Victoria & Abdul

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Weighty Connected L The portrayal of an unlikely yet real-life friendship between the British Queen Victoria and an Indian muslim servant Abdul Karim during her final years, this 2017 Stephen Frears film shows the beauty of friendship and the ugliness of racialist prejudice and greed for power, seen in the beautiful performances of the cast, esp. Judi Dench. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/29/24 Full Review Felix Anthony L The story showcases a friendship that was ahead of its time - unbiased, transcends generational, religious and cultural differences. Victoria and Abdul shares the idea of openness and kindness in friendships where an age difference is not a hindrance, rather the focus is on curiosity, appreciation and acceptance. Although some aspects of the movie may have been fictionalised to enhance the story, the emotional roller coaster and sparks of comedy is on point. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/17/24 Full Review Julian P You cant ask for anything more in a movie. True story (mostly), touching and actually hilarious. Brilliantly written and the costumes / sets are incredibly. And then there is Judy Dench....enough said. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/10/24 Full Review Savannah G Judi Dench is clearly one of the best actors of our time and has been able to play these roles with such grace and talent. Great story the costume was good! and the gravataze of it all really brought it home for me Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/18/23 Full Review Shail F I only liked Mohammed. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/05/23 Full Review isla s I really enjoyed this film, with Judi Dench playing the titular queen, being very self assured and deciding to do things that surprise and astound other members of the royal household staff, much to my amusement. Meanwhile, Ali Fazal plays Abdul - someone who seems rather humble and initially is less than impressed at the prospect of having to travel, to present the queen with a coin at an official ceremony. I thought it was charming how the friendship between the two of them developed, seeing the curiosity and interest in the queen towards learning more about Abduls culture, the food and teachings of India etc. There is some pretty good cinematography, with various landscape panoramas shown during the characters travels, both within and outwith the UK. The pure lavishness of their surroundings is something to see, if nothing else. Cast wise, I also liked Eddie Izzard, who plays Bertie, Prince of Wales - he doesn't think a great deal of the new found friendship Victoria finds. I also found it amusing when Puccini (played by Simon Callow) was present. I believe this film is based on a true story, which made it all the more interesting to me and I know I really enjoyed another similar film, which also stars Judi Dench as Queen Victoria. A film called Mrs Brown, in which Billy Connolly plays John Brown. Coincidentally, Brown is referenced in this film. I do think Judi Dench does do particularly well at portraying the forthright queen. Of course there is undoubtedly a racist element, with the indian colonisation side of things - there are some cringe-y moments with members of royal household staff making some very unfair judgements and rude comments, somewhat unsurprisingly given the circumstances of the plot. Watching it, I felt more keen on queen Victoria for how she responded - I'll say no more so as not to provide any spoilers. I would very much recommend this film as a period drama which is based on a true story, yes. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Victoria & Abdul

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