Tonight, there was something interesting on tv - would you believe, I'd never seen Mary, Queen of Scots! The title role is taken by Saoirse Ronan, Elizabeth I is played by Margot Robbie. It's slated for its historical inaccuracies - it seemed they claim that Mary was trying to depose Elizabeth, which I've never heard, although enough plots were raised in her name (Mary was Elizabeth's closest relative and heir, a Catholic, and the focus of many Catholic plots against the Protestant Elizabeth). And David Tennant is unrecognisable as the firebrand preacher, John Knox (complete with profoundly - and historically accurate - big beard), who's against both queens on the basis that they're women. But particularly Mary, as a Catholic.
Not to mention that, in real life, Mary probably didn't have the pronounced Scottish accent she adopts here; having taken the throne as a baby, she was raised in France from the age of 5, for her own safety - Scottish nobles were notorious through history for killing royals so they could take the throne themselves - and stayed there until she was 18 (France would have been a natural choice, as her mother was French). So I'm guessing she had a touch of French about her, although I guess that would have made the story a tad more complicated. Finally, she definitely never met Elizabeth, despite begging her for years for an audience. A review I've just read describes their meeting as a spellbinding encounter, though. Ah hell, I couldn't miss it, now could I?!
Having now watched it at last, I can say that the suggestion of Mary raising an army against Elizabeth, which never happened in real life, never happened in the film either, despite being suggested in both the trailer and the tv guide. However, the accent is unrealistically Scottish (although she does speak French as well), and the meeting between the queens still never happened. There's also a side-story about Mary's second husband, Lord Darnley, having been involved in a gay relationship with her private secretary, with whose murder he was later involved. First I've heard of it - I thought that he thought that she was having an affair! I did actually like the brutal treatment of this event, which I thought was probably quite realistic. There are complaints that we don't get enough of a look at her third husband - well, there's a lot else to cram in. She had a busy few years, there.
I really liked it, actually. The helplessness of Mary's situation, opposed by her entire council and unused to practical rule, struck me as quite realistic. The look and feel work really well, switching rapidly between both courts, comparing both queens - and the Scottish scenery is stunning, as ever. Elizabeth was apparently devastated upon hearing of Mary's death, so some upset earlier is appropriate - however, I disliked the tone of the film, which suggested that Elizabeth saw in Mary something she lacked - a husband and child - and duly went to pieces around the time that Mary announced her pregnancy. Rather a trite dismissal of the woman, dont'cha think?
Hey-ho, if I'm at a loose end tomorrow, there's Season 2 of The Purge, on Amazon Prime. Rumoured to be better than Season 1 - well, I loved that one, so it'll be interesting to see!
Now, our office got a bit antsy at the fact that so few of us had scheduled holidays. They had visions of us all demanding them at the same time, and leaving the office bereft. So they urged us to schedule them asap. Which I did - taking what I need for Christmas, I calculated I had four days per month. So what I've mainly done is to take four days from the last week of every month - making sure to include Mondays, with their atrocious early-morning meetings! So - here comes the first! I have the next four days off, woo-hoo.. and boy, am I looking forward to that lie-in tomorrow. And there's one manager in particular that I bet has forgotten - if he ever noticed - that I'm not there. I bet they'll look for me in the meeting - just wait n see..
On Tuesday, I'm heading up to Dublin - leaving it till then because of that morning's Tesco delivery. I have a friend up there, you see, whom I'd promised to go for a meal with, her and her fiancé, before I went back to London. And I thought this would be an excellent opportunity! It wasn't until after I booked it that the government announced the resumption of indoor dining for the fully vaccinated, this very week! Well now, if that isn't a sign.. With the car still banjaxed, and no word of when I can expect it to be fixed, I've asked my cabbie friend to take me to the station. Staying in the Clayton, as usual - cheapest available was the Executive King, ooh-la-la! (I believe that includes complementary chocolates.) And we've booked Cafe Milano for that evening - we had a bit of a worry, with the government saying that Covid certs, proving full vaccination, would be required, and them not yet having received theirs. But it was finally confirmed that, in that case, HSE cards, received at vaccination centres, and including details of both vaccines, would be accepted, with photo ID.
Oh man, it's gonna be so good to get away.. and to stay in a nice hotel.. and to eat in a restaurant..
On Wednesday, we plan to shop - we might also get to the cinema - and tomorrow, I must try to book The Good World Chinese Restaurant for that day; they weren't answering the phone last week, and don't have online booking. They don't have outdoor dining, so were closed all during the lockdown.
And I'll come back on Thursday, ready for a (hopefully) nice easy day of work on Friday!
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