Romancefest 2017: Queen Christina

QUEEN CHRISTINA is a 1933 film starring Greta Garbo as the titular heroine in a loose retelling of the life of a 17th century Queen of Sweden. The movie opens with her father's dramatic death on the battle field, then moves to the 6-year-old queen's coronation before flashing forward.

It's been decades of war and Christina wants peace. Her advisors want her to marry and produce an heir, and everyone wants her to hook up with the local war hero (Reginald Owen). A Count (Ian Keith) also wants to wed Christina, but Christina is more interested in running the country than wasting time on men.  Her closest relationship seems to be with her lady in waiting (Elizabeth Young).

She eventually falls in love with a Spanish envoy (John Gilbert) on her own terms and pursues him even after he at first holds back out of loyalty to his king, who he has traveled to Sweden to represent in a proposal of marriage to Christina. The two make plans to run away with each other but tragedy strikes.

Probably the most interesting aspects of this flick, aside from the sweet sets and costumes, are the gender politics prominently on display. First of all, the whole movie is about a woman in power who doesn't rely on men. Secondly, there are overt suggestions that Garbo has the hots for her lady in waiting and even gets jealous when her lady in waiting gets tired of waiting and hooks up with a man.

Finally, the most fascinating sequence of the film is Garbo and Gilbert's first meeting. Garbo has disguised herself as a man to go out riding and take a break from her queenly responsibilities for a while. She stays at an inn with some travelers, including Gilbert as the Spanish envoy, and the two of them hit it off as buddies. Even though to the audience Garbo clearly signifies as a woman, Gilbert and everyone else in the inn assumes she's a man, so their entire courtship is played out as if it is between two men. Even when they eventually go to share a room for the night, it kinda seems like Gilbert has the hots for Garbo even before he realizes she's a woman. And it isn't until after he finds out that she's a woman that he has to push her away (for non-sex related reasons, but still).

Anyway, that kind of stuff makes QUEEN CHRISTINA more timely and more interesting than a more straightforward costume/period piece might have been, so it's definitely worth a watch, especially if you've never seen Garbo in action before.