User Reviews

While as a film it may not "check all the boxes" it is a beautifully made film with excellent performances. But most importantly it gives us a look at an incredibly important time in the history of the world. The Treaty of Versailles turned out to be one of the most controversial documents ever signed, by the "winners" of the First World War, some even arguing it was the root cause I'm bringing about the Second WW. Romania's fight for their country's unification was just one part of what the post-war world would look like. The rest is history.

I just love how she speaks perfect english and perfect romanian in the same time, and knows how to perfectly pronounce every name respective to their proper way, in both languages. You can hardly ever hear a person who speaks perfect english, that also can speak perfectly in any other language not just in this day and age, but ever.

Aside from that, which for me was the point of attraction nr. 1 to this quite cool version of The Queen Marie of Romania, in the 2nd part of the movie the delicious confrontations which were in quick succession with Great Britain's prime minister who was just stalling and America's President who honestly seemed he couldn't care less were a stunt that this movie pulled off. Those 2 scenes where she had enough with loitering and bickering and went straight to the point like an arrow, rearranging Great Britain and America's highest official's thought patterns a little more scrupulously towards Romania, were a delight. "Leave politics to the politicians!" is like saying "Leave justice in the hands of police!", and whatnot other miss concepts! No, one should do whatever he can to improve the livelihood of the people he cares about, and that's everyone's job.

The acting is not always to notch but The Queen delivers and through her presence, the rest of the cast seemed a level better than they actually were. Not brilliant, nor dull, an 8 out of 10 well deserved for this movie.

Greetings again from the darkness. There are likely those who know less about the history of Romania than I, but that list is pretty short. Co-writers and co-directors Alexis Sweet Cahill of Italy and Brigitte Drodtloff of Germany, along with three other listed co-writers: Gabi Antal, Ioana Manea, and Maria-Denise Teodoru, bring us the more than 100 year-old story of Queen Marie, and it's "based on True Events" (including the Queen's own writings).

Roxana Lupu, originally from Romania, plays Queen Marie, a Monarch who likely doesn't receive the historical credit she deserves. Her husband, King Ferdinand I is played by Daniel Plier, who really isn't given much to do here ... hence the film's title. A spectacular opening shot takes us over a frozen river and drops us into Bucharest in 1919. World War I has recently ended, and no one seems to care much about the state of Romania, except Romanians. Having sided with the Triple Entente (Russia, France, and Great Britain), hopes are now fading for a united Romania.

Against the preferences of Romanian Parliament, her husband, and just about everyone else, Marie headed to the Peace Talks being held in Paris ... yes, the talks that led to the Treaty of Versailles. Though most tried to encourage her to let the politicians handle the politics, Marie reminded them that she was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and thus is not silenced easily. She forced and maneuvered her way in to meetings with powerful world leaders of the time to negotiate for international recognition (and assistance) of a united Romania.

Above all else, this is the story of strong woman fighting for her country. She goes toe-to-toe with Prime Minister Ion Bratianu (Adrian Titieni), French Prime Minister Clemenceau (Ronald Chenery), and U. S. President Woodrow Wilson (Patrick Drury) in her efforts to be heard. She even battles her own son Prince Carol II (Anghel Damian), who would later become King. Ms. Lupu is excellent in the role, and she has previously played Queen Elizabeth (twice), as well as a Princess and a Grand Duchess, so clearly has the screen presence to pull off such royal and regal roles. The film only teases her attraction to Prince Stirbey (Emil Mandanac), and the personal history between her and her cousin, King George V (Nicholas Boulton).

It's a period drama with the requisite costumes, hair styles, and set design necessary to whisk us away to a century ago, and mostly we learn there was more to this popular Queen than her commitment to feeding citizens during a difficult time. The closing credits give us archival footage as well as the political developments that occurred. The time period covered is limited, but one that was crucial for a country and her Queen.

Available On Demand and on Digital May 7, 2021.

This movie is something that Romania didn't knew it needed but it did. Great costumes and choice of actors. As a romanian maybe I would have enjoyed a little bit more detail in their everyday life, the action goes quite fast . I believe it managed to capture well the spirit of our most beloved queen. Going to see this in cinema really gave me , and the rest of the viewers, a feeling of patriotism and pride. Queen Maria of Romania is our most beloved monarchy figure and this movie is an amazing addition to our culture.

The opening in Timisoara/Romania, drew a big crowd as a sign of great interest for this piece of art. Really nice locations were recollecting the atmosphere of 1900's beginning, the costumes were perfect, the use of alternate English/Romanian subtitles gave a complete experience to us, and the sound was very clear and musical. This movie came out at the right moment because Queen Marie remainings were brought back to Romanian soil recently.

