Victoria and Abdul
I had originally intended on posting a review for this the same day I posted It. However, this film was one that I felt needed to be pondered a bit before critiquing. I'm not saying it was a poorly done film. On the contrary, technically speaking it was beautifully captured and the acting had some very good moments...but I had a little bit of an issue with the premise of the story.
At first glance, the movie was entertaining and captures your attention by dropping you in the middle of a bustling village in late-nineteenth-century India. We quickly meet our main character Abdul (played by Ali Fazal), a young prison clerk as he's selected (practically against his will) to leave his home to present a symbol of appreciation to Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) for her golden jubilee. However, our character seems surprisingly optimistic about this opportunity, and despite being told to blend in with the crowd, he leaves a major impression on the queen by kissing her feet in the middle of the banquet.
After a few other meetings, an unlikely friendship blooms and the queen promotes Abdul to be her Munshi. As the Munshi, he teaches her Urdu and the Qur'an. He uses these moments as an opportunity to try to make the queen understand how the people of India are being treated under her rule. However, this is very short lived as the queen's health begins to fail as the movie goes on.The rest of the film is spent on showing the conflicts between Victoria and Abdul versus the rest of the royal household as they do not take kindly to Abdul's presence.
This film did a beautiful job with cinematography; its use of color, costume, and set design was flawless. Naturally, with any Judi Dench film, her acting was 100% on point...then again, this isn't the first time the dame has played Queen Victoria. The person I was most taken away with was Eddie Izzard's portrayal of Bertie (Victoria's son and heir). Though I believe his take to be somewhat historically inaccurate, the makeup job on him was impressive, and I ended up thoroughly detesting his character...which ultimately means he did a good job as the film's antagonist.
The major concern I have is how the director seems to put a simple band-aid over the real issue of the British occupation of India. In the beginning of the movie, it declares to be only partially based on real events...but personally as a major history buff, this film is a major stretch and comes off as a royalist fantasy. They make Victoria appear to be completely oblivious to what her country is doing in India. The film paints her as an underdog protesting against the white racist household...which as much as I wish that had been the case, seems very unlikely to have even happened. The director had a perfect opportunity to bring to light the experiences that Abdul and his family have undergone in India but didn't. The film had potential to educate the audience on how very dark this part of history was...but unfortunately chose to go down a dramatic route dedicated to an elderly queen's loneliness.
After thinking this over the past week, I have to conclude that even though it was an entertaining film, it gets 3 stars from me. It's worth seeing at least once...if anything to appreciate the wonderful Judi Dench and to open the door to possibly researching what really happened during the British Raj.
At first glance, the movie was entertaining and captures your attention by dropping you in the middle of a bustling village in late-nineteenth-century India. We quickly meet our main character Abdul (played by Ali Fazal), a young prison clerk as he's selected (practically against his will) to leave his home to present a symbol of appreciation to Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) for her golden jubilee. However, our character seems surprisingly optimistic about this opportunity, and despite being told to blend in with the crowd, he leaves a major impression on the queen by kissing her feet in the middle of the banquet.
After a few other meetings, an unlikely friendship blooms and the queen promotes Abdul to be her Munshi. As the Munshi, he teaches her Urdu and the Qur'an. He uses these moments as an opportunity to try to make the queen understand how the people of India are being treated under her rule. However, this is very short lived as the queen's health begins to fail as the movie goes on.The rest of the film is spent on showing the conflicts between Victoria and Abdul versus the rest of the royal household as they do not take kindly to Abdul's presence.
This film did a beautiful job with cinematography; its use of color, costume, and set design was flawless. Naturally, with any Judi Dench film, her acting was 100% on point...then again, this isn't the first time the dame has played Queen Victoria. The person I was most taken away with was Eddie Izzard's portrayal of Bertie (Victoria's son and heir). Though I believe his take to be somewhat historically inaccurate, the makeup job on him was impressive, and I ended up thoroughly detesting his character...which ultimately means he did a good job as the film's antagonist.
The major concern I have is how the director seems to put a simple band-aid over the real issue of the British occupation of India. In the beginning of the movie, it declares to be only partially based on real events...but personally as a major history buff, this film is a major stretch and comes off as a royalist fantasy. They make Victoria appear to be completely oblivious to what her country is doing in India. The film paints her as an underdog protesting against the white racist household...which as much as I wish that had been the case, seems very unlikely to have even happened. The director had a perfect opportunity to bring to light the experiences that Abdul and his family have undergone in India but didn't. The film had potential to educate the audience on how very dark this part of history was...but unfortunately chose to go down a dramatic route dedicated to an elderly queen's loneliness.
After thinking this over the past week, I have to conclude that even though it was an entertaining film, it gets 3 stars from me. It's worth seeing at least once...if anything to appreciate the wonderful Judi Dench and to open the door to possibly researching what really happened during the British Raj.
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