Young Victoria [DVD] [2009]

Product Details

• Actors: Emily Blunt, Jim Broadbent, Mark Strong, Paul Bettany
• Directors: Jean-Marc Vallée
• Writers: Julian Fellowes
• Format: PAL
• Language English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Classification: PG
• Studio: Momentum Pictures Home Ent
• DVD Release Date: 13 July 2009
• Run Time: 105 minutes
  

By : Emily Blunt (Actor), Jim Broadbent (Actor), Jean-Marc Vallée (Director)|Rated:Parental Guidance|Format: DVD
Price : £3.68

Customer Reviews

Well, I came to this one rather dreading it. National critics had given it something of a bashing. But it is super!
Young Victoria was the only surviving issue of several sons of George III ("Farmer George"). Two of her uncles, George IV (who made Brighton Pavilion) and his brother William IV (known as the "Sailor King" and "Silly Billy") had preceded her as monarch. Unfortunately for Victoria, her father, the Duke of Kent, died very early and her mother, the Duchess, fell under the spell of - not to put too fine a point on it - a conman in the shape of (later knighted as "Sir") John Conroy. Sensing the prospect of power, the two of them raised poor Victoria in a repressive background at Kensington Palace, dubbing their tyrannical regime "The Kensington System."
This is where the film starts. I loved it. Victoria is played with emotional literacy and verve by Emily Blunt. Miranda Richardson is restrained and blinkered as the Duchess and Mark Strong makes a villainous Conroy, slapping Victoria as she refuses to sign a document making him Regent.
Several of the other actors are so good that their identity in the cast list came as a PLEASANT SURPRISE (hence the title of this review). Jim Broadbent is great as crusty old William IV, asking God to let him hang on until May, when Victoria comes of age. (Thankfully, she did - and banished Conroy from her Court on her accession.) Michael Maloney puts in good work as Sir Robert Peel who Victoria clashes with politically. Paul Bettany is fabulous, if somewhat too young, as Lord Melbourne, Victoria's adviser and crush.
But the honours go to the dashing Rupert Friend, wonderful as Prince Albert. Albert - German and Royal and not popular with Parliament - is utterly rehabilitated in this film. It's a beautiful love story in a historical setting. The romance is made all the more poignant by the knowledge that Albert died after he and Victoria had ruled for 20 years. She mourned him for the rest of her life. On the morning afer their wedding night, he lies motionless in bed, almost a precursor of his death, as she passionately surveys him.
The loveliness of romance is underpinned by solid history and politics. The production values are superb, the research admirable, the storytelling gripping.
So what if it's revisionist in some respects? I won't be pedantic. But if you see it and like it, carry on to Christopher Hibbert's superb Queen Victoria: A Personal History and the somewhat less marvellous Becoming Queen (a bit novelettish for me).
Definitely one to enjoy.

I worked at The Victoria and Albert Museum for two and a half years.After realising Prince Alberts contribution to the V+A and to society as a whole.I learned to love and respect that wonderful man.Studying the books written about Prince Albert in the museum library I realised that for many years after his dealh historians were not kind to him.
The V+A gallery dedicated to Prince Albert's legacy was removed after Queen Victoria's death.The 1997 Museum director even wanted to change the name of the museum!
For many years I have thought when would modern society realise the genius and humanity of Prince Albert.This film had a lot of territory to cover to so, you have to read in between the lines sometimes. But the film undoughtedly shows the deep love and dedication that Prince Albert had for Queen Victoria and the deep ,deep heart that Prince Albert had for all of humanity.
You must see the DVD!Buy it and show it to everyone and the world will be a better place.

 

Young Victoria [DVD] [2009]