I can't comment on the historical accuracy so this review is just about the film as a period drama. I found it a bit slow for my tastes. The characters were dull and boring. Any actionable drama seemed forced and somewhat out of character for the characters. I'm guessing the writers and producers wanted it that way and maybe it is historically accurate but the pacing and dialog practically put me to sleep. Sorry this was only watchable, a 6 for me.

I was expecting to get bored at this movie but it was actually very well played and the story is great. A interesting movie from the history of Romania in which played a part a member of the British royal family. Well done, Romania!

In contrast to a surprisingly lavish decor as well as to a refreshingly pleasant scenery, the script and acting leave a lot to be desired in terms of dialogic spontaneity and psychological depth. Unfortunately, the actors (Roxana Lupu obviously the most) embody flat, dull, one-dimensioned characters, excessively and rigidly emphatic even for an average theatrical performance.

As a Romanian, it is quite sad to see such a promising project ending up as a glitteringly vacuous attempt to depict maybe our most glorious historical achievement: the making of Greater Romania.

As a historical film enthusiast, I was intrigued by Queen Marie of Romania. This film is based on true events that occurred in Romania following the First World War. The film gives us an insight into a particular controversial event in history involving Queen Marie, who is also descended from British Royalty as she is Queen Victoria's granddaughter.

Roxana Lupu stands out in her starring role as Queen Marie as she gives an impeccable performance in her depiction of this regal character. Not only does she beautifully portray a gentle essence in Queen Marie, she is also able to organically couple this with the strong determination the Queen emanates when she is faced with patriarchal and political opposition. One cannot help but root for this character.

The great performance from the cast is complimented by an authentic looking setting and period costumes. I was drawn into this historical world and witnessed a significant Romanian event that not many outside of Romania are aware had existed.

The film is predominantly in English and Romanian dialogue with respective subtitles for both. I found that the Romanian dialogue and the European accents of the English speaking actors made the piece very convincing.

Once exposed to this Romanian narrative, I was eager to know more about Queen Marie and found myself googling more information on her place in history. You probably will to.

No disrespect to the honorable intentions of its creators, but this film is far from being a satisfying experience. Whether you are an aficionado for historical films or just a regular cinephile, you can't help but feeling a little irked by the film's mediocrity. No matter how impressive some palaces or costumes may look, they hardly make up for pompous acting, cliched dialogue and tiresome scenes. On television it could have made a fairly acceptable soap opera. The big screen, however, is a totally different story.

What's more disappointing is that major historical figures of Romania, such as Bratianu, Averescu, King Ferdinand, Prince Carol (future King Carol II) and others are depicted as poor caricatures of themselves. The same goes for personalities like Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson and Clemenceau. While it's common knowledge that cinema is definitely not a history class, we simply can't overlook the fact that the way in which the film adapts historical facts and characters to its narrative is an injustice to a whole era, both historically and artistically.

There is no depth, no other dimension to any of the protagonists. Apart from the leading lady, presented in a rather messianic light, the film overflows us with dozens of supporting characters and the minute we start taking a slight interest in them, it flatly abandons them.

Roxana Lupu seems to be more excited about getting to play the role of the queen than about the role itself. She tries her best to look convincing, but, being so heavy-handedly directed, she does very little in making us truly empathize with her character. A case in hand in this respect is the pompous manner in which her character (the queen) repeats throughout the film how much she loves Romania and how proud she feels to lobby for her country's interests. In my humble opinion, if you are making films and you want to convey certain feelings and messages to your audience, this ought to be reflected in your cinematic approach as a whole, not in just a few lines of dialogue (which in this film is infuriatingly repetitive). Cinema is, after all, a very powerful medium and, if one posesses the skill, one may be able to convey a thousand messages in just one frame without anyone having to speak a single word. However, making your actors repeat the same things for two hours and in a such overblown manner, is dull, uninspired and a little insulting to the viewer's intelligence (not to mention that it adds to the characters' artificiality).

All in all, the film leaves a great deal to be desired and that is really a pity, because an important figure such as Queen Maria and a major geopolitical event like the creation of Greater Romania deserve much better than cheap romanticism. I am amazed that, having such a great material in their hands, the creators of the film could offer nothing more than a series of heavily used clichés. They may be the safe option and guarantee tickets, but, at the end of the day, all they leave behind is an audience addicted to low-quality filmmaking and, on a second level, a number of misconceptions regarding Romania's modern past.

