Christina of Sweden was famously portrayed by Greta Garbo in the 1933 movie Queen Christina, which was not historically correct, but is still a favourite movie of mine. Last year Sweden took another stab at Queen Christina, whose life and decision to abdicate the throne still fascinates us today. In the 2015 movie The Girl King Queen Christina is portrayed by Malin Buska and Ebba Sparre is portrayed by Sarah Gadon, who also portrayed the future Queen Elizabeth II in the 2015 movie A Royal Night Out.
I especially liked the flashback scenes to Christina’s youth, when her grieving mother Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, portrayed by Martina Gedeck, forced her to kiss the lifeless body of her father Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden every morning and evening. Maria Eleonora even has his heart in a transparent casket.
We then follow Christina after her coronation and her relationship with Countess Ebba Sparre. Though it cannot be confirmed now if it was ever as physical as it is portrayed in this film I like that it adds a dimension to the otherwise quite icy Christina. Christina questions love with Descartes, and there is even a scene where she attends an autopsy. The pressure to marry and conceive an heir weighs on her and as we know she eventually abdicated in favour of her first cousin. Though I wish they had added the part where Per Brahe refused to remove her crown in the abdication scene, it’s still quite impressive. She rides off into the sunset, against a gorgeous song and the movie briefly tells us the rest of her life in the credits. Though The Girl King cannot quite beat the classic Queen Christina, it comes pretty close.
It never did receive a full cinematic release, but it is available on DVD right now (US & UK).
I’ll look this one up, as I became fascinated by Christina from the movie “The Abdication,” which you don’t mention. Was that more factual???
I have not seen that one, but I don’t believe there is any proof she and a cardinal had a romantic relationship. 🙂
I love “The Abdication” because of the feminist repartee, which occurs both before and after she meets the Cardinal. As I recall, their “relationship” in the movie was based on respect for their different positions and characters, and does not necessarily imply romance. But if circumstances had been otherwise … (SPOILER ALERT) in the end she did not become a nun, and he went on to be Pope, but it has been years since I saw it. Well worth your time for a viewing.
Thanks, I’ll see if I can find it! 🙂