A Royal Affair – review

Arcel's first-rate Danish costume drama (co-produced by Lars von Trier ) will introduce most moviegoers (including me) to the fascinating tragedy of the love affair in the 1770s between England's Caroline, wife of the problematic Danish King Christian, and the king's German physician, Johann Struensee, both dedicated social progressives. This struggle between a conservative, repressive regime and representatives of the Enlightenment preceded the French Revolution and is crucially related to the issues of their day and to the present. It's as interesting a portrait of late 18th-century life as Amadeus or The Madness of King George .