I was lucky enough to cover the inaugural St. Lawrence International Film Festival, a four day event that premiered world class films in two countries (the United States and Canada). The cities of Ottawa, Brockville, Canton and Potsdam had the prestigious honour of hosting the first film festival to ever run in two different countries at the same time. Over the next sixteen days, eight of the films I was able to watch will be reviewed. Each column will be highlighted as being a SLIFF Exclusive. Following this, a new section will be launched called ‘Star Picks’, which will highlight the favourite movies of those writers, directors, actors and composers who attended the festival, as well as many other famous faces that I have interviewed along the way. Enjoy!
SLIFF Exclusive
Being that I majored in history, it is probably no surprise that I relish a strong period piece or historical drama – and there have been no shortage of them in recent years. Be it television shows such as The Borgias, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey and The Tudors to movies such as The King’s Speech, The Young Victoria or countless others, each offering has provided boundless amounts of history, visual imagery, lavish design and rich drama. The new film The Girl King is a worthy addition to this impressive list.
The story follows Sweden’s Queen Kristina (Malin Buska), a young woman who has been groomed to be the kingly leader of the country from the age of six by Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna (Michael Nyqvist – Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy). Though the Chancellor has carefully monitored and prodded the young queen in everything she does, as she grows older she proves herself to be curious, strong-willed and unpredictable in everything that she does. Kristina must deal with multiple issues, including the Thirty Years War, the very conservative outlook of her court and her country, as well as her own development as a sexual being. It is not long before the flamboyant queen begins to seduce her lady-in-waiting, Countess Ebba Sparre (Sarah Gadon – A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis). The two begin a secret love affair while the Protestant Queen turns to one of her literary idols, Catholic philosopher René Descartes (Patrick Bauchau – HBO’s Carnivàle) in order to better understand love, humanity and other forces that continue to intertwine her world.
Screenwriter Michel Marc Bouchard takes us on a lesser known trip through history with great results. His story is strong, providing us with rich drama that perfectly captures the time. The dramatic battles between liberal and conservative, Protestant and Catholic, love and duty, and countless other things creates a movie that puts us in the same compromising positions that Queen Kristina continues to find herself in. We can see the complexities that she must deal with and marvel at how she is able to walk the political tightrope while also weaving her way down her own untrodden path with great strength and character. Bouchard is also able to insert touches of comedy along with the heavy doses of drama and romance to create a nicely nuanced script.
The actors must also be complimented. The superb cast of character actors, starting with up and comer Malin Buska, must be mentioned. Her performance is truly awe-inspiring, as she is able to capture the strong, fierce emotions of a fiery young royal – be they passionate, inquisitive, angry or cunning. Gadon is also superb as the more genteel lady-in-waiting. She is a wonderful juxtaposition to the forceful queen. Bauchau is excellent in his transformation into the iconic Descartes, Nyqvist is superb as the increasingly out-of-answers Chancellor to the Queen, and smaller roles from François Arnaud, Laura Birn, Hippolyte Girardot as well as other cast members are all memorable as well.
Director Mika Kaurismäki brings together all of these elements and gives us a wonderful pastiche of 17th century Sweden. He transports us back in time and helps us get lost in a bygone era, which after all, is exactly what a period piece is supposed to do.