Mrs Brown

1997 "Loyalty without question. Friendship without equal."
7.2| 1h45m| en
Details

When Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown. But their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil to the monarchy.

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Reviews

Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Pluskylang Great Film overall
Blake Rivera If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
bkoganbing If you are expecting this film to be a romance than skip it. It is about the extraordinary man with the ordinary name of John Brown who brought a Queen out of mourning. Not that a whole lot of gossip about Queen Victoria and her Scot's highland servant Brown wasn't bandied about in their day. That's the way it is in court politics, then and now.Judi Dench is the Queen who when this story begins was getting the unflattering nickname of the widow of Windsor. By the merest of chance in these royal arranged marriages it was arranged she should marry a cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha. She and Prince Albert had a good score of married years with several children. They were so happy that when Prince Albert died of typhoid fever in late 1861, Victoria went into a really lengthy mourning period beyond all normal parameters. The woman would have needed grief counseling had it been available back in her day. She shut herself up in Balmoral Castle in Scotland and made no public appearances. Nor would she allow any of her children to substitute for her, particularly the Prince of Wales. With that kind of mentality operating, a whole lot of people questioned the need even for a monarchy.Into her life comes John Brown, brother one of the household help already at Balmoral and hired to tend the Queen's horses. Billy Connolly plays the rough spoken Brown who somehow even through his tough highland talk, endears himself to his Queen with his common sense and total concern for her well being. Gaining the position he does in the Victorian household, Brown makes many enemies who try to bring him down. The period of the film covers when he arrives in the Queen service in 1866 until his death in 1883. Connolly makes a fine Brown though if the film had been made 25 years earlier, the part was made for Sean Connery.Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown gained to Oscar nominations for Judi Dench for Best Actress and for Best Makeup. Shooting on location in the royal palaces and grounds which are nicely preserved from Victoria's time, the film does have the look and feel of Victorian Great Britain and the troubled monarch who reigned over the Empire.Were she and Brown ever physical? I doubt that very much, the very practical Brown was not a stupid man and would never have pushed his luck that much. But he was a tower of strength for the woman whom he brought out of mourning to take her place which was a large one in the world.
TheLittleSongbird I really wanted to see this movie, as I love Judi Dench, and when I saw it was going to show on TV, I knew I had to see it. The result is a very beautiful, touching and brilliantly acted film. Also excellent are the intelligent, sophisticated screenplay and sensitive direction. What made it so beautiful was how it was filmed; beautiful cinematography, scenery, costumes you name it. The music is soothing, pleasant and tender, and the story is somewhat tragic and compelling. And the acting is outstanding, Judi Dench is absolutely mesmerising as Queen Victoria and Billy Connolly was a huge surprise as John Brown, giving a restrained and very moving performance, proving he can do serious roles while being thoroughly decent at comedy as well. Of the supporting performances, I thought the best came from Anthony Sher as Disraeli, and Geoffrey Palmer is also great. Overall, topped with a poignant ending, Mrs Brown is a wonderful film. 10/10 Bethany Cox
blanche-2 Dame Judi Dench is "Mrs. Brown" - that is, Queen Victoria, and Billy Connolly is John Brown in this 1997 film, based on fact, of Queen Victoria's relationship with a Scottsman, John Brown, who becomes her servant. The excellent script is by Jeremy Brock and the director is John Maddon, who does a wonderful job.The widowed, deeply grieving Queen Victoria has basically retired from public life when John Brown, who served her late husband, appears on the scene to help draw her out. Each day, he stands outside with her horse, even though she refuses to ride. Eventually she rides again, and also takes walks. Attracted to his lack of formality, the Queen becomes extremely fond of Brown, making him the object of jealousy at court.Both the stars are magnificent in their roles, and the atmosphere and costumes are perfect. Dame Judi Dench is a queen who is deeply aware of her position and protocol, but also is a vulnerable, sad woman, guilty that her newfound friendship is betraying her husband's memory. One can see her being drawn out slowly by John Brown, and finally enjoying the deep friendship. Connolly is great - tough, uncompromising, and fiercely protective of his Queen, though he realizes after a point that she needs to return to public life.In history, John Brown and Queen Victoria were suspected of being more than friends, thus the name "Mrs. Brown," and in a diary was found the report of a deathbed claim by Rev. Norman Macleod, that he presided over Queen Victoria's marriage to John Brown. This really hasn't been proved, but the Queen was buried with a lock of Brown's hair, his photo, and his mother's wedding ring, as well as Prince Albert's robe. Most historians feel it was only a friendship and point out that after Brown's death, she became close to an Indian servant in much the same way. She obviously needed a confidant after her husband died.The cinematography is breathtaking. A truly beautiful film, highly recommended.
Framescourer A successor to The Madness King George, i.e. personal crisis for period monarch, featuring much-loved British actor in principal role. Luckily for Madden et al, Judi Dench, promising international fame with Goldeneye released the previous year, fulfils the expectation heaped upon her in excess. Hers is an exquisite performance, which should be held as the benchmark English monarch alongside or even above Helen Mirren, Cate Blanchett - or even Dench's own Oscar-winning Elizabeth I (Shakespeare in Love, the following year).Billy Connolly proves to be the biggest surprise of the project, a sympathetic but also well-pitched and serious 'Mr' Brown. The rest are a solid, characterful background ensemble, my favourite being Anthony Sher's Disraeli. The film looks wonderful, with a limited but rich palette of colour and some real attention paid to the period detail.Yet Dench is the marvellous epicentre of the piece. It's a good film, no more, made indelible by it's eponymous principal. 7/10