A Royal Affair – review

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jun/14/a-royal-affair-review

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Mads Mikkelsen leads Nikolaj Arcel's confident, if dour, period drama based on the real-life story of Johann Struensee, the German doctor who in 1770, in effect, ruled Denmark for 10 months after wresting power from his patient, the unhinged King Christian VII. Struensee, a follower of the Enlightenment, attempted to graft social reform into law with the help of Caroline Mathilde, Christian's queen and the doctor's lover. The story has been romanticised (Struensee apparently was something of a tyrant himself on occasion) but Arcel's adaptation still lacks passion. While the relationship between doctor and patient is developed adroitly (the king, played here in twitching, giggly style by Mikkel Følsgaard, comes to adore Stuensee, even when his "beloved friend" can only reciprocate with pity), the chemistry between Mikkelsen and Vikander barely simmers, when it should boil. Nevertheless, it's a fascinating affair of state.