Mary Queen of Scots (Review)
Mary Queen of Scots Proves You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat it Too.
Mary Queen of Scots is an absolutely beautiful film. It’s filled with gorgeous costumes, breathtaking scenic shots, and two incredible leading ladies. Indeed, it is quite a sight to behold and proves to be filled with quite a bit of intrigue. However, it proves to be only that by the end, a pretty and moderately interesting movie, but one without a lot of substance.
It seems fitting that Mary Queen of Scots would feature Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie as the dueling queens at the center of its tale. Both are actresses not just known for the talents, but also their beauty. As the titular Queen of the Scots though, Ronan manages to earn a lot more screen time than Robbie, but both manage to make quite an impression with their performances. Both portray strong and powerful characters, ones who manage to prove more than capable of taking on the patriarchal tyranny prevalent during the time. In fact, all the male characters surrounding the two leads are just the worst. Then again, that’s kind of the point of the film, that these women are driven into a collision course because of the tyrannous manipulations of their so-called confidants and advisors.
Mary Queen of Scots is an empowering historical period piece which serves as the feature-length directorial debut of Josie Rourke. It benefits tremendously from having a female director to do these two women justice on the big screen. Under her watchful eye, Robbie manages to give one of the most emotionally charged performances of her career as Queen Elizabeth. Despite her relatively limited screen time, her suffering in the name of service to her country is palpable and compliments Ronan’s own passionate performance. Her take on Mary is one that has a fire burning deep beneath her inhumanly steel blue eyes. These two actresses manage to dwarf the men of the film, which is both wonderful and troublesome at the same time.
One of the biggest problems with Mary Queen of Scots is that it tries to be more “woke” than the time period it takes place in would allow. This is especially true given that the primary conflict that Mary must maneuver around is the religious battle between the Catholics and Protestants, neither of which are traditionally known for their understanding. It feels as though the film is pushing for Mary to be a grand hero of the people as she’s forced to have an oddly compassionate nature for those that would typically be considered sinners doomed to eternal damnation. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the gesture by Rourke and writer Beau Willimon, but a number of casting and character options don’t feel historically honest and border on distracting due to Mary Queen of Scots keen focus on the details of the time. The same can be said for the two leads, which are defiant to the point where it hurts their causes more than makes a statement.
As I said before, Mary Queen of Scots is a breathtakingly gorgeous film. Everything possible is done to make the two leads as beautiful as possible, especially when it comes to the extravagant gowns, intricate hair, and extensive makeup worn by them. Robbie sports a perfectly applied prosthetic nose and suffers from terrible scars after getting Pox. However, these makeup effects never distract or hinder her performance, only to emphasize her character. Mary, on the other hand, might not sport such intricate effects, but instead wears dozens of beautiful gowns, which are predominantly featured in scenes where her maidens undress her.
It’s almost a shame that Mary Queen of Scots came out so close to The
