Our screening on Thursday, March 4th, will feature a special introduction by Catherine Golden, Professor of English at Skidmore College.
It is 1837. Charles Dickens begins serializing Oliver Twist, the first of a long series of novels that will come to epitomize "Victorian" England. Meanwhile, the 17-year-old Victoria herself (Emily Blunt) finds herself in a royal power struggle. Her uncle, the English king William IV (Jim Broadbent), is dying and Victoria is next in line for the throne. Although everyone is trying to win her favor, the young Victoria is kept shielded from it all by her overbearing mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson), and her ambitious advisor, Conroy (Mark Strong). Her handsome cousin Albert (Rupert Friend) visits and tries to win her hand.
Spoiler alert! William dies and Victoria is crowned Queen of England. Victoria's first decree is to banish her mother and Conroy to a remote palace apartment, and she embraces Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany), the charming Prime Minister, as her sole advisor. They become inseparable and although his motives are slightly self-serving, he truly cares for her. Meanwhile, the friendship between Victoria and Albert deepens....
"Director Jean-Marc Vallee's images have a creamy stateliness, but this is no gilded princess fantasy--it's the story of a budding ruler who learns to control her surroundings, and Blunt makes that journey at once authentic and relevant." --Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly (Rated PG for some mild sensuality, a scene of violence, and brief incidental language.)
