Product: Victoria & Albert: A Royal Love Affair [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 3.0
Splashy production favors romance over accuracy
Maybe I am guilty of having overly high expectations, but I guess I expected more from this production than it delivered. Certainly the most of the cast boasts an impressive resume, although I found the two principals to be somewhat wanting. The real Victoria, on her absolute best day, came nowhere close to being as cute as Victoria Hamilton, and it appeared at times that Prince Albert's German accent (in the hands of Jonathan Firth) actually became more pronounced as the production wore on. He starts out sounding English & ends up sounding German (or Middle European at least)? How truly odd.These are quibbles. Mostly I was disappointed because whoever wrote the script seemed settle for a series of romantic vignettes, linked together by an outdoor shot ("Windsor Castle, Ten Years Later --- 1861," for example). Victoria & Albert struggle with the conflict of their duties & their feelings. Victoria & Albert squabble. Then Victoria & Albert hold hands & profess their love for each other. Really really schmaltzy music begins to play. Cue the next outdoor transitional shot with a subtitle. Repeat several times over the next few hours. There was no sense of coherent narrative.As many other reviewers have mentioned, historical accuracy is sacrificed early & often. No need to go into specifics as it has been covered before --- suffice it to say, the producers apparently reached a fork in the road --- one could try to be reasonable accurate in telling the story, or one could appeal to the masses & churn out a schmaltzy love story with two appealing leading players (the real Victoria & Albert weren't nearly this sympathetic). Obviously a lot of people loved the choice the producers made, so who am I to criticize?My favorite part of this production? Peter Ustinov's turn as the aging William IV --- but sadly, he is pushing up daisies before the first hour is finished. After that, I found myself wishing that Albert would just hurry up and die, so we could get this over with.