Mary Queen of Scots is a historical and biographical drama which premiered in 2018.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Director: Josie Rourke
** Writer: Beau Willimon
** Based on John
Guy’s biography Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart (2005)
** Run time: 125 minutes
The cast includes the following:
The first group
** Saoirse Ronan as Mary (1542-1587) – Queen of Scots
** James McArdle as the Earl of Moray (1531-1570) – Mary’s half-brother
** Jack Lowden as Lord Darnley (Henry Stuart) (1545-1567) – Mary’s second husband
** Martin Compston as the Earl of Bothwell (James Hepburn) (1534-1578) – Mary’s third husband
** Ismael Cruz Cordova as David Rizzio (1533-1566) – Mary’s personal secretary
** David Tennant as John Knox (1513-1572) – a leading protestant priest in Scotland
The second group
** Margot Robbie as Elizabeth (1533-1603) – Queen of England 1558-1603
** Guy Pearce as William Cecil (1520-1598) – Elizabeth’s advisor and spymaster
** Joe Alwyn as Robert Dudley (1532-1588) – Elizabeth’s advisor and close friend
** Adrian Lester as Lord Thomas Randolph (1523-1590) – English ambassador to Scotland
** Gemma Chan as Bess of Hardwick (1527-1608) – an English noble woman
While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here.
Some details may have been added, altered or excluded for dramatic reasons or practical purposes. But the basic story is true.
Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. Therefore, I feel free to mention some of them in this review.
Mary’s life can be divided into four chapters:
Chapter one – in Scotland
1542 – Mary is born
1543 – Mary is crowned Queen of Scotland
Chapter two – in France
1548 – Mary is sent to France where she is brought up among the royal family of France
1558 – Mary marries the French crown prince Francois (Francis)
1559 – When the crown prince becomes the King of France, Mary becomes the Queen of France
1560 – When the king dies, Mary loses her title
Chapter three – in Scotland
1561 – Mary returns to Scotland where she meets her half-brother the Earl of Moray
1565 – Mary marries her second husband: Lord Darnley (Henry Stuart)
1566 – Mary’s personal secretary David Rizzio is killed
1566 – Mary’s second husband Lord Darnley is killed
1567 – Mary marries her third husband the Earl of Bothwell (James Hepburn) – Mary is arrested and forced to abdicate the throne of Scotland
Chapter four – in England
1568 – Mary escapes to England where she is placed under house arrest in different locations in the north of England
1586 – Mary is found guilty of treason
1587 – Mary is executed
This drama focuses on Mary’s life in Scotland (chapter three). The first two decades of her life (chapters one and two) are not covered here. The last two decades of her life (chapter four) are not covered here (except a brief scene set in 1568 and a brief scene set on the last day of her life in 1587).
This drama covers a series of events during the middle part of Mary’s life. There is no attempt to explain these events. There is no attempt to explain her choices.
Why does Mary hire David Rizzio, an Italian man, to be her personal secretary? She must know that this choice will cause resentment.
Why does Mary marry Lord Darnley? It is easy to see that this marriage is not going to last long.
When serious crimes are committed – such as the murder of Rizzio in 1566 and the murder of Lord Darnley in 1567 – we do not see any real investigation into these crimes. They merely happen. There is no attempt to explain who committed these crimes and why they did this.
What about historical accuracy?
Historical truth is violated in several ways.
Here are three examples:
# 1. Mary and Elizabeth corresponded for many years, but they never met each other face to face. In this drama, they meet in 1568, shortly after Mary’s arrival in England.
I wonder why the movie-makers decided to “improve” history in this way. The story is not better because of this scene. Without this scene the story would be (slightly) better.
# 2. The English ambassador to Scotland Lord Thomas Randolph is played by Adrian Lester who is a black man. But Lord Randolph was white! The choice of actor for this role is wrong. This approach is known as colourblind casting. I do not approve.
# 3. The English noble woman Bess of Hardwick is played by Gemma Chan whose family is Chinese. But Bess of Hardwick was white! The choice of actress for this role is wrong. This is another case of colourblind casting. I do not approve.
The director has stated that she did not want to make a movie with an all-white cast. She says there were coloured people in England at the time. They were servants and musicians. I believe her. But if this is the case, perhaps she should have chosen non-white actors to play such roles.
This would be realistic. Making Lord Randolph a black man is absurd. Making Bess of Hardwick a Chinese woman is absurd.
What do reviewers say about this historical and biographical drama?
Here are the results of three review aggregators:
63 percent = IMDb
55 percent = Meta (the audience)
60 percent = Meta (the critics)
62 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
41 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
On Amazon UK there are at the moment more than 880 ratings of this product, more than 190 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.4 stars which corresponds to a rating of 88 percent.
As you can see, most ratings are not impressive. When you look at Meta and Rotten Tomatoes, you can see that there is a clear difference between the general audience and the professional critics. The critics are more positive than the audience, while both groups seem to have some reservations about this drama.
In my opinion, the rating on Amazon is too high. I understand the lower level of the other ratings. I think it is quite appropriate.
This drama is neither great nor good; it is average. This is why it deserves a rating of three stars (60 percent).
PS # 1. There are many characters in this drama. It is not always easy to know who is who. There are many events in this drama. It is not always easy to understand what is going on. Unless, of course, you are an expert on English and Scottish history in the 16th century.
I think the movie-makers could and should do more to help the viewers understand what is happening on the screen. This would give the viewers a better experience.
The movie-makers spend a lot of time, effort and money on this project. Why don’t they do something to help the audience understand what is happening on the screen?
PS # 2. Mary Queen of Scots is a historical and biographical drama which premiered in 2013.
** Director: Thomas Imbach
** Camille Rutherford plays the title role of Mary
PS # 3. Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents is a documentary film in three parts which premiered on British television (BBC) in 2017. It was released on DVD in 2018.
*****
Mary Queen of Scots
A historical and biographical drama
(2018)
*****
Queen of Scots:
The true Life of Mary Stuart
by John Guy
(2005)
*****
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