plot and characters
how come a movie called 'The Young Victoria' explains their personalities and their relationship better than the movie which has their names in the title?
and vice versa, this film seems to be much more accurate in the political side. perhaps some scenes lacked the tension ans drama in comparison with 'The Young Victoria', such as when Conroy presses the young Victoria to refuse the income that the King is willing to give to her, but I presume that was how the things really were going then
of course Lord Melbourne's figure was also much more realistic, and Stockmar was attending to the Duchess of Kent and Victoria, not only educating Albert, and of course the assassination attempt - there were points really close to the real events, not too romanticized
on the other hand, the romance was... well not entirely absent of course, but something was lacking. while in 'The Young Victoria' I could see clearly how they came to like each other and why, and how they complemented each other, in 'V&A' such things were left aside. Victoria simply fell in love with him - after dancing on the ball and playing the piano. and Albert only grew to love her after 20 years after being touched by her words during the opening ceremony of the Crystal Palace. that's what we are shown. oh, I know what is lacking. depth
instead the family life of the couple was detailed enough. first, there were lots of details from the real events, such as Victoria watching her husband shaving, and some others. we see the couple having their first children, Victoria having dinner with them and Albert playing tricks with the children, we saw them worried about their son, and so on
acting
and those children were especially well played. I actually loved very much how Bertie and Alice were portrayed. also, Lord Melbourne seemed to be much softer a man than I would expect. and of course Victoria's mother played by Penelope Wilson, whom I know already from watching 'The Borrowers'. splendid, and I have to note that her image was really close to that of Arrietty's mother, maybe 'tis because Ms Wilson's usual behaviour is also like this
other than that, acting was not remarkable, but really, really good and credible
music
although the 'behind the scenes' short movie revealed that there was a whole concept of the composer of what the music should be like, I wasn't impressed much. and I wasn't annoyed either. perhaps this is all what is to be expected from a movie of this kind
conclusion
a good historical film, really historical. though may seem a bit boring for those who are not absolutely interested in Queen Victoria's life
p. s. but the ending! I cried... well I am a crybaby, but I was really touched... to the extent I felt a lump in the throat
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