Victoria Cut-Up

Feeling in need of a box of cheap chocolates, I went to see The Young Victoria. I didn't mind the clunky expository dialogue - I needed it, I don't remember 'doing' this period at school - nor was I upset by the unconvincing period recreation, nor even did I object to the rather sketchy politics. In fact, I would have rather enjoyed the whole ball of fluff were it not for the fact that it seemed to have undergone some kind of panic-stricken, last minute re-editing. Scenes stopped short, cuts were abrupt and captions were tossed in at random - indeed, one almost collided with the main title caption. (I assume this was not just a problem with the particular print made available to the Cineworld, Fulham Road.) None of the critics I have read have remarked on this and I have no idea what happened, though an attack by a scissors-wielding psycho does not seem out of the question.