Mary, Queen of Scots 2018
Directed by Josie Rourke. Since 2012, Rourke has been the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre company in London, this is her directorial debut. The film is based on John Guy’s biography “Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart”.
The widowed Mary Queen Of Scots (Saoirse Ronan) returns to her native Scotland to assume her throne. Her brother James Murray and his lords are wary of having a female ruler, while in England her cousin Elizabeth (Margot Robbie) is threatened by this new, Catholic monarch that could potentially take her crown.
All the performances were solid in this film. Ronan was engaging in the titular role, she exudes strength from start to finish. Robbie as Queen Elizabeth was a little better than Ronan for me, but not by much, and there was a host of British actors playing the men of court that did their best to get these cousins to go to war with each other. One in particular that I thought stood above the rest was David Tennant who played John Knox, a Scottish minister. Knox shows us that a war based on misinformation is not a new idea.
The direction and cinematography is easily the best thing about this film. Beautiful wide shots of Scotland’s hills and countrysides that seemed to go on forever. Also the juxtaposition of the two royal courts was brilliant. You had the windowless, cold, dank and sterile surroundings of the Scottish court, then the next shot would be back in the English court, full of lavish opulence.
There was a screenplay issue as the story gets lost in the second act. It was muddled and stunted. Maybe it needed another 10-15 minutes to to fully flesh out the warring factions.
All in all, I enjoyed the film. The acting and the cinematography just pushed it beyond average but I don’t think I’m the demographic they are aiming for. I have zero knowledge of the source material and not a lot more interest. If you like your history then you’ll probably get a lot more out of it then I did.
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