The Young Victoria is a wonderful film. The cinematography is gorgeous and the pace and emotional tone of the film are exquisite.

French-Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee begins with Victoria’s 1819 birth, then focuses on two storylines: the new queen’s declaration of independence from her mother; and her romance with her first cousin, Prince Albert (Rupert Friend).

Some of you may remember that in 1997, Judi Dench played Queen Victoria, Britain’s longest reigning monarch in history, during her later years; the story revolving around her relationship with manservant John Brown. Currently, The Young Victoria features the outstanding Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) as the Queen during the first years of her reign, including her romance and relationship with husband Prince Albert (Rupert Friend.)

The movie tells the story of the short, but crucial first few years of Victoria’s 63-year reign. As King William IV (an amusingly impolitic Jim Broadbent) dodders toward the grave, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson) plans a regency so she can control her teenage daughter when she becomes queen. The king, who’s Victoria’s uncle, loves the girl as much as he loathes her mother and her top adviser, Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong, who plays another sort of Victorian knave in Sherlock Holmes).

Although just 18 when crowned in 1837, Victoria refuses the regency, spurning her mother and Conroy’s guidance. For political counsel, she relies instead on the prime minister, Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany), and enjoys the time she spends with Albert, who’s been sent from Saxony by their uncle, Belgium’s King Leopold (Thomas Kretschmann), to sway Victoria toward support for Leopold’s ambitions.

During these early years, Melbourne and his party were falling out of favor in Parliament and his attempts to keep some kind of power by imposing the wives of his party members onto the Royal Household was viewed negatively by the public.

Her connection to Melbourne caused Victoria to be strongly disliked by the public during her early reign, but much of this dislike seemed to be forgotten when Victoria married Prince Albert. (Everyone loves a good romance – even in the 1800s!) The movie focuses much of its story on their courtship/romance which was, in part, arranged by Victoria’s uncle, King Leopold of Belgium. Victoria was wary of marriage at first, fearing that a husband would want to rule her, but Albert’s charms and his proclamation that she should marry someone who would want to rule with her, finally won her over.  And, Melbourne informs the queen that the reform-minded Albert is “a good man,” and advises her to “let him share your work.” An end note reports that the queen and her prince consort reigned together for 20 years. (As history buffs probably know, Albert died at 42, while the sturdy Victoria lived to 81. They had 9 children together!)

Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend are fantastic in their roles. Blunt does an excellent job of balancing the exuberance of Victoria’s youth with the seriousness of her station. It’s part of her vivaciousness which makes the romance with Rupert Friend’s Prince Albert all the more interesting and endearing. I would have enjoyed seeing more of the romance and less of the politics.

Co-produced by Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York — and featuring a cameo by her daughter, Princess Beatrice — the film is wonderful. You will enjoy it, I promise!