Victoria & Abdul

Ever since I saw "The Queen", I planned to follow the subsequent works of Oscar-nominated director Stephen Frears. It turns out that I was more attracted to the screenwriting of Peter Morgan. "Florence Foster Jenkins" fell short of fully entertaining me and similarly, "Victoria & Abdul" was good but not great. The plot was organized in a unique way and I wasn't expecting that but the acting was very noteworthy from all players.

The film is a comedy-drama in every sense of the word. It is normal in this genre for the contrast between the comedy and the drama to make the drama more palpable. What makes "Victoria & Abdul" unique is that the comedy takes place in the first half of the film while the drama takes over for the second half. They are still played against one another because of the two-hour timeframe but the separation was still a small distraction. The film is also apparently an unofficial sequel to "Mrs Brown", also staring Judi Dench in the lead role and also depicting a similar scandal in the life of Queen Victoria. Because this is show is in the comedy-drama genre, the opening of the film makes it clear that the story is "mostly" true. From what I have read, the filmmakers did stay true to quite a few parts of the real story of Queen Victoria and her "Munshi" but took fictional license with such elements as the degree of their relationship. In real life for example, Victoria wasn't learning Urdu from Abdul for just her own interests. She used the language in her royal duties when needed. At the start of the film, Victoria is bored and feels trapped in her royal life and old age. Abdul is remarkable to her because he is foreign and can shake up her life. She then begins to develop a fondness for him that borders the line between romantic and motherly love. From a modern perspective, any such rise in popularity in the eyes of the Queen of anyone in the royal household would have bred jealousy from the others serving there but the racism made things especially bad. It also was John Brown all over again. This is especially depicted in the latter half of the film. There are multiple perspectives on this story and this movie favors the angle of Victoria as more modern minded and the Prince of Wales & others as racially prejudiced. Because the true nature of the relationship between the Queen and the "Munshi" in real life is still being debated, we don't know whether Victoria was truly antiracist or just labeled the jealousy of others as racist behavior in order to get her way. Regardless, there is a political message in this movie and that is probably why it was made. Thankfully, "Victoria & Abdul" wasn't as preachy as it could have been concering modern racism towards Middle Easterners. I prefer it when a film's theme is subtle. However, the scene towards the end with Abdul and his family being thrown out of their dwelling seemed like an exaggeration. While it is true that Edward VII dismissed Abdul and had all correspondence between the "Munshi" and the Queen burned, I don't think it all happened on the same day and with the same level of tragedy. This scene felt too preachy for my taste.

It was cool to see Frears' deception of the British Monarch during the 19th Century. I have seen plenty of movies and TV shows depicting the British Royals throughout the 20th Century so this film was fresh for me. Thomas Newman's score was very typical because of his use of solo instruments. Dench worked with Frears previously on "Philomena", which earned her yet another Oscar nomination. Besides that, she earned a previous nomination for playing Victoria in the aforementioned "Mrs Brown" and won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Elizabeth I in "Shakespeare in Love". When you consider just that, Dench seems the only choice for the title role. Ali Fazal did his job well and I recognized Simon Callow and Michael Gambon. As a fun fact, Gambon portrayed Victoria's grandson George V in "The King's Speech". I should have recognized Eddie Izzard as the Prince of Wales/Edward VII but that is a credit to his performance and makeup. Speaking of that, the makeup/hairstyling in "Victoria & Abdul" was nominted for an Academy Award as was the costumes (after seeing the film, I had a feeling it was nab at least two Oscars). All of the actors gave significant performances but the film's plot could have been better structured.

3.5 Stars out of 5