Saw 1997’s Mrs. Brown Friday night. While a pretty ‘sedate’ movie compared to most of my usual fare, it was interesting and a tragic, human story nonetheless.

I originally wanted to see this because it has Billy Connolly and Judi Dench in it. They play Mr. Brown and Queen Victoria, respectively. I’ll pretty much watch *anything* with Billy Connolly in it, and having seen Judi Dench in a number of movies and shows over the years, she is one of those actors always worth watching, regardless of the subject matter. Geoffrey Palmer and even a young Gerard Butler play key surrounding roles also, amid the other supporting cast.

Here, Mr. Brown is a former friend called in from Scotland by the Queen to be a personal assistant while she continues her mourning in seclusion over her dead husband, Prince Albert. He rapidly shakes things up, being a brusque, non-nonsense Scotsman amid an otherwise huge group of bootlicks and suck-ups surrounding the Queen in her daily routine – this includes her large family of children (9) who seem to live there too.

This movie is as much about personal relationships, loyalty and ‘office politics’ as it is about the main characters. And as we see all too often in real life, the outsider is rapidly the subject of multiple attempts (both subtle and direct) to ruin him and roust him out of a position of influence.

But the tragedy here isn’t completely about Mr. Brown – the Queen bears responsibility for a lot of ‘drama’ here – both imagined and real. On the one hand, she’s already been in mourning/seclusion for several years before he arrives, and even despite his resulting positive influence on her, remains there for several years hence. But his devotion is unswerving and without exception, the only successful interruption to which is ultimately brought by Prime Minister Disraeli who makes an appeal to Brown directly.

It would be very interesting to have seen the real relationship play out in person (this movie is based on a true story) as the Queen here is all-too-often very harsh in her dealings with everyone around her – I wonder if that portrayal was accurate, exaggerated in the movie or worst case, understated? It is often painful to watch her switch back and forth to coming out of her shell vs. addressing everyone so formally while describing herself in the third person. I realize monarchies (well, from what i’ve read – monarchies in the USA are only created truly within the minds of the self-deluded, not that there’s any shortage) breed their family members to expect and demand complete ‘service’ wherever possible – it’s just still painful to see it in practice. Especially these days where the British Crown is even more a leech on the public finances than it ever was?

The performances here are great, imho. Billy C. doesn’t have to imitate any accent but his natural brogue (probably a good thing :)) and portrays the kind heart, blind loyalty and ultimately tragic figure of Mr. Brown very well. Judi Dench’s Queen V. comes across as frequently melodramatic and fairly black & white in her life outlook. She is sometimes on the verge of opening up back to humanity, but then quickly retreats into stiff formality and her role as Queen as a protective mechanism. It was also interesting at the start of the movie when Gerard Butler’s accent sounded forced and kinda fake compared to BC’s – he also plays a Scottish character in this movie – but in reading his IMDB bio, he’s actually also Scottish (but lived in Canada in his later childhood). Hmm.

Ultimately, this is a good movie and anyone who likes period pieces, these actors, or an insight into a completely different society (and historical period) than our own should like this movie. Be warned that it might be harder to find on DVD – we had to watch it on VHS.

candybowl