A beautiful love story!

Rating: 8/10 (5 April 2009)

I personally am a huge fan of costume dramas as I think they allow you to get completely lost in a different time. This is one of the best that I have seen. It tells the story of a young Queen Victoria when she first ascends to the thrown and falls in love with Prince Albert.Emily Blunt play the lead and does a fantastic job. Victoria is portrayed as feisty, passionate and strong willed, this is a far cry from the image of Victoria in her later years when she is a little fat old lady who is constantly in mourning and has a white hankie on her head. There is a definite change to Victoria after she is crowned as she gains power so now longer must she be bullied by Sir John (played by Mark Strong) or treated like a china doll by her fussy Mother (Played by Miranda Richardson). What I found quite shocking is that she still had her sanity after she had been forced to share a room with her Mother and be walked up and down the stairs while holding someones hand. Also Victoria was very normal I found as she fit in with all the snooty royals that were around her. During a banquet she befriends Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany), I found his character quite odd as I was never sure what his motives were as a point he was taking advantage of her and then other he was generally concerned for her. Prince Albert was played by the lovely Rupert Friend who showed exactly why Victoria and himself where meant to be together. My favourite scene is the marriage proposal where she asks him to marry her, it had me tearing up! There is also a fiery argument between the two which shows that it was a real relationship but a love that is so strong that it had a lifelong impact on both parties. At the end of the film there is an event that causes Victoria to push their desks together and work as one. All in all a fantastic film that I really enjoyed and did get a bit hysterical, with a beautiful song by Sinead O' Connor in the credits to put the cherry on the top!