Review of Mary Queen of Scots (2018) by Markhreviews — 22 Dec 2018

You have to feel a little sorry for Director Josie Rourke and Screenwriter Beau Willimon. How do you create a unique, distinctive point of view for material that has been addressed so many times? The Friedrich Schiller play “Mary Stuart” was performed in 1800. The play was the inspiration for Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “Maria Stuarda” in 1835. 1936’s “Mary of Scotland,” starring Katherine Hepburn in the title role, was the first film version. It was followed by “Mary, Queen of Scots” in 1971 with Vanessa Redgrave and “Elizabeth” (1998), the world’s introduction to Cate Blanchett. You get the idea.

Screenwriter Willimon’s text is more than up to the task of crafting an original point of view. This “Mary” becomes a meditation on themes that feel entirely contemporary. The grace, courage and innate intelligence of both Mary (Saoirse Ronan) and Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) stand in stark contrast to the self-absorption, conniving and over-reliance on violence that overwhelm the male characters whenever they perceive a chance to seize power. The message is so cogent that is creates modest hopes that US politics may be leavened in the coming year as more women enter the equation. The film also dramatizes the potentially corrosive influence of organized religion, as minister John Knox (David Tennant, working incognito behind a massive beard) bellows about Mary’s unacceptability to be a monarch worthy of respect, because she is Catholic not Protestant and has the misfortune of being female.

This is nominally the first feature film for Director Josie Rourke. However, Ms. Rourke has been in charge at Donmar Warehouse in London since 2011. The first female Artistic Director in the history of the West End, Ms. Rourke’s theatrical sensibilities add depth and texture to the film. This is particularly worthwhile as we see the visual evolution of Elizabeth from attractive young queen to disfigured smallpox victim to, eventually, the caricature in bright red wig and whiteface who has lost her individualism as she has become submerged in her role as monarch.

Ronan and Robbie are also excellent. Ronan shows the emotional versatility we’ve come to expect from her prior work - “Brooklyn,” “Lady Bird,” “On Chesil Beach.” In this case, her portrayal of Mary is riveting as she communicates grace, courage, fear and intelligence in full measure. Because the screenplay focuses so centrally on Mary, Robbie (so excellent in last year’s “I, Tonya”) is given a prosthetic nose and little to do until the film’s climax, at which point her forceful presence commands attention. Along the way, both women communicate a fondness, respect and desire for friendship from a cousin who is simultaneously her most-feared rival.

This “Mary, Queen of Scots” is a retelling well worth the full attention of today’s audience. Most of us already knew that, by the end of the story, Mary would be a little light-headed. It’s refreshing that we learned so much about gender, religion, power and humanity along the way.