Judi Dench is why you’ll see Victoria & Abdul

WHEN it comes masterful performers, there are few better than Judi Dench. And she nails it again.

Judi Dench in another masterful performance.

LET’S be honest. There’s only one reason you’ll go see Victoria & Abdul.

Dame. Judi. Dench.

Dench’s remarkable thespian talents are so completely without question, you’d see any movie she was a part of. Surely.

Reprising a role she first played 20 years ago in Mrs Brown, Dench once again calls upon Queen Victoria’s regal bearing in Victoria & Abdul. And she nails it.

A disagreeable sovereign at the end of a very long reign, Dench imbues Queen Victoria’s every moment with meaning, as she rediscovers joy and companionship in an unlikely friend.

Based on a true story, the bond between Queen Victoria and her Indian servant Abdul Karim was mostly lost to the vagaries of time until some 50 years after her death. And it wasn’t until the unearthing of his journals some seven years ago did a fuller picture emerge.

Now Dench has reunited with her Philomena director, Stephen Frears (The Queen), to bring justice to the story.

Unimpressed but impressive.

In preparation for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, Abdul (Ali Fazal), an amiable jailhouse clerk in Agra, a city in India, is recruited to sail to England with another Indian man, Mohammed (Adeel Akhtar), to present Victoria with a ceremonial coin. Abdul was only chosen because he was the tallest candidate in sight, and has a good eye for carpets.

Defying palace tradition and strict instructions to never look the majesty in the eye, Abdul catches the attention of the curmudgeonly Queen. She takes an immediate liking to him, a man in such contrast to the tedious court members that surround her.

It’s not long before she elevates him to the role of “Munshi” (a teacher) once Abdul starts to coach her in Urdu. Jealous, xenophobic and fearing the undue influence of a foreigner, Victoria’s court officials and her son and heir Bertie (later Edward VII) makes their displeasure known and Abdul becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign.

Outsiders.

The movie oversimplifies Victoria and Abdul’s relationship and the hostility towards him from the court, underplaying any political clout he yielded over the Queen and her handling of her Indian affairs. It also doesn’t dig much into his ambitions and motivations, which seems like a disservice to the character.

Instead, it emphasises their friendship and the jubilance she found in his company. The real-life Victoria had said that she was “so very fond of him, he is so good and gentle and understanding and is a real comfort to me”.

While that relationship is the crown jewel of the film, it doesn’t scratch below the surface. It misses the opportunity to really explore the opposition to such an unconventional pairing, instead chalking it up to 19th century racism. One suspects the reality was less reductive than that.

There’s also something lacking in the treatment of the Mohammed character, stranded in England because of Abdul’s needs when he desperately wants to return home.

But all that is almost by-the-by because Dench’s commanding presence overrides everything else.

Rating: 3/5

Victoria & Abdul is in cinemas today.

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Originally published as Judi Dench is why you’ll see Victoria & Abdul