The Girl King

What is there to really say about this dreadful movie? It's about a fictional queen who just happens to have the same name as a real queen. So, the writers decided to gloss over history and give us a vision of their alternate reality. I have no problem with that, if they had, in fact, given us a good movie. Instead, what we see is a plodding narrative that meanders along at a snail's pace. Was Kristina of Sweden a lesbian? Who knows. While a handful of historians think so, their is no actual proof; and the majority dismiss the idea for that reason. But, again, presenting her as such would not be an issue if the story had been written to be engaging and interesting, rather than drab and lifeless. I can only recommend this to folks who enjoy bland historical fiction.

This film is laughable. First off, let me just say that there is something very exotic looking about the actress portraying Queen Kristina. This "Malin Buska" actually seems talented for the role, good show of emotions paired with masculine undertones and dominant-aggressive behavior. There is also something very attractive about her being fluent in many languages, and her ever-so slight accent when speaking English. Ebba Spare, on the other hand, otherwise known as "Belle", seems way too submissive in nature (even though she is a servant) and deserved more lines throughout the entire script. After watching the movie I barely remembered she was even in it until I read the cast again. But she looked more of like a doll on display rather than a living, breathing character. Kristina's advances towards her were very cringey. The whole movie seems rushed and much too fast-paced for my liking, or anyone's, for that matter. The message is pretty clear, but the delivery seems like they were given only a single evening to rehearse all of it. Felt a lot like a costume play, not a genuine royalty presentation such as it was done in Magnificent Century (Turkish) and The Tudors (British), and while these two were a televesion series, they should provide a role model for how all monarch-based flicks should appear and be viewed as. Also, as a side note, I think the way Kristina cut her hair near the end of the story was absolutely horrific and truly don't think that kind of a transition was necessary. All in all, an excellent story put into a less-than-mediocre visualization of all the "issues" going on in pre-Industrial Scandinavia. By no way is this the performer's fault, it's the directors producers that tend to nullify the end result of such a glamorous, touching story. But honestly, pretty actressess don't cover up the obvious peresence of spoiled and unskilled movie-making.

The super-interesting trailer for The Girl Kind promised more than was really in the movie. It's kind of an open and unfinished story on multiple levels - Kristina's reign regarding the military campaign, country reforms and her personal life. All these important stories were merely touched in the movie. We never got to see whether or not Kristina actually reformed anything in Sweden at the time, the military campaign was also very vague and her relationship with the Countess deserved much more. I indeed expected more to be seen between the two ladies in terms of chemistry and storyline. Though they shared enough time on screen, the relationship is missing a lot. We could only get a glimpse of Buska and Gadon's potential in a few scenes where they showed subtle, unspoken affection between the two characters. It's a pity the director did not use more of their talent to tell a very personal story of Kristina and how deep the relationship with Sparre must have been. There is enough historical evidence to confirm Kristina's sexuality. A character so passionate about knowledge, philosophy and art surely must have been even more passionate about the affairs of the heart. It's a pity only the dark side of it was depicted in the movie. In spite of this movie being about Kristina, obviously a lot of her is embedded in Sparre's character. Unfortunately, Sparre's side of the love coin was left unexplored.