In a week, one of the movie presented at the 74th annual Venice International Film Festival, Victoria & Abdul will make its debut in the cinemas all over the world. Directed by Stephen Frears, the movie involves the participation of important actors like Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim. I strongly recommend it to you, and now I am going to explain why.
First of all, it is based on a true story. I personally love that movies that tell you something that happend for real because they results more reliable. In this case, Victoria and Abdul is the story of the friendship between Queen Victoria and an Indian servant, Abdul Karim, who leaves India and goes to England to serve the Majesty during the Gold Jubilee. With one eye-contact the Queen starts to be interested in Abdul since he becomes her personal teacher of Indian culture, and her best friend.
But other than the historical references, the power of this movie is the way in which this friendship is described. With humor and honesty the director bares the Queen’s human side. He portraits her like a naughty child who does not want to cover anymore that leading role and take seriously the resulting responsabilities. Stephen Frears places emphasis on the Queen’s needing to feel alive again. Abdul plays the role of her savior making her life more colorful. They do not become friends for profit, but just to share moments and experiences together so they reciprocally enrich themselves . The entire movie fully reflects that semplicity on which the concept of pure friendship is based.
Moreover, this story teaches us an important lesson: we have to respect the culture and social diversities. Even if the movie is based on the late 19th century, its meaning is still current. We live in a society where we are becoming more and more racists and haters. Instead, Victoria and Abdul teach us to trust other people and respect their culture. Only doing this, we can break down the social barriers that stop us too see the world in the right way.
In conclusion, just a few words left: do not miss the chance to go to watch it. You will not regret it for sure.