A Royal Affair

Original title: En kongelig affære

2012
R
2h 17m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

52K

YOUR RATING

A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.

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Period Drama Biography Drama History Romance

A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

52K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 21 wins & 42 nominations total

Trivia
Swedish actress Alicia Vikander had to learn Danish. Vikander spent two months in Copenhagen in Denmark learning Danish prior to principal photography.

Goofs
While all of the characters all speak Danish in the film, the court language in Denmark at the time was German. In real life neither Graf Bernstorff nor Johann Struensee spoke any Danish, and it is probable that Christian and Caroline also conversed in German rather than the "people's language." However, this is a movie made for a Danish audience. "Translating" the characters' speech to the language of the audience is in the same principle as Hollywood movies where Egyptian Pharaohs and Roman Emperors speak English.

Quotes
Johann Friedrich Struensee: Your majesty.
Caroline Mathilde: You recognized me.
Johann Friedrich Struensee: I would recognize you blindfolded.
Caroline Mathilde: But your costume is not very imaginative.
Johann Friedrich Struensee: I'm afraid I'm not very good at the masquerade.
Caroline Mathilde: I believe this is the one night when everyone can be themselves.
[pause]
Caroline Mathilde: But you never remove your mask. Do you?

Connections
Featured in Maltin on Movies: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)

Soundtracks
Water Music, HWV 350, Suite No.3 in G Major (III. Minuet)
Music by George Frideric Handel (as Georg Friedrich Händel)
(P) Zentropa Music

User reviews102

Review

Featured review

10/10

Truly Excellent.

This was a magnificent film, with stunning performances by the star cast and the supporting roles.

I am not an unconditional fan of Mads Mikkelsen, but he really was strong and convincing in this role.

And one could easily forgive the good doctor for falling in love with Queen Caroline, as portrayed by the lovely Alicia Vikander.

And one even had sympathy for poor old Christian in the end. I was beginning to wonder whether he was quite as insane as people thought him to be. There seemed to be a genuine friendship between him and Dr Struensee also. Had things gone slightly differently, one could have imagined them forming a happy and successful ménage à trois, and living happily ever after.

And the villains were truly villainous :-)

(I spotted a few familiar faces from Forbydelsen I and other places, including Søren Malling (Jan Mayer ), and Bent Mejding who was the standing mayor (playing a not dissimilar sort of character)

A very interesting and surprising historical lesson as well.

Highly recommended.