body piercing (the former is not named for him; the latter allegedly might be). Friend, who is himself best known these days for his roles in Pride & Prejudice and The Libertine, joins Emily Blunt, who had previously been cast in the title role.

The royal biopic is not expected to hit theaters for another two years (though I think it will be pushed up), in which time you may become even more familiar with Friend, who won the 2005 British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer. According to the IMDb, the actor has no less than eight movies that could come out in the U.S. before 2009 (some have already been released elsewhere and/or have been shown at festivals). Also in the cast is Mark Strong (Syriana), who seems to be playing Sir John Conroy, a man rumored to have been Queen Victoria's real father.

The Young Victoria begins filming next month in the UK. It was scripted by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) and is being produced by Martin Scorsese, Graham King (The Departed), Tim Headington and Sarah Ferguson (aka HRH The Duchess of York). So, yeah: a man named King and a real-life Duchess are producing a historical movie about a Queen and a Prince. I don't believe it possible that such a team could screw this up.