The Abdication (1974)

Queen Christina (Liv Ullmann) of Sweden abdicates her throne and flees to Rome where she expects to convert to Catholicism and be given Holy Communion by the Pope himself. Once there, however, her motives are questioned and it is up to a Cardinal (Peter Finch) to probe further before allowing her access to the Pope. Based on the play by Ruth Wolff ( who also did the screenplay) and directed by Anthony Harvey (THE LION IN WINTER). The film's historical accuracy is dubious and while the film is visually affluent thanks to Geoffrey Unsworth's (2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY) lensing, Peter J. Hall's costume design and the art and set direction from Terence Marsh and Alan Tomkins, it's still basically a talk piece with Finch and Ullmann passionately arguing over the nature of love, God and humanity. It's the kind of Oscar bait material that cries out "prestigious" but the film's weighty pretensions found no favor with either audiences or critics. To be fair, strong actors that they are, Ullmann and Finch's scenes together often crackle but they're constantly being interrupted by tedious flashbacks to pad out and open up the film. There's a potent score by Nino Rota. With Cyril Cusack, Kathleen Byron and Michael Dunn whose part seems to have nearly been cut out of the film.