InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

tomgillespie2002 A Royal Affair opens with a melancholy Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain narrating as she pens a letter to her unseen children. Flashing back in time, she is a young and beautiful teenager about to be shipped off to Denmark to marry her cousin, King Christian VII of Denmark, giggling and dreaming about what her new life will be like with a man who sounds like the ideal husband. It would seem that we are in very familiar costume-drama territory, and director Nikolaj Arcel's film makes sure to include all the factors that make the genre so appealing to some: the beautiful young bride; an unknown kingdom; handsome period costumes; a bastard child; and a love affair that is passionate but ultimately doomed. Yet a careful, character-driven approach ensures that A Royal Affair doesn't boil over into overwrought hysterics. What emerges is a tense tale of political intrigue and terrific performances, and a fascinating history lesson to boot.As the Princess, played by Alicia Vikander, arrives in Denmark, she immediately encounters her husband not as the gallant artist she expected, but as a nervous man-child, giggling to himself while hiding behind a tree. The King (Mikkel Boe Folsgaard) is a puppet on a throne, and quite clearly mentally deranged. He doesn't take much of a liking to his new Queen, and prefers to spend his free time getting drunk in the company of big-breasted prostitutes. Her optimism is quickly turned into bitterness, and is pleased when her husband decides to take a year off his duties to tour Europe. Shortly after his return, German Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), a skilled yet humble doctor, is recruited as the King's personal physician. He instantly forges a strong bond with the mad King, who is pleased to have a man of stature and intelligence by his side amidst his stern, old-fashioned council. Struensee's influence in court grows, but he finds himself caught up in a dangerous love affair with the Queen that could mean both of their heads should they be discovered.This being 18th century Denmark, the King is surrounded by a council of religious old men looking to keep the country firmly in the Dark Ages. Struensee is a believer in the Age of Enlightenment, a progressive philosophical movement spearheaded by the likes of Voltaire and Rousseau. The Queen also shares his liberal views, and their love story isn't so much about their own sexual impulses but a driven and united desire to illuminate their country. Realising just how great an influence he is on the King, the doctor quickly sets about abolishing oppressive laws such as capital punishment, the torturing of suspects, and censorship. This immediately puts him at odds with the ruling aristocracy, who view him as a foreigner destroying their fatherland, and they waste no time looking for a way to expel him from court. It's alarming just how familiar it all sounds with the general one-step forward, two-steps back nature of politics. The three leads are all strong, with Mikkelsen in particular convincing as the reserved man of Enlightenment. By avoiding dramatic melodrama, A Royal Affair succeeds as a simmering portrayal of social disintegration and an intimate, intellectual love story.

