Queen Christina (film) - Background

Background

The film was directed by Rouben Mamoulian in 1933, and written by H. M. Harwood and Salka Viertel, with dialogue by S. N. Behrman, based on a story by Salka Viertel and Margaret P. Levino. Leading roles are played by Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, whose career heavily declined with the rise of talkies. Garbo herself insisted Gilbert was her co-star. It was the fourth and the last time they starred together in the same film. Queen Christina was billed as Garbo's return to cinema after an eighteen-month hiatus. Prior to the shooting, while on holiday in Sweden, the actress read a treatment by Salka Viertel about the life of Christina and became interested in the story. At the time of shooting the film, Garbo was 28, the age of her character.

Queen Christina is a historical costume drama, loosely based on the life of 17th century Queen Christina of Sweden. Apart from her, a number of other authentic historical characters appear in the film, such as Charles X Gustav of Sweden or Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie. Some events that took place in history, like Thirty Years' War, are represented in the work, although Queen Christina is not a film closely depicting facts. In this historical fiction account, Queen Christina of Sweden falls in love during her reign but has to deal with the political realities of her society. In real life, Christina's main reason for abdication was her determination not to marry and her devotion to Mediterranean culture including Catholicism. Another fictitious element is the romantic affair between Christina and Antonio. However, the queen's bisexuality is clearly marked in the film: "I shall die a bachelor!" she declares, wears manly clothes and even disguises herself as a man. The film itself is remembered for no less than two cult scenes. The first one, over 3-minute long, shows Christina walking around the room, having spent a night with Antonio at the inn. She touches various objects to imprint the space on her memory. The second one, arguably the most famous shot of the film, is the closing frame, showing Christina standing as a silent figurehead at the bow of the ship bound for Spain. With the wind blowing through her hair, the camera moves in to a tight close-up on her face. Prior to shooting the final scene, Mamoulian suggested Garbo thought about nothing and avoided blinking her eyes, so that her face could be a "blank sheet of paper" and every member of the audience could write the ending of the film themselves.

The film premiered on December 26, 1933 in New York, USA, and throughout 1934 in the rest of the world, to flattering reviews. The film was a commercial success as well. Although it did not perform as well as the studio had expected, it went on to earn over $2,500,000. It was nominated for the Mussolini Cup award at the Venice Film Festival in 1934, eventually losing to Man of Aran. The part of Queen Christina is regarded as one of the best in Garbo's filmography.