Victoria & Abdul is one of those movies it has quickly become cool to hate. I saw it and loved every minute.
Yes, it takes place at a time of and with people who were instrumental in the oppression and violence of British colonialism in India. No, it does not accurately represent their plight, and yes, it trivializes the severity of racist imperialism that amounted to genocide in many parts of the world. But Victoria & Abdul, as the title suggests, is about two individuals. It is not a historical film; it immediately declares itself to be "Based on real events" with a cutesy knowing little "...mostly" tacked on. Trite as that may be, it is also more honest than most films touting their historical accuracy. Stephen Frears (Florence Foster Jenkins, Philomena, The Queen) knows how to do this well, and this picture is no exception.
The film centers on an ill, aging Queen Victoria, whose court is riddled with scheming aristocrats and cruel bigots seeking power. Judi Dench, returning to screen as the empress, gives one of her best screen performances, riveting and often painful to watch. Her honesty about her health, age, and loneliness is some of the most vulnerable screen acting I've ever seen; I'd compare it, oddly enough, to Patrick Stewart in Logan earlier this year. She also has a curious sense of humor, which broadens and enlivens as the film progresses, but the filmmakers seem intent on projecting that onto the screen as well. Other characters are flat and caricatured, and, as far as Victoria and we are concerned, simply irritating.
As I say, the film centers on Victoria and her experience. With a few notable exceptions (we'll discuss presently), the film forces us to view the world much as Victoria does. We see sumptuous feasts for consuming, wicked underlings scraping and bowing while conniving behind closed doors, and duties so banal and confining that we -- like she -- would rather be in bed. Fabulous castles, decadent style, a whole world of beauty and extravagance at her fingertips. The camera paints for us a portrait of gardens and tapestries, food and music, and it's easy to forget the horrors of British-ruled India. "Aha! The film is reinforcing colonial racism!" Maybe. It's also making sure we sympathize with Victoria, because her life of luxury is all she knows. I think it's all most of us know, too; the film has a pretty specific target audience.
Enter Abdul (played expertly by Ali Fazal, matching his co-star with grace and humor), a young clerk from Agra, who is selected for his stature (and, likely, education) to gift Victoria with a gold coin, a symbol of gratitude and loyalty to the empress. After brazenly looking Her Majesty in the eye, Abdul finds himself summoned by Victoria to attend her personally. She is intrigued by this exotic man, but her commodification of him is never consummated; he begins to teach her. She grows hungry for knowledge of Urdu and the Qur'an, much to the horror of her household, and elevates Abdul to the position of her Munshi, teacher. Their friendship is also deeply personal, as they confide in each other and treat each other as intimate family. Victoria's will to live returns, and she embraces the culture of India which she, admittedly, has overlooked and forsaken.
Of course all will not end well, as Victoria's age and illness lead to her eventual death (but not before she delivers, in close-up, an Oscar-nomination-worthy speech about her situation). Her efforts to protect Abdul are undone by her cruel and jealous son, Edward VII (a delicious Eddie Izzard), who burns their correspondence and casts Abdul and his family out of the country. It's a difficult film to watch as we see this intolerance and violence, but it makes you re-consider who is really to blame in the situation. Sure, Victoria had been hated for her seeming attempts to bridge the cultural divide and promote tolerance, but isn't it horrifying too to think that her cultural appropriation and lack of genuine action on behalf of her Indian subjects could be cast as humanitarian, even progressive?
Movies like this are feel-good movies that work by appealing to our ignorant whiteness, that try to let us forgive ourselves for the unspeakable horrors we have enacted around the world through colonized oppression. We don't deserve that. But on the other hand, let's not discredit the effect movies like this can have on people who don't think critically about these issues. This isn't a lesson in history; it's equally not a moral treatise. I spoke with an elderly white man outside the theater who was amazed that "someone like Abdul" could be so kind and loving to people who hated him so much. I read a post from an acquaintance saying that if Judi Dench wasn't horrified by being friends with a Muslim, she would try not to be either. Whatever those statements are ultimately worth, it is encouraging that the people for whom this film is aimed may be getting some good messages out of it.
If all movies being released had messages like this, then we could certainly be more vocal in critiquing its subtext of imperialist rhetoric and racial treachery of Abdul (yes, his role could be read like Samuel L. Jackson's in Django Unchained). There is no arguing that this film could and should have done better. But this is one humble film with a heart of compassion, and to write it off because of its depiction of false history -- which has little to do with the drama it's really portraying -- is a weak and petty position to take.
IMDb: Victoria and Abdul
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