Mary – Queen of Scots is a historical and biographical drama which premiered in 2013.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Director: Thomas Imbach (born in Switzerland in 1962)
** Screenplay: Thomas Imbach, Andrea Staka, and Eduard Habsburg
** Based on the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig’s biography of Mary Stuart (first published in German in 1935)
** Language: English and French
** Released on DVD in 2014
** Run time: 119 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Camille Rutherford as Mary Stuart (1542-1587)
** Mehdi Dehbi as David Rizzio (1533-1566) – Mary’s secretary
** Edward Hogg as James Stewart = the Earl of Moray (1531-1570) – Mary’s half-brother
** Sean Biggerstaff as James Hepburn = the Earl of Bothwell (1534-1578) – Mary’s third husband (they get married in 1567)
** Aneurin Barnard as Henry Stuart (or Stewart) = Lord Darnley (1545-1567) – Mary’s second husband (they get married in 1565)
** Sylvain Levitte as François (1544-1560) – Mary’s first husband (they get married in 1558) – King of France 1559-1560 = François II
** Tony Curran as John Knox (1513-1572) – a Scottish minister (protestant)
Mary’s life can be divided into four chapters:
Chapter 1.
Scotland
She is born in Scotland in 1542 – she is crowned Queen of Scotland in 1543.
Chapter 2.
France
In 1548, while still a child, she is sent to France to be educated there – in 1558 she marries her first husband, the French Crown Prince (François) – in 1559, when he becomes king of France, she becomes queen of France, but only for a brief moment – when he dies in 1560, she loses this title
Chapter 3.
Scotland
In 1561, she returns to her native Scotland where she marries her second husband (Darnley) in 1565 – she gives birth to a son (James) in 1566 – Darnley is killed in 1567 – in that same year she marries her third husband (Bothwell) (who is probably responsible for the murder of her second husband Darnley) – later in that same year she is arrested and forced to abdicate the throne of Scotland.
Chapter 4.
England
In 1568 she crosses the southern border and escapes to England where she is placed under house arrest in various locations in the north of England – this situation lasts for almost twenty years – in 1586 she is found guilty of treason – in 1587 she is executed.
This historical drama covers the first three chapters of her life. The story ends when she escapes to England. There is nothing about the fourth chapter of her life (almost twenty years in the north of England).
What do reviewers say about this historical and biographical drama?
Here are the results of two review aggregators:
** 25 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the general audience)
** 54 percent = IMDb (based on more than 900 votes)
On Amazon UK there are at the moment more than 190 ratings of this product, more than 80 with reviews.
The average rating is 3.7 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 74 percent.
As you can see, the ratings are not impressive. In fact, they are quite poor. I understand why. This drama has some serious flaws. Let me explain:
# 1. There is no information about where we are in time or place. This means the drama is not easy to follow and understand. An on-screen message should tell us the time and the place whenever the story moves from one chapter to the next.
# 2. It is not easy to find out who is who, because the leading characters are almost never introduced by name. This means it is not easy to understand what is going on, unless you already know every detail of Mary’s life and unless you already know the names of all the people around her.
To make matters worse, some of the leading characters have not only a name but also a title. Sometimes the name is used, sometimes the title. This can be confusing. One example is Mary’s third husband. His name is James Hepburn, but his title is Earl of Bothwell.
# 3. Often a leading character appears out of nowhere. One example is Mary’s second husband Henry Stuart, who is known as Lord Darnley. All of a sudden, he is there and she is married to him. But where did he come from? How did they meet? And why did she decide to marry him? There is no information about this.
# 4. Important events are shown, but not explained in any way. One example is the murder of Mary’s secretary Rizzio in 1566. We see the murder as it happens, but why is he killed and who is behind it? Such questions are never explored. Even if there is no certain answer, such questions should still be discussed.
# 5. After Rizzio is killed, he is not completely out of the picture: he appears as a ghost in several scenes, which is hardly realistic!
# 6. Elizabeth – the Queen of England – is mentioned many times, but never seen. This is quite correct, because Mary and Elizabeth never meet each other face to face. In this drama, Mary always refers to Elizabeth as her cousin, but this is not quite correct. They are cousins once removed, this means there is a generation between them. But this fact is never pointed out.
# 7. Mary and her first husband François are seen together in two scenes. If you look closely at François, you will notice that there is something white in his left ear. It looks like a piece of cotton. It is there in both scenes.
What is it? Why is there something white in his left ear? The answer: he had an ear infection, which eventually killed him.
Apparently, the movie-makers knew about this and they wanted to include it in the story. This is why they placed a piece of white cotton in his left ear.
I am sure they had good intentions, but the result is unfortunate, because the white cotton in his ear is neither mentioned nor explained.
What we have here is a case of historical accuracy, which is puzzling, because its significance is never explained to the audience!
I am happy to see that the movie-makers are concerned about historical accuracy, but I want more than that. I want the director to be my guide. I want him to help me understand what is going on:
** Please tell me where we are in time and place!
** Please tell me who the leading characters are!
** I can see what they are doing. Please tell me why they are doing this! Please tell me what their motives are!
** Please help me understand what is happening!
I like historical dramas, especially when they are based on a true story, but this drama about Mary Queen of Scots, is neither great nor good; it is not even average.
It is fundamentally flawed. This is why it deserves a rating of two stars (40 percent).
PS. Mary Queen of Scots is a historical and biographical drama which premiered in 2018.
** Director: Josie Rourke
** Saoirse Ronan plays the title role of Mary Stuart
*****
Mary Queen of Scots
A historical and biographical drama
(2013)
*****
Maria Stuart
A biography
by Stefan Zweig
(First published in German in 1935)
(An English translation was published in 1936)
(The English translators made several radical changes)
*****
Stefan Zweig
Austrian author
(1881-1942)
*****
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