THE GIRL KING is playing as part of the Mardi Gras Film Festival and “by the rusty nails of Christ’s cross” it is an inspired choice by the curators, Queer Screen. There have been previous filmic incarnations of the story of Queen Kristina of Sweden but this Finnish film delves deeper in the sexuality of the lesbian icon who only reigned 10 years before abdicating in 1654.
Kristina is Queen from the age of 6 and 2 years later is torn from her crazy, grieving mother and her embalmed father to be trained to be the ‘greatest Lutheran monarch in Europe.’ Her mentor is Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna who dresses her as a boy and encourages her in kinglike ways. Philosophy and languages, sword fighting and riding. So complete is his control over her that he will call her ‘daughter’ on her Coronation Day.
But she is her own person and on that day she announces her belief that Stockholm could be the new Athens and further that she is committed to strive for peace with Rome. Her courtiers object reminding her of Catholic Germany on their doorstep but she will not be shaken … by them. What does cut through her focused seizing of the monarchical reins is Countess Ebba Sparre who is inconveniently affianced to one of the court.
Badly thrown by her feelings, Kristina writes to philosopher Rene Descartes in Paris for advice about love. How to recognise it and how to successfully overcome it. Descartes will eventually travel to Sweden to tutor the Queen but initially he writes back advising her to never trust faces.
Director, Mika Kaurismäki obviously doesn’t trust this advice either. This is a film of close-ups. There is almost no camera movement, a few pullins and the occasional tilt but no fades or dissolves. The focus is the faces. With such stellar cast the story is travelled and enriched in each parry and thrust of this highly personal film. The Coronation Day when Kristina sees Ebba for the first time is beautifully handled in this way. The smile, the shock, the hasty look away and the secret glance. It’s a narrow, discrete, internal emotion writ large.
As Kristina, Swedish actor Malin Buska is a 17th Century OITNB Alex. She is dark haired and tall, strong willed and not averse to using her power to get what she wants… who she wants. But as a woman in love and Queen with doubts she portrays Kristina’s intelligence and political naiveté perfectly. Her slightly accented English has the effect of making her even more exotic. She looks good on a horse, wears a sword with majesty and trousers with intent. Yet she manages to avoid lots of strutting around or other dyke stereotypes.
As Ebba, Sarah Gadon is her foil. Blonde and blue eyed, she is beautiful, soft and pliant yet educated enough to keep up with her intellectually restless lover. Gadon’s characterisation gives Ebba the depth that makes her betrayal as understandable as Kristina’s cruelty.
Michael Nyqvist is well known to audiencesas Mikael Blomkvist of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo films. Here, he is the wise mentor and kindly father he purports to be but the determined, manipulating politician is never far from the surface and his heartbreak when Kristina destroys his creation is riveting viewing.
The sparseness is also evident in the mis-en-scene. This is not an Elizabethan court. There are bare walls with perhaps a tapestry or painting and bare floors with a few embroidered rugs. Mostly there are only single pieces of furniture in a shot but candles are everywhere, their flickering providing a little movement within the frame.
Early in the film the costumes are relentlessly black with a white ruff or wide collar with a lace trim. As the film progresses there is more variety. Dark purples and greens and the vivid blue for her coronation cloak give way to light browns and tans and gold detailing to match the lighter colours of the walls and floors. When the characters do travel outdoors we glimpse forest and wide open landscape but quickly draw back to the faces. The economy of the text extends to the intimate. There are several chaste kisses but only one mildly sexual scene which is by no means prurient.
This film won 2 awards at The Montreal World Film Festival, including Best Actress to Malin Buska.
THE GIRL KING has two screenings during the Mardi Gras Film Festival. It is screening on Friday 26th Februry at 6.30pm at Event Cinemas,George Street and on Sunday 28th February at 6.30pm at the Cremorne Orpheum.