''The Girl King'' is a 2015 biographical drama about

Christina, Queen of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December (New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death a ...

. It was directed by

Mika Kaurismäki Mika Juhani Kaurismäki (; born 21 September 1955) is a Finnish film director. Biography Mika Kaurismäki is the elder brother of Aki Kaurismäki, and the father of Maria Kaurismäki, who graduated from Tampere School of Art and Media in 200 ...

and written by

Michel Marc Bouchard Michel Marc Bouchard, (born February 2, 1958) is a Canadian playwright. He has received the Prix Journal de Montreal, Prix du Cercle des critiques de l'Outaouais, the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadi ...

who, after writing the screenplay for the film, wrote his stage play ''Christine, La Reine-Garçon'' which enjoyed a successful run in 2012 at Montreal's

Théâtre du Nouveau Monde The Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (TNM) is a theatre company and Theater (structure), venue located on Rue Sainte-Catherine (Montreal), rue Sainte-Catherine in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in , it launched with the classic play ''L'Avare'' by Molière. ...

and then in English at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...

in 2014. The film premiered at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

Cast

* Malin Buska as Kristina *

Sarah Gadon Sarah Lynn Gadon (born April 4, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1999), '' Mutant X'' (2002), and ''Dark Oracle'' (2004). She also ...

as Countess

Ebba Sparre Ebba Larsdotter Sparre (1629 – 19 March 1662) was a Swedish lady-in-waiting and noblewoman. She is known as the intimate friend and possible lover of Queen Christina of Sweden. Life Ebba Sparre was the daughter of statesman and marshal Lars E ...

Michael Nyqvist Rolf Åke Mikael Nyqvist (; 8 November 1960 – 27 June 2017) was a Swedish actor. Educated at the School of Drama in Malmö, he became well known for playing police officer Banck in the 1997–1998 Martin Beck TV series and for his leading role ...

as Chancellor

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre (; 1583–1654), Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a c ...

Lucas Bryant Lucas Bryant (born September 28, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. Bryant is most well known for his role as Nathan Wuornos in the Syfy TV channel series '' Haven'' (2010–2015). Early life Bryant was born in Elmira, Ontario, Canada to Susan ...

as Count

Johan Oxenstierna Johan Axelsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre (24 June 1611 – 5 December 1657) was a Count and a Swedish statesman. Biography The son of Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, he was born in Stockholm. He completed his studies at Uppsala in 1 ...

Laura Birn Laura Eveliina Birn (born 25 April 1981) is a Finnish film actress. Birn was born in Helsinki, Finland. She completed her master's degree from Helsinki Theatre Academy in 2008. She is most famous for her appearances in the 2003 film ''Helmi ...

as Countess Erika Erksein *

Hippolyte Girardot Hippolyte Girardot (born Frédéric Girardot; 10 October 1955) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He is the father of actress Ana Girardot. Selected filmography * 1973: '' La Femme de Jean'', directed by Yannick Bellon, Rémi ...

as Ambassador Pierre Hector Chanut *

Peter Lohmeyer Peter Lohmeyer (born 22 January 1962 in Niedermarsberg) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1980. Life and career Lohmeyer is the youngest of three children of the Protestant pastor Dieter Lohmeyer and his wi ...

as Bishop Of Stockholm * François Arnaud as Karl Gustav Kasimir *

Martina Gedeck Martina Gedeck (; born 14 September 1961) is a German actress. She came to broader, international attention due to her roles in films such as '' Mostly Martha'' (2001), ''The Lives of Others'' (2006), and ''The Baader Meinhof Complex'' (2008). Sh ...

as Maria Eleonora *

Patrick Bauchau Patrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau (born 6 December 1938) is a Belgian actor best known for his roles in the films ''A View to a Kill'', '' The Rapture'' and ''Panic Room'', as well as the TV shows '' The Pretender'' and '' House''. ...

René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathem ...

Reception

Critical response

The film has received divided acclaim. At

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a rating of 42%, based on 19 reviews and an average rating of 4.81/10. Dana Piccoli at ''AfterEllen'' stated: "Anytime we get to see a story about queer women in history is a good thing, and The Girl King is certainly an interesting look at this enigmatic ruler. While I wish it could have been a bit stronger in its delivery, it’s still a very watchable film."

Awards

The film won two awards at the

, Best Actress to Malin Buska, and Most Popular Canadian Feature Film to director Mika Kaurismäki. It also won best Best Film at the

Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Girl King, The 2015 films Films directed by Mika Kaurismäki Finnish drama films Finnish LGBT-related films English-language Finnish films English-language Canadian films Canadian drama films Canadian LGBT-related films Biographical films about Swedish royalty 2015 LGBT-related films LGBT-related drama films Films set in Sweden Films set in the 17th century Cultural depictions of Christina, Queen of Sweden Cultural depictions of René Descartes 2015 drama films 2010s Canadian films