Queen Christina

After renegotiating her contract with MGM in 1933, Greta Garbo was given greater control over the films she made. She now had script, cast and directorial approval. Her next project would be her greatest film, Queen Christina.
Based on the life of the 17th century Queen Christina Wasa of Sweden, the film 'Queen Christina' -directed by the brilliant Rouban Mamoulian, would be one of the greatest testaments to love ever committed to celluloid.
After inheriting the throne at the age of 6 Christina grows to be an educated and sympathetic Queen, who's primary desire is to lead her country out of a 30 year war against the resisting pride of her country men, and into a direction of intellectual progress.


Garbo's Christina took Pre-Code sexuality to it's limit. Christina is a Queen who behaves more as a King, dressed in masculine attire, she is conducting minor affairs with both her chambermaid and the national treasurer. Urged to marry by her royal advisors, so as to deliver an heir to the throne, Christina shows no interest in the effete royal suitors she is presented with,or rather the portraits they send. When it is suggested that she will become an old maid, she responds with rakish masculinity "No, I will be a Bachelor!". After one particularly tiring day when she has had enough of the royal bullshit, she slips out of the palace to hunt in the snow with her valet, only to find a Spanish emissary Don Antonio(John Gilbert) who's carriage is caught in the snow.
Rushing to his aide, she throws her coat under the wheels of the carriage to give it traction. Mistaken for a young boy, she is given a couple of coins for her service. Humorously it is her image on the coins. Seeking shelter from the snow for the evening, Christina rents the last suite in the village Inn. It is not long before Antonio also reaches the Inn and is in need of a place to bed for the night. Christina (still disguised as a boy) and Antonio share some drinks, and discuss the differences in which a Swede and a Latin make love. It is soon decided the only logical thing to do is share the same bed, which Antonio seems almost over anxious to get to. Antonio is a little confused as to why the young man he is sharing the bed with is hesitant to undress, but soon figures out why, and without skipping a beat embraces her. What follows, are some of the most beautiful images found in American film. The scene of Christina silently wandering the candlelit room in heavenly elation, is a film landmark, it would be replicated in Bernardo Bertolucci's 2003 film 'The Dreamers'. After an extended stay in the inn with Don Antonio, Christina returns to her kingdom with a new vitality. Though her bliss is cut short when she her affair with Don Antonio is revealed to her subjects. She is suspected of treason. Christina will later renounce the throne "to be a human being" and marry Don Antonio, living in exile of Sweden.

Now, I know that my synopsis sounds somewhat tongue in cheek, but this film is really quite sophisticated, and shows the complexity of human longing with more maturity than any film I can think of. The fact that this film was made at all is quite remarkable, only a year later the Production code was in full force and would never have allowed for such a story to be told. Also, the fact that Garbo was able to cast her ex-lover John Gilbert in the part of Don Antonio, against the wishes of MGM is quite in keeping with the themes of the film. John Gilbert had been the biggest star for MGM during the 1920's, but after endless battles with Louis B. Mayer, and a flagging popularity after the coming of talking pictures Gilbert was considered Box-Office Poison. Neither his image or name would appear in the trailer for the film.
This film is also interesting when compared to Josef von Sternberg's masterpiece 'The Scarlet Empress' in which Marlene Dietrich -surely Garbo's only true cinematic equal, portrays Cathrine the Great, a woman who understands that her sexuality is one of her strongest assets.
I highly recommend watching this film, even for the beauty of Garbo herself.