MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS World Cinema

Swiss filmmaker Thomas Imbach takes an innovative look at Great Britain’s most tragic royal figures to present the story of a woman haunted by expectations, and torn between romance and duty. At a young age, Mary is sent to France to marry the future king. After his premature death, she returns to Scotland and marries Lord Darnley, whom she quickly realizes she doesn’t like. She falls in love with the Earl of Bothwell and they plot the death of Darnley. Throughout, the Catholic Mary writes letters to her cousin, the Protestant Elizabeth I, the Queen of England, who refuses to acknowledge Mary and finally imprisons her for life. Instead of dwelling on the incarceration and execution of Mary, the film delves deep into a psychological portrait of an intriguing and unpredictable woman who became the pawn of the 16th century conflict between Protestants and Catholics by the men that surrounded her.