Victoria and Abdul (2017)

As a film lover, if anyone tried to tell me that Queen Victoria didn't look like Judi Dench I would laugh in their face. This is a role Dench is likely most known for. In fact, Victoria and Abdul feels like a practical sequel to her 1997 film Ms. Brown, also about a liaison Victoria had with a man many thought she shouldn't. Very much like that film, Victoria and Abdul is a sentimental, romcom-like crowd-pleaser which likely ignores historical truth for its lovely story.

What makes Victoria and Abdul work so well is the chemistry between Dench's queen at the end of her life, and the beautiful Ali Fazal who lights up the screen each time he's on it. The film is ridiculous a lot but their charm and charisma solves it all. And knowing that it's all "mostly" true is helpful to get over some of the absurdities.

Another strength of the film is the way it has its colonial audiences laughing at colonialism. It is somewhat subversive in the way it attacks the very nature of empire, while at the same time centering the empress herself (problematic I know). It is said the queen herself called it out as racism. “The Queen says it is ‘race prejudice’ and that we are jealous of the poor Munshi.” wrote one of her staff at the time so perhaps Victoria should get a bit of credit. Audiences are constantly asked to mock and jeer the symbols of colonialism while sympathizing with the subjugated.

And at the end the true brutality and downright evil nature of one of the world's most forgiven empires is put on display. The film takes a series tone at the end, a tone which almost derails the cheery course it has taken up to that point, to fully condemn the racism and sexism inherent in empire. The film lets is audiences off the hook with the "happy" ending that Abdul Karim's story got told. Still, it is refreshing to see such a mainstream and accessible film treat empire so coldly. A step in the right direction and a pleasure to watch Dench and Fazal play off each other.

Victoria and Abdul
Starring: Judy Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigot-Smith, Adeel Akhtar, Michael Gambon
Director: Stephen Frears
Writer: Lee Hall