"Queen Christina," Part 1 -- More Regal Than Royal

 

 

 

This week, we're looking at the 1933 Greta Garbo film "Queen Christina." In my opinion, people focus a great deal on the scenes which involve hints of bisexuality and  gender flexibility, so much so that they overlook the film's other virtues. 

 

At the sae time, I do see why people care so much about these issues. The film edged in just before the enforcement of the previously all-talk 1930 code recommended by the Hays Commission. This change, which happened just after thr release of "Queen Christina," put the kibosh on pre-Code references to sexual matters.  Ninety years ago,  lesbians and other LGBT+ folk really had to search hard to find positive role models. 

 

And of course this Garbo movie is a biopic, so how the real Swedish ruler lived her life is to some extent a matter of record. Next week, we'll take a short look at all this gender and sexuality stuff. Wondering about the title "More Regal Than Royal" for today's post? It refers to differences between this week's selected scenes and next week's choices.

But at this moment, in Part 1, let's look at some of the other factors which make "Queen Christina" so beloved with film fans. It's a jewel of a film, created by amazing people at an amazing time. In a previous blog post, I went into some detail about the people who collaorated on the script. If you'd like to know about that, you can find that post here.

But in addition to the application of much Hollywood magic, "Queen Christina" shines because of Greta Garbo's acting. I think it helps a great deal that Garbo plays a historic ruler of her home country. But "Queen Christina" also gives the actress a chance to display some her natural ditgnity, some of her humor, and a bit of her considerable intelligence. For once, Garbo can play a character to whom a love affair matters, but who also has other stuff going on. This is sure a big improvement over  roles in a number of previous films in which Garbo's character was controlled by men -- either directly, or indirectly by her love or pain surounding them.

 

 I have three video clips for you today. We'll begin with my very favorite scene in "Queen Christina." The Queen has a romance going with a Spanish dignitary, and traitors within the court have hinted publicly that the monarch, swayed by love, will allow the Spanish navy to sail in and take over Sweden. Something similar to the January 6 Capitol Riot happens, with a bit of the flaming-torch pursuit of "Frankenstein" thrown in for good measure. 

 

The courtiers panic, seeing the mob headed for the royal castle. They want to pull up the drawbridges and send arrows flying toward the rioters, but the queen says no, these are her subjects. It's their royal castle and they should be allowed in. So the mob rushes in and their spokesman starts yelling that Christina is about to sell them out to a foreign country. And you can see how the queen handles the situation. 

At another tense moment in the film, the newly-crowned queen is pressured by advisors to get busy making war, as Sweden has been doing for many years.  Embolded by the fact that her father, the former King, is present, Christina reaches down inside herself and finds her anger over the pain and suffering caused throughout Europe by warmonering nations. It's not what she wants for her people, and she says she won't let it happen.

 

Finally, near the end of the film, we see Christina at her strongest. Though the population is hurt and sadded by her choice, Queen Christina, having served the people well, finds the will to abdicate, leaving the throne in order to find a more fulfilling life on her own.

Next week: Queen Christina kissed a girl and she liked it.

Garbo