James Hitchcock Europe in the late 18th century saw the heyday of the "enlightened despots". These were monarchs such as Catherine the Great of Russia, Frederick the Great of Prussia, Joseph II of Austria, Charles III of Spain and Gustav III of Sweden who, while retaining their personal power and making no concessions to democracy, tried to rule as "philosopher kings" and used their position to bring reform to their countries in the spirit of the Enlightenment. (Joseph I of Portugal is sometimes included in this list, but there the real guiding spirit behind the reforms was not the King but his Prime Minister, Pombal)."A Royal Affair" tells the story of the strangest of the enlightened despots, Johann Friedrich Struensee, a man who was not of royal birth and who unlike Pombal held no official government position. Denmark might today be regarded as one of Europe's most liberal countries, but 250 years ago it was a conservative backwater, an unenlightened despotism dominated by a reactionary aristocracy who held most of the population in serfdom. The country had a new young King, Christian VII, but as he was mentally ill his subjects placed little hope in him. Denmark, however, found its own enlightened despot in the shape of Struensee, the King's German-born physician. He became Christian's trusted confidant and adviser, and used his influence over the King to promulgate a series of Enlightenment-inspired reforms, including the abolition of censorship, the abolition of torture, and compulsory vaccination against smallpox. He also became the lover of Christian's wife, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, something of which Christian was either unaware or to which he turned a blind eye. (Caroline was the younger sister of Britain's own "mad king", George III).Struensee's power grew until he became the de facto ruler of Denmark, but he had made many enemies among the aristocracy, whose power he had tried to limit, in the Church, which he had offended by his openly atheistic views and his ill-disguised contempt for Christianity, and among the wider Danish public, many of whom saw him not as an enlightened reformer but as an immoral, godless and interfering foreigner who was cuckolding their King and arrogating too much power to himself. In 1772 he was toppled in a palace coup and beheaded for treason; Caroline was divorced and sent into exile.Contrary to what we in Britain might sometimes think, the "heritage cinema" style of film-making is not something uniquely British; three have been a number of European (as well as American) examples. The European ones, however, rarely turn up here, either in the cinema or on television, possibly because the multiplexes and television channels feel that the British public will not be interested in films based upon foreign history or literature. (There has also in recent years been a trend away from showing foreign-language films of all sorts on British television, even on specialist movie channels). "A Royal Affair", however, was an exception and I caught it when it was recently shown on BBC2; perhaps the BBC decided to make an exception because its heroine was originally British by birth or because the actress who plays her, the lovely Alicia Vikander, has also appeared in a number of English-language movies.As is normal with films of this type, the sets and costumes are lavishly done, and all three leading roles are very well played, by Vikander, by Mads Mikkelsen as Struensee, the sort of head-in-the-air idealist who is so convinced of his own rightness that he cannot comprehend why anyone might oppose him and who cannot see the danger with which he is threatened, and perhaps most of all by Mikkel Følsgaard as Christian. Følsgaard has the difficult task of playing a character who is unsympathetic, but yet not a villain in the normal sense of that word, merely tormented.Another film about Struensee was made in 1936; I have never seen it but its title, "The Dictator", would suggest that it does not take a very favourable view of him. This film, however, takes a more sympathetic view. It is told from the viewpoint of Queen Caroline, a beautiful, intelligent young woman who is either neglected or brutally ill-treated by her unstable husband and who finds consolation in the arms of the handsome young doctor. It is not, however, simply Struensee's looks which attract Caroline to him. She also sympathises with his liberal views and reformist agenda, and the failure of their project is presented here as the triumph of reaction over reason. We are left with the impression that Caroline could have made an impressive monarch in her own right had she been the eldest son rather than youngest daughter. We are told that King Frederick VI, Caroline's son by Christian, went on to become Denmark's own "enlightened despot" and not only re-enacted all Struensee's reforms but also abolished serfdom altogether, something Struensee had never dared do. 7/10 Some goofs. Frederick VI did not actually reign for 55 years as we were told. His reign lasted for 31 years, from his father's death in 1808 to his own in 1839. Between 1784 and 1808 he governed Denmark as Prince Regent, but his father officially remained King. Caroline and Struensee are shown conversing in fluent Danish, but in reality they would have spoken in German, as he could not speak a word of Danish. (Another reason why he was unpopular with the Danes).

vindstilla I found the story itself rather intriguing and the fact that it is based on real events makes the movie even more worth seeing. I assure you won't be bored watching this, lots of things happened during the relatively short period of time at the Danish court that this movie pictures. The characters are believable and you get a deeper understanding for the complex relationships between them. The actors are all very skilled and I can feel how kings and queens back then where only just people, looking for love and a meaningful life. This is unlike many other period dramas, where the dialogue tend to be too formal and characters archetypal. This is not the case with this film. I truly enjoyed it.

l_rawjalaurence A ROYAL AFFAIR has distinct intertextual links to Nicholas Hytner's THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE in its portrayal of a mad king (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) who prefers his dogs and mistresses to marriage to a 17-year-old British heiress Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander). Both of them develop a close relationship with German physician Johann Friedrich Streuensee (Mads Mikkelsen): the king regards him as his closest adviser, while the young queen falls in love with him. Eventually that "royal affair" proves the undoing of both Caroline and Streuensee.Told in flashback by the now-banished Caroline, A ROYAL AFFAIR creates an unsympathetic picture of Danish court life in the mid-eighteenth century, one where the King is ruled by his cabinet, and where intrigue is rife. No one can ever be sure of their jibs, especially when the King is so eccentric; but while they are in power, they exploit his weaknesses for all they are worth. The Danish court are explicitly racist in their attitudes; not only do they mistrust Streuensee for his closeness to both monarchs, but they resent his presence on account of his Germanness. The only way to force him out is to insist that he does not "think like" a Dane, and therefore cannot be allowed to influence government policy. While the King stoutly supports Streuensee, he lacks both the guile and the self-possession to protect him.Shot on location in the Czech Republic as well as in Denmark, Nikolaj Arcel's film creates a claustrophobic world in which every gesture can be interpreted as political. The environment is as formal as the costumes; no one can ever have sufficient temerity to speak for themselves. The exterior shots are familiar from most Anglo-American costume dramas (carriages pulling away from stately buildings, elaborately costumed balls etc.) but here they are invested with added meaning, as many of the landscapes outside the court appear both bare and poverty-stricken. Clearly the King and his courtiers are too preoccupied with their own intrigues to worry about the people.The pace is slow-moving, but this gives us a lot of time to focus on the protagonists' expressions - specifically the public faces that they show to the world that mask rather than disclose their true feelings. A ROYAL AFFAIR is a savage denunciation of hypocrisy - although it might focus on the past, its political significance remains significant today.