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Queen Kristina, The Girl King
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As the director Mika Kaurismäki told us at the press conference in Barcelona, this is the film about Queen Christina that Greta Garbo would have wanted to play, instead of the character that she embodied under the direction of Rouben Mamoulian in 1933, work the actress did not like. He also confessed that one of his wishes has been to achieve scenes that recall Caravaggio and Rembrandt paintings.
Filmed entirely in South Finland and produced by five countries, Kaurismäki's movie focuses on the ten years when Cristina exercised power in Sweden and gave priority to culture and peace. This decision faces many of her contemporaries who preferred to continue investing in the business of war. She also had to fight a Court dominated by men whose sole goal was to marry her and have an heir.
In 1633, when she was only six, she was crowned queen and educated as a prince under strict Lutheran religion. Intelligent, freethinking, lover of the arts and the sciences and follower of Descartes, whom she assisted in his death, she ended the Thirty Years' War when she came of age. She defied convention, questioned traditions and resisted all the pressures exercised by the members of the Court, who disagreed with her decisions. In 1654, she left Protestantism and became Catholic under the protection of Philip V of Spain. Then, she moved to Rome where he died at age 63 and is buried among popes.
Although Mika Kaurismäki has thoroughly documented on the character, we must not lose sight that there is always the personal interpretation the historian does in any historical fact. In this case, Mika shows a queen who is divided between her political responsibilities and her passion for her lady companion, who sometimes stands in her government decisions. It is hard to know whether the actual Cristina fell victim to this passion or it was just a platonic relationship.
With an excellent technical and artistic level, superb costumes and a beautiful interpretation by Malin Buska, Queen Christina, the woman who was king is a film that approaches us to the historical reality without forgetting the human touch of the character.
Texts: Núria Farré. facebook@cinemaperaestudiants.cat
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