A Royal Night Out (2015)
Certified: 12A
Duration: 97 minutes
Directed by: Julian Jarrold
Starring: Sarah Gadon, Bel Powley, Emily Watson, Rupert Everett, Jack Reynor, Roger Allam, Ruth Sheen, Jack Laskey, John Neville, Samantha Baines
KRS Releasing Ltd
Director Julian Jarrold has quite a diverse and eclectic list of films up his sleeve with the likes of Kinky Boots (2006), Becoming Jane (2007), Brideshead Revisited (2008) and The Girl (2013) showcasing his strengths and all round versatility. His latest movie is a welcome addition that shows how different and surprising he can be.
It’s also a movie that showcases the time and characters in a comedy drama fantasy that is most of all fun and engaging. This is not a historical movie but a fantasy retelling, based on some slight sources of truth, like what if Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in 1945, still teenagers, had gone out in London when London was celebrating the end of the war in the VE (Victory in Europe) festivities.
Sarah Gadon plays Elizabeth who is 19 years old and Margaret (Bel Powley) is 14 and both are classic 1950s Hollywood style princesses with all the rules, gowns and privileges that come with the title.
The two, especially Elizabeth, are always reminded of their responsibilities with their father King George VI (Rupert Everett) being one of the main sources of reminders.
In 1945 the world at large would not have recognised the princesses if these suddenly turned up at the local pub for a pint.
Sarah Gadon is picture perfect as the future queen
The two have never been out in public. However, they want to see and feel the enthusiasm of victory by joining the crowd’s jubilation.
Thus the two are given the chance to leave and join the celebrations by the Queen Mother (Emily Watson). A curfew is placed and negotiated deftly by Elizabeth.
Thus, accompanied by their chaperones (Jack Gordon & Jack Laskey), they proceed to Chelsea Barracks. The two girls execute their plans and escape into the streets where they want to experience what it means to be normal without all the rules that govern their standing.
They will meet the likes of Jack (Jack Reynor), a soldier who is not in favour of the royal family.
Margaret ends up carried away and a search for her by Elizabeth spans and sprawls over the different aspects of London.
Sarah Gadon is picture perfect as the future queen as she takes up the role enthusiastically.
However, Bel Powley is the one who steals the film away as she elicits the unfettered joy and enthusiasm that comes with her role in a very infectious way as she really shows off how a bird might feel the first time to be let out of the cage.
The film flies on its eye-opening experience of wanting to have fun and enjoy life like normal people would and Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun would have been out of time but perfect.
A Royal Night Out also evinces a very strong sense of time and place with Julian Jarrold making the most of his budget, which would not have been too big, and inventively enough brings more than one expects.
The production design, the celebration scenes and the way the film is shot by Chris Beaucarne gives the film a stately and a retro look that facilitates the film’s ability to take us back so effectively in time.