ALTHOUGH we may think we know enough about the woman who reigned for most of the 19th century and 63 years in all, there are many surprises in the story of The Young Victoria (Cert PG).
We are familiar with her happy but short-lived marriage to Prince Albert followed by all those years in widow's weeds. But the film shows just how turbulent were the early years of her reign and indeed the power struggle to actually to get on to the throne.
Watch the latest film trailersWe see that first she had to contend with the machinations of her widowed mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson in another dotty regal role), and her adviser and possible lover Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong), who attempted to wrest power from the young heir to the throne by establishing a regency.
But she had the last laugh when the old king lived on past her 18th birthday, so she was old enough to ascend the throne.
In the early years of the monarchy Victoria gets caught up in politics by falling for the charms of prime minister Lord Melbourne (a foppish Paul Bettany) and making ill-advised decisions, prompting riots on the streets.
Meanwhile there are all kinds of plots to find a suitable marriage to further international relations but Victoria refuses to be manipulated in this way. Eventually her shy Belgian cousin Albert (Rupert Friend) breaks down her resistance but we see that the perceived wisdom of one long happy union between V&A is not exactly how it was. There were tensions in the early years.
So it's an interesting enough story with the customary lavish costumes and period sets and Emily Blunt brings both dignity and a bit of girlish spark to the role. But overall the film, directed by French-Canadian Jean Marc Vallee, is a little pedestrian.
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