VICTORIA AND ABDUL

Review: Queen Victoria forms an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim in which her household and inner circle all attempt to destroy.
Director: Stephen Frears
Actors: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Tim Pigott-Smith, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Michael Gambon, Paul Higgins, Olivia Williams, Fenella Woolgar, Julian Wadham, Robin Soans, Ruth McCabe, Simon Callow and Kemaal Deen-Ellis
Year: 2017
Genre: Biography, Drama and History
Conclusion: 3/5
At the start it comes up on the screen as “based on a true story…mostly”. I thought this did spoil the film slightly as all the way through I didn’t know which scenes were true and which scenes were just made up and added in for the story. This is like a sequel to Mrs. Brown (1997) and very much a similar story in which she befriends a male servant. This event happened later on than Mrs.Brown and happened as Queen Victoria was getting more and more vulnerable in her old age. This is a story in which I knew nothing about before the film came out. I did find the whole story really interesting. One thing about the film is that it is very likeable and enjoyable to watch. It isn’t perfect in a long way but very watchable. As always Judi Dench is fantastic and never steps out of line. I have not come across Ali Fazal before but thought he was terrific and his timing was genius. Their chemistry comes across really well. It is like they both had fun acting on screen. It is the same chemistry that comes across in Mrs. Brown (1997) with John Brown. If you notice very carefully there is a lot of silent comedy. The costume designs are very exquisite. As well as Judi Dench being in this film, Mrs Brown (1997) she was also in Shakespeare in Love (1998) where she played Queen Elizabeth I. I volunteer at my local cinema club and when showing this it was a sell out screening.