A much needed page from the history of a great nation... Queen Mary was one of the greatest figures of Romanian modern history. Finally, after 100 years, Queen Mary of Romania, ignored so far by the communist propaganda, was brought back in our memories. Despite some artistic shortcommings, the simple fact of rememorating the significant faces of Romanian history is remarkable for the Romanians and their milenary history on these lands. Congratulation to all those who contributed to this movie...

The movie fails to capture the real importance of the characters and of the story. The plot is poorly put into the first World War context and is very superficially explained. The edit is cheap and filled with amatoristic takes. A waisted chance of making a meaningful movie.

American here chiming in: Kept my attention the whole way through. Good job on the period piece aspect. You can't ignore Lupa's organic performance along with the others. Great acting. Would have gave it 10 but gave it a 9 due to budget. I'm sure it wasn't cheap to make and by no means was it a low budget movie or feel like one, but they didn't have "Star Wars" dollars, so that's why a gave it a 9. Loved it and will watch again. Marvelous!

A great movie about a subject I knew nothing about, beautifully made with good cast, great costumes and sets. I would have liked to have delved deeper into the Greater Romania thing. I know that present days Romania has chunks of what Hungary calls its own and Moldova the same. It didn't show how the monarchy's of Central Europe after WWI where doomed by their own weakness. In the movie its mentioned that the Royal Family of Romania are German Princess given the job because had nothing to do after the unification of Germany in 1871. But back to the movie, really the only ones who seem to be able to tell these stories in modern cinema are the European co-productions. They have a feel and of course the wonderful locations are no harm. the lovely scene near the end between Ferdinand and Marie at the castle was just gorgeous and ended the movies in a lovely way.

I loved watching this movie from the first minutes till the end, I like the characters, palaces and history tale. I didn't know very well about Queen Maria intervence into such a historical moment of my country. I liked the performance of Maria Lupu and how she enterred into such an important character like Queen Maria. I would love to see more romanian movies like this!

The dialogues are ones of the worst I've seen The characters are caricatural

Looking for love it - that was, in my case, the desire of me. And for love it - many reasons, from the admirable performance of Ruxandra Lupu, giving the fair and the nuanced , full merited portrait of the Queen to the imppecable costumes, use of English and Romanian and atmosphere. The only , basic , in fact problem, remains the dialogue. It reminds the wood language, the melodramatic speeches from the Romanian cinematography before 1990 and few films by Sergiu Nicolaescu after. Maybe it is not a real sin, maybe is trait of specific but , behind the story, very useful to be known , something remains not exactly finished. But, no doubts, a beautiful film and necessary for some reasons.

This is not a movie for "cinematography specialists"

It is not easy to put together facts and try to replicate a context that was lied about for so many years. This is all very new to deal with and needed a huge amount of work. From the idea to the screen in a place where many at the top do not care or even do not want to see the true history.

It was one of the most poor movie. First the actors playing was at the level of documentary movies, like they were amators playing first time even they who were passioned, like Bratianu, or even the queen. And it wasnt there fault. It was something about the directing... And the personality of the queen wasnt described, created at all. Only poor dialogs in short scenes and facts presented without talent. Pitty. This could be a good subject becouse, even if, in reality, the queen wasnt an important history figure, was a vivid and intersting caracter with a rich life. She is a caracter, no doubd, bun not in this movie....

I love this movie! Is very beautiful and well worked! Worth watching!🇷🇴 🌟 10+ 🌟

The movie presents the Romanian perspective at the end of the First World War. As Europe lies in ruin and conflicts are still going in certain areas, the winners gather in Paris to carve out the spoils of the war. After suffering a german invasion, a devastated Romania is in danger of being denied its historic provinces. The story explores the sacrifices made by the Queen of Romania, Marie, to win over the leaders of France, England and the United States. It is a unique perspective of a small Eastern European country, with it's own brand of "realpolitik", a.k.a. The hardships it must endure in order to achieve its political goals. In this respect, the story feels quite universal.

The movie îs very good and instructional for those who doesn"t understand the Romanian history and role in the world. No other place in the world ethnic minorities are better preserved and integrated în society for the benefic of all.

A true lesson for the current leaders .

Pour acting, pour replics, It don t takes you into the story because of the pour thinking replics...I couldn t watch it till the end...

Excellent choice of cast , excellent scenery and acting.

Same old traditional RO cinema style. Long filmings without nothing happening, when Roxana Lupu speaks, i actually lie better and perfect and not even playing a role. Pitty for the memory of great Maria. Not to say about the poor accent. Not even the russians talk like this.