The Abdication


The Abdication is a 1974 British historical drama film directed by Anthony Harvey and starring Peter Finch and Liv Ullmann. It was written by Ruth Wolff based on her 1971 play of the same title. The film's score was composed by Nino Rota. It tells a fictionalized version of the rumored love affair between Christina, Queen of Sweden and Cardinal Decio Azzolino during the former's stay in Rome after abdicating her throne.

Plot

After abdicating her throne and converting to Catholicism, Queen Christina arrives in Rome, where Cardinal Azzolino is appointed to evaluate her and to help her to adapt to life in Rome. They fall in love, but after the Pope's death, Azzolino rejects her to re-embrace his position in the church.

Cast

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The credits for The Abdication should carry the rider normally associated with films on contemporary events: 'Any resemblance to real persons living or dead is purely coincidental'. At the risk of pedantry, it must be said that the association between Christina and Azzolino has been distorted, telescoped, romanticised and modernised so that the characters and events portrayed bear scarcely any resemblance to the historical facts. ... Grudgingly, one must admit that the piece just about stands up as a case history: in the seventeenth century, priests were the equivalent of analysts, and subject to similar pitfalls."
Boxoffice wrote: "The production values are excellent, especially Nino Roia's score and cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth's beautiful, Technicolor images of the not-so-beautiful goings-on. Based on Ruth Wolff's screenplay, the film may produce some moments of unsolicited laughter and offend some sensibilities. Despite the stars' wide following, it may appeal only to a limited audience."
Variety wrote: "The Abdication is a period film in more ways than one. The Ruth Wolff script from her play, based on the 17th century abdication of Queen Christina of Sweden, has been produced by Robert Fryer and James Cresson, and directed by Anthony Harvey, like a trite '30s sob-sister meller, withdainty debauchery and titillating tease straight from '20s women's pulp magazines. Cast is headed by Peter Finch, who keeps getting involved in films like these, and Liv Ullmann, whose expression of winsomely pained bewilderment is wearing mighty thin."