Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Irishchatter I swear by the best reviews and the amount of nominations on this film, I wasn't a bit interested in the movie. For god sakes, it was too long even if it was just two hours!I'm interested in these kind of period films but definitely not this one! It really doesn't tell us much of Caroline Mathilde, her lover or her stupid cruel husband. It just made us look at the people of the background, nothing else!I swear, this movie just is pathetic and pretty much boring. They should've made this shorter or even change the storyline.

l_rawjalaurence A ROYAL AFFAIR has distinct intertextual links to Nicholas Hytner's THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE in its portrayal of a mad king (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) who prefers his dogs and mistresses to marriage to a 17-year-old British heiress Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander). Both of them develop a close relationship with German physician Johann Friedrich Streuensee (Mads Mikkelsen): the king regards him as his closest adviser, while the young queen falls in love with him. Eventually that "royal affair" proves the undoing of both Caroline and Streuensee.Told in flashback by the now-banished Caroline, A ROYAL AFFAIR creates an unsympathetic picture of Danish court life in the mid-eighteenth century, one where the King is ruled by his cabinet, and where intrigue is rife. No one can ever be sure of their jibs, especially when the King is so eccentric; but while they are in power, they exploit his weaknesses for all they are worth. The Danish court are explicitly racist in their attitudes; not only do they mistrust Streuensee for his closeness to both monarchs, but they resent his presence on account of his Germanness. The only way to force him out is to insist that he does not "think like" a Dane, and therefore cannot be allowed to influence government policy. While the King stoutly supports Streuensee, he lacks both the guile and the self-possession to protect him.Shot on location in the Czech Republic as well as in Denmark, Nikolaj Arcel's film creates a claustrophobic world in which every gesture can be interpreted as political. The environment is as formal as the costumes; no one can ever have sufficient temerity to speak for themselves. The exterior shots are familiar from most Anglo-American costume dramas (carriages pulling away from stately buildings, elaborately costumed balls etc.) but here they are invested with added meaning, as many of the landscapes outside the court appear both bare and poverty-stricken. Clearly the King and his courtiers are too preoccupied with their own intrigues to worry about the people.The pace is slow-moving, but this gives us a lot of time to focus on the protagonists' expressions - specifically the public faces that they show to the world that mask rather than disclose their true feelings. A ROYAL AFFAIR is a savage denunciation of hypocrisy - although it might focus on the past, its political significance remains significant today.

paul2001sw-1 In the late eighteenth century Denmark, a radical German doctor soothed the mad King, seduced the Queen and governed the country as an enlightened liberal. Understadnably, it didn't last, and Nikolaj Arcel's film tells the story of his extraordinary rise and fall. It's a compelling story, a historical 'Borgen' and the tragedy of a man who ends up assuming an unsustainable position almost by accident; as a film, it's well-acted but also slow, drawing out a tale that can only ever move in one direction. A touch of sympathy for the old guard might have added some depth. It's interesting to think that the British king of the same period also had his own issues with mental health, another story that has been filmed: the politics here is stronger than in Alan Bennet's 'The Madness of King George', but it's not as much fun.

bjarias You get the feeling early on in this film things are not going to end well. But it is movie making and not a documentary as the kings first wife in real life had seven kids and the second supposedly had twelve (then another half dozen or so with several mistresses... the man liked to copulate). It's a good film nonetheless, and the acting is top notch.. Mikkelsen and Vikander.. bit.ly/12EJNhc .. are superb.. the entire cast is truly deserved of high praise. Should you enjoy period movies this one could be right up your alley. Wonder what it is these period films have such an allure. In reality the lives of a majority of the population were totally unappealing.. but we're really not watchin most any of that.