Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, David Tennant, Guy Pearce, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn, Gemma Chan, Martin Compston, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Brendan Coyle, Ian Hart, Adrian Lester, James McArdle, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Eileen O’Higgins, Izuka Hoyle, Liah O’Prev, Alex Beckett, Simon Russell Beale, Richard Cant, Guy Rhys, Thom Petty, Aneurin Pascoe, Adrian Derrick-Palmer, Kal Sabir, Adam Bond, Like Kidd, Claire Brown, Alan Turkington, Jordan Turk, Adam Stevenson, Scot Greenan, Ed Jones, Alex Beckett, Ian Hallard, Andrew Rothney, Grace Molony, Georgia Burnell, Luke Hobson, Ben Wiggons, Eldredd, Wolf, Eric Macnaughton, Nathen East, Sean Buchanan.
The image of Gloriana, Spencer’s The Faerie Queene is one that has been engrained into the mind of the British public for generations, enhanced by cinema, the story of our shared islands is dominated by the reflection of one woman to whom the world view we have is still shaped, by power, by dominion and by grace and favour in which the arguable propaganda of Shakespeare has resonated through time.
There is no doubt that Elizabeth I was a formidable woman, her grip on history ensured by even the cursory glance at her own writing, her poetry, the inspiration she gave, but it must also be remembered that she was not the only woman at the helm of a distinctive country in the 16th Century, her cousin, Mary, shared many of her attributes, a fierce streak of independence, of having destiny running through her veins, and of course being counselled by the vanity and desires of men; only religion separating them, only the fear of losing the crown punishing them, to this end they were not just metaphorical sisters, but almost twin like.
To portray arguably two of the greatest monarchs that Britain has seen in one film with equal stature takes fortitude, and in Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, there are no finer actresses who could play the role with such sweeping confidence whilst all time allowing the fragility of their situation, of their time, to show through. It is with enormous satisfaction that the film has been bold enough to hold these two actors of passion and sincerity within its grasp.
Whilst the film almost demands with a mix of gleeful and sincere intent that the audience focuses their attention on Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, it is more than possible to be more than courteous to actors such as David Tennant as the firebrand cleric John Knox, Gemma Chan as Elizabeth Hardwick, Brendan Coyle as Matthew Stewart and Guy Pearce as William Cecil. Without this ensemble the film would have suffered in the same way that befalls many historical dramas that set out with good intentions, by concentrating fully on the direct implication and not the overall historical intent.
By showing the subject at hand being manoeuvred by the forces beyond the main protagonists’ control, Mary, Queen of Scots goes deeper into the psychology of the relationship between the two women and the constant game of human chess being played out on the stage. religion and politics playing a game in which the two women would never truly get out from alive, one losing her life, the other her womanhood.
A film that shows that propaganda and fear of the unknown are cunning tools employed by those with a taste for power and that the whispers of men are far more damaging than the open talk of women, Mary, Queen of Scots deeply reflects our times in such tumultuous fashion, one which could see us lose more than our heads.
Ian D. Hall