Mrs. Brown (1997)

Starring: Judi Dench, Billy Connolly, Geoffrey Palmer, Anthony Sher, Gerard Butler, Richard Pasco.

First, the Lowdown: Queen Victoria is brought out of a state of ennui with the help of a Scottish servant.

Just before Christmas in 1861, Prince Albert, the husband to Queen Victoria, succumbed to typhoid fever. The Queen would spend the next three years mourning his death in seclusion. Hoping to pull Her Majesty out of her mourning, Henry Ponsonby – the Royal Secretary – has called upon the services of John Brown, a servant at Balmoral Castle, of whom the late Prince Albert spoke kindly of. It is his hope that Brown’s familiarity with Prince Albert will shake Victoria out of her languid state.

Brown arrives at the Osborne House and is instructed on how to behave by Ponsonby. The Queen has made strict rules of conduct, adhering to the customs of Royal mourning, but these same strictures have enchained the staff to her – and also have left her in an unending cycle of self-introspection. Brown’s first meeting with the Queen stirs up the ire of Ponsonby, as the Scottish servant speaks openly about the Queen’s grief, causing her to leave crying.

The next morning, Brown assumes his duties as outdoor servant, by waiting with the Queen’s pony in the courtyard – even though she has not sent for him. Henry orders Brown to return to the stable until the Queen requests to go riding, but Brown refuses to conform himself to the ritualized apathy that the rest of the staff have. Brown’s resistance catches the attention of the Queen herself, who eventually relents to go riding outside of the grounds – the first time in years.

At dinner, Brown further ruffles a few feathers by sitting at the head of the servant’s table – a position normally given to the head butler. But when they report Brown’s behavior to the Queen, she lets him stay.

Further rankling Ponsonby and Prince Albert, the Queen’s son, is Victoria’s refusal to be seen in public or to grant audience to anyone. Instead of meeting with a Chancellor, Victoria instead takes the Princesses for a swim – citing Brown’s advice that the saltwater might do her well. In fact the more Brown stays in her service, the more Victoria seems to regard him.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli has become tense as rumors that the voting public is losing faith in the Monarchy because of the Queen’s isolation. Knowing that it is the opinion of the voters that matters the most, he opts to withhold any opinion until he is sure that his friendship with the royal family will not jeopardize his career.

Back at Osbourne, Brown has taken on more duties, questioning the laxness of the staff. His brother Archie (also a member of the staff), however, wonders if there is more to it than that. Indeed, as the Queen begins to spend more time with Brown – the rest of the staff wonder at the motives of both parties.

This was another one of those movies that I was recommended to watch, but only just now got around to it (like Cinema Paradiso). I was bracing myself a little bit, however, because whenever I see a period drama like this – I expect it to be stuffy and dry, like reading Nathaniel Hawthorne, but Mrs. Brown puts a human face on a person who, by virtue of her status, is a cultural icon. When one thinks of the reign of Queen Victoria, it is easy to get swept up in the cultural and technological achievements that one often forgets Her Majesty was so much more than a figurehead. Victoria’s marriage to Prince Albert was unusual in so far as they were both happy in their union, as opposed to content to have married within one’s station. Thusly, his passing was more than just the loss of the Royal Consort, but something that struck a blow with Victoria herself.

I am a huge fan of both Judi Dench and Billy Connolly, and even more impressed with Connolly because of how restrained he is in this film. It has become a far too common stereotype in English period dramas where a concise and proper household is disrupted by a brash highlander with foul manners and an accent you can use to peel paint with. In fact, most notably for this movie, Brown’s Scottish ancestry is just one more thing to demerit him in the eyes of his superiors, rather than being the focus of everyone’s ire.

Line of the movie: You tell “Her Majesty” that if her husband were here he’d tell her to get out of the house and get some air into her lungs.

Four and a half stars. Because sheep can hear zippers.