We didn't get too much Danish history at my school nor, I suspect, at most schools in England, so I came to this film more or less ignorant of the facts yet happy to accept that it was based on historical fact. At the beginning there are some stunning visuals that lull the viewer into a pleasant mood but we are soon disabused of the notion that this is yet another chocolate box potted history. After the briefest of sojourns in England we are whisked - along with Caroline, wed to a man she has yet to meet - to a Denmark where the politico/religio axis has the country in a headlock but we are smack dab in the centre of the Age of Enlightenment and things are about to change and then change again. The King - a beautifully judged performance by Mikkel Boe Folsgaard - is little more than an overgrown child with minimal interest in his bride - another fine performance by Alicia Vikander - and the catalyst in the woodpile is not the young Negro boy he treats as a pet so much as the German physician (Mads Mikkelson),a devotee of Rousseau who quickly gains the King's ear and the Queen's bed with the result that soon all three unite in a non-sexual menage a trois and push through several important reforms. It does, of course, end in tears but it also keeps us riveted for some two and a quarter hours. A fine effort.

King Christian VII of Denmark (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) is a petulant man, weak ruler, and frequents whorehouses. In 1766, he married the British Princess Caroline (Alicia Vikander). He would disdain her company finding her boring. Their lives would drastically change when Dr Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) is charged to take care of the erratic monarch.

I am not a historian, and I won't get into any accuracy problems. This movie is a dramatic story. It starts with all three lead actors. Mikkel plays the king with the perfect childlike petulance. Alicia is rock solid as Caroline and shows her range as her character loses control. And Mads powers the whole thing with his intensity. There really isn't a bad performance from anybody in this film.

"A Royal Affair" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. I would agree that it was a very well made film about some interesting people, though the film was otherwise a rather unremarkable biopic. Good, but I could see why it didn't take the prize.

The story is about the Queen of Denmark, Caroline Mathhilde--the sister of George III of Britain. And, while some of the small details might not be correct, the story itself is based on her sad and short life. After marrying King Christian VII, she soon realizes he's mentally unstable and rather perverse--and has absolutely no interest in her. It's a lonely life until she falls in love with the King's favorite, a German doctor who eventually becomes the virtual leader of Denmark. What's next? See the film--though I suppose you could just read up on her on Wikipedia! But you probably shouldn't. The acting and quality of the production is very good and quite compelling. A very good film but one that is, at times, a bit difficult to like because the characters in the movie are a bit hard to like--even the 'good' ones.