A waste of 90 minutes of my life

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Greta "The Great" Garbo still in another memorable, mesmerizing performance in this 1933 film. Becoming queen upon the death of her father at a tender age, Garbo is an enlightened queen who wants peace in the land after more than 30 years of continuous warfare.Getting away from it all, she travels to an inn and masquerading as a man, she meets the Spanish envoy there who is on his way to meet her. Hilariously, she keeps up her pretense as a man, but that all ends when the undressing occurs; remembering, that we have to go by 1933 standards.True love is thwarted by a mean fate awaiting the tragic couple. In renouncing the throne for her lover, Christina creates aversion towards her by the people and by the jealous lover with tragedy resulting.Garbo is determined and resolute in the role of the Swedish queen. She is aided by John Gilbert as her compassionate lover.

Garbo retired from the screen long before I was going to movies so I've had to catch up with her piecemeal; Two-Faced Woman, for example, never seems to surface whilst Ninotchka is ubiquitous. Recently I acquired a boxed set which I'm working my way through and via which I have just watched Queen Christina. This definitely belongs in the category known as 'they don't make 'em like that anymore' and in this case the cliché describes both the film itself and Greta Garbo who remains luminous some 80 odd years on. People like Lewis Stone, C. Aubrey Smith and Akim Tamiroff, fine actors though they are to a man, simply don't exist in Garbo's world which is ironic as Akim Tamiroff is always spoken of as someone 'the camera loves'. I have no idea how much, if any, of the story is historically factual and frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn when Garbo is available to beguile and enchant.

The actress who starred in Camille and Ninotchka only acted in twenty eight films and retired at the age of thirty five, and this is one of her most quintessential and famous roles, from director Rouben Mamoulian (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). Basically, set in the 17th Century, in Sweden in the year 1632 during the Thirty Years' War six year old Christina ascends the throne, and growing into an adult Christina (Greta Garbo) often dresses as a man for a more authoritarian appearance, and has a love for literature and the arts. Massive casualties on both sides of the war are happening as it rages on, and despite the Swedish side seemingly winning, the Queen would rather have peace, and at the same time her loyal subjects have her love life on their minds and know that there should be an heir to ensure longevity of the nation. Christina is believed and seemingly assured that she will marry the hero of the battles in the war Prince Charles Gustavus (Reginald Owen), but the Lord Treasurer Count Magnus (Ian Keith) makes the mistake in the believing he can have the queen, but she is not pursuing love to pay attention to fighting the war. But she changes her mind the visiting Spanish envoy Antonio (John Gilbert) who works for King Philip of Spain, they meet in a snowbound inn, and with their forced time together they fall in love, but he has no idea who she is. When he does find out they have to decide if their relationship can work within the constraints of their duties, and the troubles for him and Christina increase when Count Magnus, who wants the Queen for himself, gets the public on his side to uprise against her love interest in the name of patriotism. Also starring Lewis Stone as Chancellor Oxenstierna, Elizabeth Young as Ebba Sparre, C. Aubrey Smith as Aage, Georges Renavent as French Ambassador, Gustav Von Seyffertitz as General and David Torrence as Archbishop. I will be honest and say that I drifted in a few moments, especially with all the political stuff, and I agree with the critics it is a bit of a slow pace throughout, but the love story going on is interesting, Garbo is of course the biggest reason to see this film, to see her looking beautiful and being all noble and dignified, overall it still a worthwhile historical romantic drama. Very good!

This film follows the reign of 17th century Swedish monarch Queen Christina, from her ascent to the throne at age six to her abdication twenty-two years later. The screenwriters take wild liberties with history in order to turn the film into a romantic epic but that's beside the point.Greta Garbo is the unquestioned star of the picture and she gives a standout performance, successfully portraying the queen as formidable yet feminine. The rest of the cast is consistently capable though no-one really stands out from the crowd.Rouben Mamoulian's direction is well-handled and the film in general shows good production values. To wit, the film boasts nice work from future Oscar winners William H. Daniels (cinematography) and Herbert Stothart (score).All in all, "Queen Christina" is a well-constructed romantic drama with a historical background. While it may depart quite a bit from fact it nevertheless makes for a compelling story.