The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria tries hard not to be the stereotypical British costume film, but unlike it's central character, it can't quite escape from the restrictions. There's an awful lot of letter-writing/reading, the constant bane of such films. Heavy-handed imagery rears it's head early on, as images of imprisonment, such as gates shutting, pepper the opening scenes - just in case we weren't aware of Victoria's stifling lack of freedom. There's also a thumpingly obvious use of chess as Victoria and Albert struggle to evade the machinations of their relatives. Ironically, the pair do marry but that's more despite the political manoeuvring than because of it. What King Leopold and the Duchess of Kent failed to take into account was the possibility of true love taking precedence over familial loyalty. The film probably works best showing two essentially lonely and manipulated young people unexpectedly finding their soul mate, and tha's it really. There's not much dramatic tension and it's left to the supporting actors such as Paul Bettany and Mark Strong to provide any residual interest.