20 TV Series and Films About Historical Women in Power
It became a common refrain: “Please let me live in the old days.” The rollercoaster ride of the daily news began to feel too fast, too fast. Case in point: the surprise weekend nomination of (presumably) Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination. This seems like a net benefit no matter what political stance you take: If you never planned to vote for Joe Biden, I can’t imagine you’d care all that much about whether they’ll swap him for their VP – and if they did and it was, then you now have a chance to help elect a woman president.
We’ve been here before, of course, but it’s about time our supposedly advanced democracy joined other countries in electing a woman to the highest office, like, say, the UK, Canada, Pakistan, India, Israel, Argentina, Central African Republic, Portugal, Dominica, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Turkey, Burundi, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Malawi and others.
The relationship between women and power will remain difficult in any case and for the foreseeable future. Power – whether gained through inheritance, politics or other means – is always a complex issue. This is probably why its consideration has served as the basis for the creation of so many interesting films and television shows. And in every nation and every generation, women, for better or worse, have exerted influence even when formal titles have eluded them. For every Queen Elizabeth I who rules the British Empire and carefully manages her sexuality, there is Hosokawa Gracia, an example of using so-called “soft power” to change history.
All of this made me wonder if we have ever been, or ever will be, any good at assessing our actual women leaders, who can be judged, praised, and vilified unfairly. But in the modern era, TV shows and movies have at least done a decent job of giving us memorable, sometimes provocative reflections on historical women in power.
The Favorite (2018)
The image of power in this, well, Oscar favorite is based less on Olivia Colman’s portrayal of the fun-loving, crazy Queen Anne than on her depiction of her court. The intrigues, conspiracies and seductions that occur between the Queen and courtiers Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) show that not only can women wield power as capriciously as men, but also that there is a frequent historical need to work for On the other hand, these scenes made these women masters of a magnificent, merciless game.
Where to watch: digital rental
Shogun (2024 –)
This sweeping adaptation of James Clavell’s novel centers Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai) between Lord Yoshi Toranaga, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, and John Blackthorne, played by Cosmo Jarvis, an English navigator whose unscheduled arrival disrupts Japan’s nascent civil war. You would be right to note that none of these characters were real people, but I defer to Shogun on this point, although the names have been changed (Toranaga, for example, replaces the real Tokugawa Ieyasu). ), demonstrates a level of historical accuracy that rivals productions in which no one’s name was changed.
Mariko is the counterpart of Hosokawa Gracia, a samurai and one of the last surviving members of the powerful Akechi clan, who defied her daimyo and converted to Christianity, thereby placing herself at the center of the major religious conflict of her era. In a time and place where women had little political power, her status and influence were such that her actions (and death) changed the course of Japanese history, even if she did not actually have romantic relationships with the English. pilot. It’s a good reminder that throughout history, women have wielded power even without high titles.
Where to watch: Hulu
The Woman King (2022)
A stunningly swinging Viola Davis leads Agoja’s team of nearly unstoppable African female warriors as they battle colonial invaders. While Davis’ General Naniska is fictional (though the name comes from the real-life warrior Agojie), the film dramatizes the story of the real-life “Dahomean Amazons”, the West African country’s all-female military class, circa 1823. The complex regional politics are engrossing, as is watching her and her warriors kick colonial ass.
Where to watch: Netflix, digital rental.
Queen Christina (1933)
There are two types of feminine power on display here. There’s Greta Garbo, an enduring cinematic icon who carefully eschewed the typical movie star chatter and publicity tours, preferring to appear on stage, give deeply memorable performances and return home to her art collection. There is also Queen Christina, whom Garbo portrays here, who ruled Sweden for about a 20-year period starting in 1632, and who, like Garbo, has a well-deserved reputation for gender ambiguity and weirdness, some of which is on display in this book. pre-film in which she entertains several suitors, both men and women. The film skillfully conveys the reaction of the Swedish people to their ruler: for some, she is a weak-willed woman; for others, she is inappropriately overbearing. Too excited for some; too cold towards others. Double standards always.
Where to watch: digital rental
Girl King (2015)
This 2015 Finnish film offers a slightly more modern take on the Swedish queen (or rather, king, since there simply was no equivalent word for “queen” in the language) Christina, with more emphasis on the monarch’s unconventional relationship with gender roles and sexuality.
