Surely it's not historically accurate, but who cares? It's great fun. In fact it has the slyness & humor that THE LION IN WINTER buried beneath its pretensions. Vanessa Redgrave is excellent as Mary, the Scottish queen who married the King of France only to be drummed out his country by his rotten family...unwelcome in England, she returns to Scotland intent on remaining on the throne. A lot of people around her (as well as England's Queen Elizabeth) have other ideas. There are scoundrels everywhere and the movie plays like a game of chess with real people! Mary faces one trial or tribulation after another, dealing with her turncoat brother and bisexual (second) husband as well as the local holy men. Redgrave's performance is matched by the great cast: Patrick McGoohan, Timothy Dalton, and Ian Holm (who steals his scenes as the "little Italian"). Glenda Jackson plays Queen Elizabeth and she's dynamite. Yes, the two Queens have a couple of confrontations and yes, historical purists will argue that they'd never actually met, but it doesn't matter...it's an extremely well made, well-written and even suspenseful film. This is the second film (after ISADORA) that helped to show off Redgrave's immense talent and versatility.
Review of Mary, Queen of Scots
