Yesterday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge presented their newly born baby boy to the world during a photo-call. If you didn’t get enough of it, or if you are simply curious of knowing how members of a Royal family spend their time, you can treat yourself with the newly released trailer for the movie “Mary, Queen of Scots” based upon the real life of one of Great Britain’s most tragic royal figures: Mary Stuart (1542-1587).
This French/Swiss co-production is based upon a biography of Mary Stuart written by famed German writer Stefan Zweig. The film was helmed by Swiss director Thomas Imbach and has a young French actress named Camille Rutherford (“Low Life,” “Holy Motors“) playing the titular character. There hasn’t been much publicity surrounding this film as of yet but it will hopefully get more exposure when it premieres at TIFF in September. Judging by the trailer, the film seems to have been shot on a modest budget and will mostly delve into the protagonist’s emotional turmoil.
Mary Stuart aka Mary I of Scotland aka Mary, Queen of Scots didn’t really have a happy life. Used as a pawn in the conflict that opposed Catholics and Protestants in 16th Century Great Britain, she was crowned Queen of Scotland right after her birth, nearly became Queen of England during her childhood and was the Queen of France for a very brief period. After a series of unfortunate events, she became the Queen of Nothing and spent 19 years in captivity before getting decapitated at age 44. So don’t let the latest royal events fool you; being royalty is not easy.