There are many films about mad kings. Examples are "Hamlet" (1948, Laurence Oliver), "Ludwig" (1973, Luchino Visconti) and "The madness of King George" (1994, Nicholas Hytner).
In all the above examples the film is about the decay of the king into madness. In "A royal affair" the king (Christian VII played by Mikkel Boe Folsgaard) is "mad" from the very beginning. Formally he has a lot of power, mentally he does not know what to do with it.
This situation gives rise to possibilities of manipulation. In the film it is personal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) who takes advantages of these possibilites. At first out of opportunistic motives (the "illness" of the king can't be cured so the job of personal physician is an easy one, but one that gives the oppurtunity to share in all the luxury of the court), later out of idealism (implementing a modern reform programme).
Formally Stuensee has no power at all. He is always in danger of falling out of the favour of King Christian VII. Making a lot of enemies in higher circles with his reform program, in the second half of the film there are a lot of courtiers all to willing to promote his fall. The film derives a lot of his tension from this situation.
"A royal affair" is a well made movie.
It is based on the 1999 novel "The visit of the royal physician" by Per Olov Enquist.
Mads Mikkelsen gives a very good performance as the royal physician, although in my opinion his performance in "Jagten" (Thomas Vinterberg) from the same year was even beter.
The cinematography by Rasmus Videbæk is very beautiful and resembles occasionally that in "Barry Lyndon" (1975, Stanley Kubrick). Incidentally in the opportunistic phase the two stories partially coincide. Barry Lyndon manipulates his wife to get access to higer circles.
Director Nikolaj Arcel seemed well on his way to Hollywood as a result of the success of this film. He did not manage to match this success as a director, but he did manage to do so as a writer, for example with "Riders of justice" (2020, Anders Thomas Jensen), also with Mads Mikkelsen.
In all the above examples the film is about the decay of the king into madness. In "A royal affair" the king (Christian VII played by Mikkel Boe Folsgaard) is "mad" from the very beginning. Formally he has a lot of power, mentally he does not know what to do with it.
This situation gives rise to possibilities of manipulation. In the film it is personal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) who takes advantages of these possibilites. At first out of opportunistic motives (the "illness" of the king can't be cured so the job of personal physician is an easy one, but one that gives the oppurtunity to share in all the luxury of the court), later out of idealism (implementing a modern reform programme).
Formally Stuensee has no power at all. He is always in danger of falling out of the favour of King Christian VII. Making a lot of enemies in higher circles with his reform program, in the second half of the film there are a lot of courtiers all to willing to promote his fall. The film derives a lot of his tension from this situation.
"A royal affair" is a well made movie.
It is based on the 1999 novel "The visit of the royal physician" by Per Olov Enquist.
Mads Mikkelsen gives a very good performance as the royal physician, although in my opinion his performance in "Jagten" (Thomas Vinterberg) from the same year was even beter.
The cinematography by Rasmus Videbæk is very beautiful and resembles occasionally that in "Barry Lyndon" (1975, Stanley Kubrick). Incidentally in the opportunistic phase the two stories partially coincide. Barry Lyndon manipulates his wife to get access to higer circles.
Director Nikolaj Arcel seemed well on his way to Hollywood as a result of the success of this film. He did not manage to match this success as a director, but he did manage to do so as a writer, for example with "Riders of justice" (2020, Anders Thomas Jensen), also with Mads Mikkelsen.