Review of Queen Christina (1934) by Cindy I — 07 Oct 2010

This is one of Greta Garbo's better roles, playing the title role of Queen of Sweden Christina. She decides to go out alone -- dressed as a young man -- to get away from all the hubbub of being a royal. In a small inn, she meets John Gilbert, a Spanish envoy on his way to Sweden to meet with Queen Christina, whom he has never met. He believes her to be a young man, and they are forced to share a room in the crowded inn. He discovers her identity and they fall in love. Quite a bit of homoeroticism tinges this film, from Christina's hinted-at affair with one of her ladies-in-waiting, to Gilbert's attraction to whom he believes to be a boy. The idea that anyone could mistake Garbo for a boy is preposterous, of course. Some beautiful camera work inside the castle makes up for some shoddy back projection during Christina's travels. Garbo's performance is a little overly dramatic, as many of her talking parts were, but the end shot, where she sails off to a new life, is the stuff of legend.

UPDATE: Saw this again today, and am upping my rating a star. That might be a bit generous, but every time I see this film (I think I'm up to about a half dozen) the better I like Garbo's performance.