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Mary, Queen of Scots review

Posted : 12 months ago on 2 April 2023 05:20

Great film with some nice locations and brilliant acting. Much better than the dogshit woke revisionist history remake that was made 46 years after this one.


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Mary, Queen of Scots review

Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 10 May 2015 01:32

Elegant, good characters, Vanessa better than Glenda, because of his 'naif courage', nice landscapes, some academicism.


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Mary, Queen of Scots

Posted : 10 years ago on 27 March 2014 02:24

While very much based on historical events, and a deeply fascinating story about political/sexual intrigue and power plays, Mary, Queen of Scots frequently dips into a tone of melodramatic soap opera. Historical dramas need a bit more to go along with besides opulent sets, lovely costumes, and veteran character actors playing bit parts who only function to speak excessively long monologues which describe the events instead of actually showing them to us. Mary, Queen of Scots never reaches above this limited achievements, yet it does have two huge strengths in its corner: the lead roles played by Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson.

Jackson demonstrated her considerable skills as an actress with the role of the Virgin Queen twice in 1971. There was Mary, obviously, but the far more successful mini-series Elizabeth R allowed Jackson the opportunity to role every aspect of the role and develop a full personality. Her character here seems more obsessed with what Mary is doing with her genitals at any given moment, developing a strange pseudo-romance with her Master of Horses, and defending her throne from accusations of being a bastard progeny. The jousting matches between Redgrave and Jackson, too rare, play like watching two thoroughbred horses race against each other. The material here is rich and ripe for the making of a great drama, but it never congeals.

But as a spotlight for Vanessa Redgrave’s talents, Mary, Queen of Scots does give her a lot of room to show her stuff. There are multiple marriages, including one fraught with alcoholism and wandering lust. Of course, there’s political uprisings and accusations of rightful ownership of the throne of England, but it somehow never logically flows from one story section to another, no matter how valiantly Redgrave tries to keep it all working. She captures a series of contradictory impulses that feel right for a woman in her position. She’s stands straight as a steel rod, projecting a domineering spirit and regality, before turning around and acting like a naïve, bubble-headed royal prone to leisurely reposing about the court. Watch it see two actresses challenge and inspire each other, but forgive it for being somewhat dull in narrative structure.


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