The Young Victoria - A historic-romantic drama

For over a period of time, I was, indeed, longing to watch a film which is romantic, historic, and dramatic. At that moment, I had no idea of what film would be a blend of all these. But suddenly, in 2009, one film caught my eye. It is The Young Victoria. Immediately, a ray of flash sparked in my mind signalling that this is the film that you are waiting for. Of course, it is it! This is the film that is a perfect montage of romance, history, and drama. I could not stop my yen to watch the film that might satiate all desires of watching a nice film. Undoubtedly, it did!

The Young Victoria is a story about the early days of the longest ruling British Sovereign, Queen Victoria - makes it a historical film. The story revolves around Victoria's romance with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg Goethe - makes it a romantic film. Moreover, the directorial abilities of Jean-Marc Vallée who created a romantic dramatisation of some of the events preceding and following the coronation of Queen Victoria - makes it a dramatic film.

The moment I started watching the film, my eyelashes became so rigid to flutter. The the sequences of the scenes are so binding that one should not run the risk of missing out a single scene. All the scenes of the film are just amazingly shot with an extraordinary details of the historical facts. Though the fact of dramatisation of some the facts cannot be ignored for cinematic effect, nevertheless, the film was endearingly close to the hearts of the audience. Although partly unfaithful to some of the historical facts that wreathes the film, nonetheless, they are fantastically artistic in their picturisation.

To quote one of such, there is a scene wherein, an assassination attempt is made on Queen Victoria. Actually, Prince Albert was never shot during this attempt whereas, in the film, Prince Albert being grazed by the bullet is shown to exemplify his valour and devotion in rescuing Queen Victoria from being shot. The other scenes and the facts are just enthralling.

The another important fact that is highlighted in the film is the support given by Prince Albert to Queen Victoria. There were a few bad days during Victoria's early days of investiture and accession. Throughout this period, Prince Albert supported Victoria through his letters written from Germany. This support is really historic.

To the end, the whole film is a historic-romantic drama that everyone will enjoy. So, do watch it!!!

FACTS ABOUT VICTORIA AND ALBERT*

• Victoria and Albert reigned together for twenty years.
• Prince Albert died from typhoid at the age of 42.
• In memory of her husband, Victoria had his clothes laid out every day until her death, at the age of 81.
• Among their accomplishments, Victoria and Albert championed reforms in education, welfare, and industry.
• Their unflagging support of the arts and sciences was most famously celebrated in Prince Albert's Great Exhibition of 1851.
• Victoria remains longest reigning British Sovereign. To date.
  

*Facts are directly taken from the film. Represented here for the convenience of the reader.

Brief Encounter - A film with romantic fervour

One of the best British films of all-time, Brief Encounter, is remembered for its romantic fervour. Directed by David Lean based on Noël Coward's one-act play Still Life about the mores of British suburban life, centering on a housewife is extraordinarily portrayed by the performances of Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.

The whole film centered around a loveless, unaffectionate housewife, Laura Jesson (Johnson), narrates the story in first person imagining that she is confessing her affair with Alec Harvey (Howard) to her husband Fred.

The whole film is fantastically pictured in a narration of Laura Jesson, which starts in the living room with in the background of Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, played by Eileen Joyce sets the mood of narration. In the flashback, Laura, an uncared wife ventures to the nearby town, Milford on every Thursday for shopping and to the cinema for a matinée. Returning home after her weekly pleasure trip, at the station, she encounters with a General Practitioner, Alec Howard who is another passenger. Both are in their thirties; each is married, with two children. Enjoying each other's company, both of them decide to meet again. Initially, they meet furtively fearing the possibilities of meeting their friends. As the casual relationship continues, they slowly discover a true love in them. As the time ticks away, their relationship grows deeper that gives a tinge of audacity, which sprouts guilt in Laura Jesson for cheating on her husband. She even goes to the extent of lying to her husband. In some of the scenes, as Laura talks to her husband, the audience would clearly understand that she is trying to prevaricate.

In the later scene, Laura receives a shock that Alec has to leave for Johannesburg to work as a doctor. In the final scene, they again meet in the refreshment room of the station, which is their usual pleasure place to meet. As they talk, loquacious Dolly Messiter, a close acquaintance of Laura invites herself into the discussion, in turn robbing away the privacy of the parting couple. As the train arrives, Alec boards the train. Laura hears the sound of train being pulled away from the platform, Laura, at the spur of the moment, dashes out onto the platform trying to end her life, which she cannot do, presumably, owing to the reason of binding relationship as a wife and mother.

In the final scene of the film, which does not appear in the original Coward play, Laura's negligent husband Fred suddenly shows that he has not been completely oblivious to her distress in the past weeks, and takes her in his arms.

The narration of the film is so well that concentrates on minor happenings too. On the whole, Brief Encounter is a best film that shows the romantic encounter of a couple.