Mary Queen of Scots.
I went into it with some trepidation, because that's a period I know very well and the world really doesn't need another trashification of the story that dumps all the history in favor of pretty faces and made-up shit. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Reign. And The Tudors. And etc...)
But really, it was actually very good. Much better than the trailers led me to expect. Except for the inevitable Mary/Elizabeth F2F (which never happened, but is dramatically necessary in any play/movie/show about the 2 queens) they stuck pretty closely to the outlines of history. The acting was good. (David Tennant was a fierce John Knox!) I appreciated that Mary and her 4 Maries spoke French together in private -- because of course they would have. A lot of the soundtrack consisted of genuine 16c tunes played authentically. There were a few inappropriate kilts in the background (kilts weren't a thing in the 16c, they were invented much later) and the production was overall visually dark -- lots of natural light, shadowy interiors, and most of the cast very hairy and dressed in black, & while these are clearly deliberate choices for reasons I can't argue with, my old eyes regret it. But I do recommend the film. I'd see it again, in a double-feature with the 1971 version (Glenda Jackson, Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Dalton) for a good compare-and-contrast.
I went into it with some trepidation, because that's a period I know very well and the world really doesn't need another trashification of the story that dumps all the history in favor of pretty faces and made-up shit. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Reign. And The Tudors. And etc...)
But really, it was actually very good. Much better than the trailers led me to expect. Except for the inevitable Mary/Elizabeth F2F (which never happened, but is dramatically necessary in any play/movie/show about the 2 queens) they stuck pretty closely to the outlines of history. The acting was good. (David Tennant was a fierce John Knox!) I appreciated that Mary and her 4 Maries spoke French together in private -- because of course they would have. A lot of the soundtrack consisted of genuine 16c tunes played authentically. There were a few inappropriate kilts in the background (kilts weren't a thing in the 16c, they were invented much later) and the production was overall visually dark -- lots of natural light, shadowy interiors, and most of the cast very hairy and dressed in black, & while these are clearly deliberate choices for reasons I can't argue with, my old eyes regret it. But I do recommend the film. I'd see it again, in a double-feature with the 1971 version (Glenda Jackson, Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Dalton) for a good compare-and-contrast.