Where to watch: Prime Video , Tubi
Atlantic Crossing (miniseries, 2020)
It is sometimes called “soft power,” especially when women possess it: the ability to achieve political goals through persuasion rather than coercion. This is the true story of Crown Princess Martha of Norway (Sofia Helin). Forced to flee with her children due to the Nazi takeover of the country, she eventually made it to the United States. Having developed a strong friendship (some suggest a little more) with Franklin Roosevelt (Kyle MacLachlan), Martha lobbied for a divided United States to provide aid and military support to Norway, both behind the scenes and in public, touring the US as an unofficial representative . ambassador, increasing interest both in the anti-Nazi cause and in the interests of her country.
Where to watch: PBS, digital purchase.
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Sofia Coppola’s vivid look at the life of the infamous French queen (Kirsten Dunst) finds sympathy in the story of one of the most reviled women in modern history, but doesn’t go so far as to make her heroic. Coppola manages to take the idea of a modern teenager back in time, making us question how willing a person is to leave his family and take on an important role in another country at the age of 14, especially when the person with the highest score (Jason Schwartzman’s King Louis) is so helpless . While she was undoubtedly pampered and entitled, it is hard not to wonder if history may have been quick to blame all the shortcomings of pre-revolutionary France on a single young woman.
Where to watch: digital rental
Princess Ka’iulani (2009)
I’ll be frank in saying that Princess Ka’iulani is not a great movie, but it is a perfectly watchable film that explores a moment in Hawaiian history that is not too far away but is still little discussed in the mainland US, Ka’iulani (Q’orianka Kilcher was heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii, but lost all hope of ever laying claim to it after the arrest of Queen Lili’uokalani and the overthrow of the monarchy by a consortium of mostly mainland American businessmen (the island monarchs believed, quite wrongly, that they could play ball with interests West). The film chronicles Kayulani’s time in exile, where she experiences racism in England before and after the coup; Being crown princess in her own country does little to save her from condescension or outright hostility from her masters. In America, she successfully lobbies to stop the annexation of her country before a change in administration renders some of her work moot.
Where to watch: Tubi, digital rental.
Cleopatra (1963)
Our ambivalent reactions to female power go back millennia ; Cleopatra is the last, not the first, Egyptian ruler to be looked askance by history. Having lost their throne and their lives to one of the most blatantly misogynistic ancient civilizations (compared to Egypt, anyway), the Romans wrote the history of that country’s last monarch, presenting her largely as an unnatural harlot who held power solely on the basis of that of her sexual prowess. In fact, the Queen was much more savvy, even though what at the time seemed like a reasonable strategic alliance did not produce the expected results. The film is much closer to the modern concept of Cleopatra’s power, although it draws on many 1960s ideas about her seductive power.
Where to stream: Max, digital rental
Harriet (2019)
From a woman aided by the Underground Railroad system, Harriet Tubman quickly emerged as one of its most effective guides, and is now remembered as the most important name in the entire operation, the undisputed leader who approached the quest for freedom with religious zeal (it seemed that her religious beliefs really have a lot to do with her fortitude). She later led soldiers in battle during the Civil War before becoming a leader of the suffrage movement. If any American woman deserves to be considered royalty (or at least get her face for $20), it’s definitely her.
Where to watch: Netflix, digital rental.
Great (2020 – 2023)
All historical fiction is ultimately about both the time in which it was created and the time in which it was set, and that’s very clearly the case with The Great , a sumptuous look at the rise and reign of Russian Empress Catherine the Great, but it’s also a very dark comedy . This arc, at least in the first season, deals with Katherine’s darkly comic lack of education in matters of leadership and power. Although she was born in Prussia, she gradually grows so fond of her adopted country that she realizes there is only one thing left for her to do: overthrow and kill her husband Peter (Nicholas Hoult), who is equal parts buffoon and monstrous. There is no “soft power” here.
Where to watch: Hulu
Spanish Princess (2019–2020)
An adaptation of Phillips Gregory’s novel The Spanish Princess (like its predecessors The White Queen and The White Princess ) is sometimes too soapy for its own good. What it does do very effectively, however, is capture the tirelessness of Queen Catherine of Aragon (Charlotte Hope), Henry VIII’s first wife, in the days when he set his sights on younger prizes. Having been abandoned after the death of her first arranged marriage in England, Catherine simply refuses to leave, realizing that her only hope for the future she desires lies with the new future King Henry.
