‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ shows it is hard to be queen in a king’s world

Posted on December 28, 2018

By MARK VIOLA

Mary Stuart, born Dec. 8, 1542, became Queen of Scotland at the ripe age of six days old following the death of her father, King James V. At the age of six months, a treaty was signed under which she would be married to the English King Henry VIII’s son Edward when she turned 10. Instead, at the age of 5, she was betrothed to Francis II, the crown prince of France. Married at the age of 15, she was widowed just days before her 18th birthday.

With nothing left for her in France, Mary returned to the British Isles, where she was still Queen of Scotland and also had a believable claim to the English throne, currently held by her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

And, it is at this point in her story that the new film, “Mary, Queen of Scots” picks up, with Mary (Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”) arriving in Scotland, but with eyes on England.

The film is very much Mary’s story, although Elizabeth (Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”) plays a large secondary role, providing a contrasting queen who is facing many of the same challenges Mary does in a country and time in which women are not seen as equals, much less rulers.

The film runs in at two hours, four minutes, but feels a good bit longer. I’ve often said I can tolerate slower movies more than most, and as a history buff, I found this film quite interesting, buoyed by two fantastic performances from Ronan and Robbie. Both showcase their character’s strengths to stand up in a world trying desperately to beat them back down, while also depicting the radically different ways in which they fight back against that world.

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