Victoria, crowned queen at the age of 18 in 1837 and living into the 20th century, was the longest-reigning British monarch.  The Young Victoria, the 2009 film from the Québec director Jean-Marc Vallée, casts a sympathetic light on the teenaged Victoria as she comes of age (passes from child to young adult) amid power struggles (conflicts), court intrigues (secret schemes or love affairs), and family feuds (bitter, long-lasting quarrels).

At the heart of the story is the romance between Victoria (played by Emily Blunt) and her German cousin Prince Albert (played by Rupert Friend), whom she married in 1840. Chafing (irritated, angered) under the oppressive control of her mother - the Duchess of Kent - and the Duchess’s political cohort and possible lover Sir John Conroy, Victoria takes great solace (comfort in sorrow or trouble) in the gentle kindness and unpretentious (modest, opposite of arrogant) manner of her suitor Albert.

In a scene that illustrates both the pressures she is under and the antidote (something that counteracts injurious effects, such as a remedy for a poison) offered by Albert, the two young people hold a hushed (very quiet, whispering) conversation while playing a game of chess under the watchful eyes of her family and their allies. Read the exchange below and then watch the chess game scene from The Young Victoria.

Victoria: Do you ever feel like a chess piece yourself, in a game being played against your will?
Albert: Do you?
Victoria: Constantly. I see them leaning in and moving me around the board.
Albert: The Duchess and Sir John?
Victoria: Not just them. Uncle Leopold, the King, politicians ready to seize hold of my skirts and drag me from square to square.
Albert: Then you had better master the rules of the game until you play it better than they can.
Victoria: You don’t recommend I find a husband to play it for me?
Albert: I should find one to play it with you, not for you.

In an interview, Emily Blunt, the young English actress who plays Victoria, describes the personalities of Victoria and Albert as polar opposites (complete opposites, like the North and South Poles) who balanced each other out. (Blunt uses a very British idiom to convey the same idea of a pair of opposites: “like chalk and cheese.”) Stubborn (obstinate) and feisty (full of animation, energy, or courage; spirited), often mistaking stubbornness for strength, attacking before thinking about it – these are the personality traits Blunt attributes to Victoria, characteristics she says were tempered (moderated, softened) by the logical, serious, calm demeanor (conduct, manner, also expression) of Albert, who in turn benefited from the laughter and joy that the more flamboyant (bold, dashing, showy) Victoria brought to the match.  

Questions for discussion – leave a comment on this page!:

Can you think of another film in which a game of chess – or any other game or sport – plays a symbolic role?

In a film based on real historical figures and events, how faithful to the facts should the filmmakers be? (One fictional embellishment in this film, for example, is that Albert is grazed (touched lightly in passing) by a bullet as he attempts to save Victoria from an assassin. In fact, Victoria escaped assassins more than once, but Albert was never wounded.)

Which in your opinion is a more interesting film: (1) The Young Victoria; or (2) Mrs. Brown, the 1997 film starring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly that tells the story of Queen Victoria’s close friendship and possible romance with her Scottish servant John Brown long after the death of Prince Albert?

Clint Eastwood’s new film Invictus tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s first days as president of post-apartheid South Africa in 1994. Morgan Freeman’s moving (evoking strong feelings) portrayal of Mandela’s gentle humor, elegant, old-fashioned courtesy, and fierce intelligence makes for a fascinating (very interesting) behind-the-scenes (theater metaphor: occuring backstage or out of the view of the general public) look at the birth of a new era.

Freeman’s Mandela is continually surprising his advisors and security personnel with his indefatigability (never getting tired) – as he charges out of his house for his pre-dawn (before sunrise) constitutionals (walking for exercise) at the beginning of marathon workdays – as well as with his emphasis on reconciliation (making harmony with your opponents or enemies) rather than recrimination in dealing with white South Africans.

In this spirit, Mandela makes the surprising decision to throw his whole-hearted (full, passionate) support behind the Springboks, the nearly all-white national rugby team that had become a hated symbol of oppression to most black South Africans. And so begins a remarkable turnaround (reversal of fortunes) for a team that seemed destined to make a poor showing as hosts of  the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

If you’re watching the film to practice your English, Freeman’s stately (majestic), measured eloquence as Mandela will give you a sporting (good enough) chance to understand the vocabulary the first time around.

Matt Damon as the Springboks’ captain Francois Pienaar is also not too difficult to understand as he echoes the calm, thoughtful, resilient (able to recover from adversity) tone of Mandela.

The grunting exertions of the rugby scenes are not so lengthy that they risk boring non-sports fans, and the underdog (not expected to win) status of the Springboks makes for stirring drama as their startling (very surprising) success is celebrated with boyish enthusiasm by Mandela.

In a quietly moving scene Damon’s character and the Springboks team visit the tiny (very small) Robben Island prison cell where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years as a political prisoner. The song 9,000 Days, the title of which refers to the length of time Mandela spent in prison, by the South African group Overtone with Yollande Nortjie, is featured in the soundtrack (the music in the film).

The title of the film – Latin for unconquered – is drawn from a poem by the 19th century poet William Ernest Henley that in the film Mandela gives to the Springboks’ captain for inspiration. In reality, Mandela did find inspiration in the poem while in prison but instead gave the Springboks’ captain a passage from a 1910 speech called The Man in the Arena by US president Teddy Roosevelt.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Vocabulary from the poem:
fell (dreadful, cruel)
clutch (strong hold, grip)
winced (flinch, draw back from fear of pain)
bludgeonings (heavy blows or hits)
unbowed (not lowered)
wrath (anger)
looms (action to describe the taking shape of an impending event or the coming closer of something of impressive size)
menace (danger, threat)
strait (narrow – not the same as straight, which means without bend or curve)
scroll (list or roster)

If you see the film, let us know what you think of it!

The scrappiness (fighting spirit) comes into play when Holmes shows off (exhibits) his skills as an expert bare-knuckle (no boxing gloves) boxer and inventive street brawler (disorderly, unruly fighter) in several scenes that pit him against (find him confronted by) opponents nearly twice his size. The idea of investing Holmes with boxing prowess (bravery, ability, strength, especially in battle) comes straight from the pen of Sherlock Holmes’s creator, the author, athlete, spiritualist, and amateur detective Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The vulnerability (susceptibility to being hurt) is seen in his emotional dependence on his friend Dr. Watson, played by Jude Law, and his confusion when ensnared by the seductive Irene Adler, played by Rachel McAdams.

The humor comes occasionally from the repartee (quick, witty replies) between Holmes and Watson, but more often from the clever and eccentric way that Holmes extricates himself from the most dangerous predicaments, as when he hides himself from his enemy in the smoke of a fireplace and then launches himself out of the window of the Houses of Parliament into the River Thames. The first part of his anatomy that resurfaces is not his head, gasping for air, but his extended right hand holding the pipe he was anxious to keep dry.

Susan Wloszczynza of USA Today gives us a fascinating backstage look at the making of Sherlock Holmes, describing the conversion of a Brooklyn, NY, armory into a 19th-century English gentleman’s flat and revealing that both Downey and Law pored over (read or studied intently) Doyle’s writings to extract what they dubbed (called) Doyle-isms — characteristic expressions that would lend color and authenticity to the dialogue.

The language of the film, while occasionally formal in tone in keeping with the time period, is fairly straightforward and not too slang-heavy, making it a good choice for upper-intermediate to advanced-level speakers of English.

If you see the movie, leave a comment here telling us what you think!