Where to watch: Starz
Elizabeth (1998)
Christopher Eccleston’s Thomas Howard holds his nose long enough to crown Cate Blanchett’s Queen Elizabeth I, the highly unlikely heir to the English throne who has become one of that country’s archetypes of monarchy. In many ways, this is a film about choice: we first meet Elizabeth as a young woman with no expectation of rule, but see that as she gains power, her options narrow rather than expand. Given the enormous pressure to choose a husband and the restrictions placed on her choices, she ultimately chooses public celibacy as the “Virgin Queen”, reflecting, in a sense, the impossible separation that modern women often have to navigate between career and family.
Where to watch: Starz, digital rental.
Mary, Queen of Scots (2018)
History has never been shy about positioning Mary and Elizabeth I as lifelong rivals, reveling in the idea that a powerful female leader needs a female arch-rival. In this case, there is some truth to the idea, even if it is greatly exaggerated for dramatic purposes (they never even met). Saoirse Ronan plays the main character, who became queen a few days after her birth and whose fate, it would seem, was predetermined from that very moment. Stubborn and determined in a way that would probably be welcomed in a male ruler, Mary is undermined at every moment by the men in her life, her power strengthened when she is useful and weakened when someone close to her has other ideas.
Where to watch: digital rental
Mrs Brown (1997)
Queen Victoria (played here by Judi Dench) is famous in many ways for her relationships: the “Widow of Windsor” spent what was thought to be an extremely indecent amount of time mourning her husband, Prince Albert, before taking on a new moniker. , “Mrs. Brown” for her friendship (or perhaps more) with the completely uncouth and completely unacceptable Scottish servant John Brown (Billy Connolly). Even at this late stage of her reign, Victoria’s family and advisers were desperately trying to cope with what they She was considered to be impulsively attracted to Brown, but, as often happened in Victoria’s life and career, she persevered through sheer stubbornness. She knew her strength and was not going to break off a relationship that she liked. You can also find him listed as Her Majesty. Mrs Brown .
Where to stream: Britbox, digital rental.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII (miniseries, 1970)
The pacing is certainly very similar to 1970s British television, but stick with it in terms of presentation (and production values). Like six interconnected plays, each episode focuses on a different Tudor queen, each forced to navigate the power politics of the era using only her wits and fickle, nebulous power. Six very different women, each fighting for a bit of power and ultimately survival in a country led by an obsessively horny and increasingly paranoid megalomaniac. Who might relate? Next series, “Elizabeth R.” Glenda Jackson, remembered better and no less good.
Where to stream: Britbox, digital purchase.
Jodha Akbar (2008)
The lead role here is played by the always superior Aishwarya Rai, a real-life sixteenth-century Mughal princess. Having married Akbar, a future emperor trained to be completely ruthless in his rule, Jodhaa firmly sets her own terms in her engagement, easily standing up to Akbar, including refusing to sleep with him until she gets to know him well. even after they got married. Jodhaa is portrayed as a partner in power and a moderating influence on her husband, who has been taught all his life that ruthlessness is the only means of leadership.
Where to watch: Netflix
Wolf Hall (mini-series, 2016)
Mark Rylance’s Thomas Cromwell is the main attraction in this BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novels, but Claire Foy’s Anne Boleyn soon appears in the background; it’s one of the best portrayals of the much-maligned queen on television or film, even if her screen time is initially limited. Here we see a complex woman with ambition, privilege and power, who also quickly realizes that she is walking a tightrope. Her power, coming from a highly fickle king, has unwritten and ultimately insidious limits.
Where to watch: PBS, digital purchase.
Queen (2006)
Is there more power in silence? This appears to have been one of the central issues of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Both from constitutional necessity and from her own interpretation of the role of the modern British monarch, she rarely felt it necessary to express emotions beyond the bounds of mild amusement or the affection of a slightly stern mother. In many ways, this was in effect until the death of Princess Diana, which became a crisis point both for the Queen personally and for the entire monarchy. The queen’s silence was perceived as an insult to the beloved former princess, and the country was not willing to accept it. This is a look at a phenomenon we often see among female politicians and rulers: they have too much emotion, they are hysterical, and they cannot be trusted. Too few? They are cold and indifferent.
Where to watch: digital rental