3 out of 5

Director: Nikolaj Arcel

Fascinating story, gorgeous lighting, but an unfocused narrative that prevents the film from allowing one to settle into any particular mindset while watching.  “Affair” details the rise of Enlightenment thinking in the kingdom of 18th century Denmark, due to a fortunate arrangement that brings a free-thinking physician (Mikkelson) into the court to attend to the mentally unstable King Christian IV (Folsgaard).  Struensee forms a bond with the King, and is encouraged to leverage it by the King’s wife Mathilde (Vikander).  The dual-edged reasonings for each character’s participation in events is absolutely fascinating, the personal and political interactions given proper weight and believability by the script and acting.  However, on the fringes of this main tale, the story is at odds with itself, the film starting us with a voiceover from Mathilde’s point of view, then abandoning her for large chunks of the film to focus on Struensee and the King.  When events begin to spiral out of control, the film’s grasp on exactly what pitch to take slips a bit further, sending feelers out into political and romantic directions and mostly reconciling it by film’s end, but the lack of focus prevents any single event in the film from feeling too striking or poignant.  The wiki article mentions that the film’s source material flip-flopped from one book – focusing more on physician Struensee – to another book – an “erotic” novel from the Queen’s point of view – and the need to counter issues over rights to book one may account for the uneven feel.  Still, the film is executed confidently, with smartly reserved performances (the King’s role could’ve been played up horribly but is shown at just the right degree of “off” here to get the point across) and sets and landscapes that are striking due to the same sense of just attempting to show things for what they are and not doll it up.  Not as smoochy as the title would make you think, “Affair” should hold interest for period romance and historical fans alike, though may not top the ‘best of’ list for either genre.