Friendship, compassion in 'Mrs. Brown'
By Tam Notosusanto
JAKARTA (JP): You've seen her in Shakespeare in Love, heavily made up as Queen Elizabeth I in that 10-minute Oscar-winning appearance. Now you will be able to see Dame Judi Dench again on the big screen playing another British monarch, Queen Victoria, in the 1997 film Mrs. Brown.
Instead of a secondary role gracing the background in that fictionalized story about the Bard of Avon, Dench here takes center stage, portraying the woman known as the longest-serving sovereign in history.
Alexandrina Victoria ruled as queen of the United Kingdom in 1837-1901 and empress of India in 1876-1901. Her long reign restored dignity and popularity to the British crown and may have saved the monarchy from abolition. The only child of Edward, duke of Kent, Victoria came to the throne in 1837 at age 18, following the death of her uncle, King William IV, whose own children had died in infancy.
She married Prince Albert, her cousin, in February 1840. Albert was an extremely influential figure for Victoria, playing an important role in shaping all of Victoria's decisions. Victoria was so devoted and reliant on him that when Albert suddenly succumbed to typhoid in 1861, she was absolutely devastated.
It is this episode when Victoria lost her husband and how she eventually came out of her mournful state of seclusion which becomes the basis of Mrs. Brown. She did so with the help of her loyal Scottish servant, John Brown, and their unusual, yet affectionate relationship is the heart of this poignant motion picture.
The story begins with the queen returning to her Osborne home on the Isle of Wight following her husband's funeral. She abandons all state duties and simply mopes around, dressed in black, in the most forlorn manner. No one among her subordinates dare advise her to stop being so miserable and resume her normal life.
Until Brown (Billy Connolly), the royal couple's servant at their Balmoral Castle in Scotland, was summoned to bring the queen's Highland pony and accompany her horseback-riding. The queen and her staff are shocked by Brown's brash, uncouth, no- nonsense attitude, but she soon finds his company a pleasure. For Brown shows affection and genuine concern for her well-being, something she really needs in this stage of loneliness and instability.
Director John Madden, who also directed Shakespeare in Love, deftly handles this real-life account of a collision between two worlds and two personalities that result in a beautiful friendship.
"Queen Victoria and John Brown were a glorious mismatch and I felt that carried within its enormous potential for humor, poignancy and tragedy on screen," said Madden in the movie's media material.
Screenwriter Jeremy Brock made sure that the film doesn't fall into excessive sentimentality, yet leaves enough room for the characters to touch moviegoers' hearts with their human virtues as well as flaws. In fact, fans of the film Driving Miss Daisy may find some resemblance between the two movies since that Academy Award-winning film also tells of a loyal, middle-aged subordinate who tames and befriends a crusty, old matriarch.
The conflict in Mrs. Brown arises from the constant clashes occurring between the impudent Brown and the people surrounding the queen, including her crown prince, Albert, the prince of Wales, who despise Brown's boorish mannerisms. Tension escalates as the queen makes Brown her personal assistant, allowing him to accompany her wherever she goes and giving him authority that surpasses anybody else's among Victoria's trusted advisors and servants.
The film becomes an interesting study of power and human nature as a simple commoner like Brown is elevated to a high position and becomes the object of disdain as he exercises his authority rather overzealously.
His close relationship with the queen even results in the press derisively nicknaming Victoria Mrs. Brown. Amid this worsening circumstance, in walks Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (Anthony Sher), a very learned and subtle politician, who understands well the workings of power.
His mission is to bring Victoria back to minding the state of political affairs, and come out of her shell to calm the public that is increasingly becoming restless over the queen's prolonged absence. And Disraeli knows very well that Brown is the one to approach to tap some common sense into the queen.
This movie is bolstered by strong performances. Connolly, more well-known as a comedian who stars in, among others, the TV sitcom Head of the Class, is splendid as Brown, a man driven by high principles and strong devotion, even to the edge of paranoid obsession.
Sher is magnificent as the legendary prime minister, his every bit of on-screen presence demanding attention and respect. But it's Dame Judi who really holds the film together with her convincingly regal stature.
This veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company rules the screen with her delicate ability to present a woman who is both powerful and vulnerable, a person who is fearsome as well as sympathetic. It's a grand performance that deservedly won a Golden Globe Award and one of last year's Academy Award nominations for Best Actress.
Mrs. Brown will be screened on Wednesday, July 21, 1999 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. along with the short film Deviant! as part of the British Film Festival held at the H. Usmar Ismail Film Center, Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. C-22, Kuningan, Jakarta.