- Title: En kongelig affære
- IMDB: link
Set in the last half of the 18th Century, during the Age of the Enlightenment, A Royal Affair examines the reign of the mentally unstable King Christian VII of Denmark (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) from the perspective of his queen (Alicia Vikander) and most trusted advisor, German doctor Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) whose wide sweeping reforms (the abolishment of censorship, torture, the slave trade, and an increase on taxes of the aristocracy for the good of the people) and affair with the queen, albeit briefly, changed the course of Denmark’s history.
Unable to acquire the rights to Stuensee’s story, director Nikolaj Arcel choose instead to adapt a Danish romantic novel of Bodil Steensen-Leth. Because of the source material, far more emphasis is put on the relationships the Queen has with both her husband and Struensee, and the behind-the-scenes palace politics and court intrigue, than the reforms themselves or their effect on the Danish people. The story also never questions the doctor’s noble purpose or motives for grabbing so much power (including so thoroughly dismantling the King’s government) that, along with his affair with the Queen, ultimately led to his downfall.
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