Who doesn't love to hear a juicy story about the Queen of England and one of her servants? The movie "Victoria and Abdul" is just the drama-filled story you were looking for. This film was based off a true story and was also based off the book that was written by Shrabani Basu, who actually discovered the diary of Abdul Karim. This drama/comedy film itself was written by Lee Hall and was directed by Stephen Frears. The film's budget was $21 million, but they made $65.4 million in the box office, and even had a Golden Globe nomination. "Victoria and Abdul" was released on September 22nd, 2017.
In this film, Queen Victoria was having her 50th anniversary Golden Jubilee, which celebrated her 50 years as ruler of the British Empire in 1887. She also adopted the title of Empress of India in 1876, so when she had this celebration, there had to be "representatives" of India. Two men from India were ordered to bring the Queen a gift from India, which was a ceremonial coin. One of the men from India, Abdul Karim, was told to not make eye contact with the Queen, but of course, he didn't follow that rule. As soon as Queen Victoria and Abdul made eye contact, it was an immediate connection, but not in a romantic way. They soon grew a close friendship, and Queen Victoria asked Abdul to be her teacher. Abdul taught Queen Victoria daily Urdu lessons and in return, she gave him gifts. The royal family was frustrated with Queen Victoria's actions and resented her relationship with Abdul Karim, but that never stopped her.
"Victoria and Abdul" was a very historically correct movie and this is because of Shrabani Basu. After Queen Victoria died in 1901, her children burned all of her letters to Abdul Karim. It wasn't until Shrabani Basu discovered Karim's diary that the true facts came out. This film focuses on not only the 63 year reign of Queen Victoria, but about how the royal family resented anybody that wasn't in their circle. When Queen Victoria brought Abdul Karim into her life in an almost permanent way, the royal family was enraged since they were on different social statuses. During this time, Queen Victoria's family was seen as very prejudice and racist, so Victoria was seen as a very defiant person.
Overall, this film follows history pretty closely, despite the little exaggerations to make the movie more entertaining to the audience. This was a drama, but it also had a comedic sense to it, so it made it even more enjoyable to watch. It was interesting to see how Queen Victoria's family reacted to her decision to bring Abdul Karim in as her teacher and friend, since during this time it was frowned upon to bring a lower social class person into the inner circle. This film made an incredible amount in box office, and for it to be a historically correct movie, I give it all my props. I highly recommend watching "Victoria and Abdul", and honestly would rate this movie about a 9 out of 10.
Hunt, Kristin. "The True Story of Victoria and Abdul: The Friendship that Scandalized England." Smithsonian, 20 Sept. 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/victoria-and-abdul-friendship-scandalized-england-180964959/.
"Victoria and Abdul (2017)." History Vs. Hollywood, www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/victoria-and-abdul/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2019.
Wloszczyna, Susan. "Victoria & Abdul." Roger Ebert, 22 Sept. 2017, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/victoria-and-abdul-2017.
Anxious to watch this over break. Students have had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to this film!
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting that her children burned her letters. You would think that she would have taught them to be open-minded as she was. I also found it intriguing that it was not a love story for once. Instead she adopted him as her teacher and vice versa. I definitely need to watch this one!
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that this was not a love story! So many films created are based around a love story. Your analysis was very informative. After reading this review I am defiantly going to have to watch it.
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