Grace of Monaco

image for Grace of Monaco

Short takes

Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 12 (themes, lack of interest)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Grace of Monaco
  • a review of Grace of Monaco completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 12 June 2014.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 12 Not suitable due to themes and lack of interest.
Children aged 12 Parental guidance recommended due to themes and lack of interest.
Children aged 13 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Grace of Monaco
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes, sexual reference and infrequent coarse language
Length: 103 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Grace of Monaco is a film that follows the story of Grace Kelly (Nicole Kidman), the former Hollywood star who married Prince Rainier III (Tim Roth) to become the Princess of Monaco. It takes place over two years in the early 1960s during which French president De Gaulle battles Prince Rainier over the tax laws. The situation between France and Monaco is tense, with a threat of invasion.

Soon however, Monaco is thrown into further turmoil after Grace is offered a role in Alfred Hitchcock’s new film. Six years into her marriage, Grace is forced to decide between following her own career and doing what her husband wants her to do for the sake of Monaco and its people. She soon begins to realise that playing the role of a Princess is just as much acting as any film role, and throws herself into the ‘role of a lifetime’.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Love; sacrifice; marrying into royalty; politics and war; fame

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is minimal use of violence in the film. Examples include:

  • Ray (Rainier) violently slaps a French representative after a verbal argument in a meeting.
  • After getting into a public argument with Grace at a luncheon, Ray throws a glass onto the floor and shatters it.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

Apart from the scenes described above under 'Use of violence', there is nothing in this film that is likely to disturb children of this age

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Apart from the scenes described above under 'Use of violence', there is nothing in this film that is likely to disturb children of this age

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

There are minimal sexual references, including:

  • On a TV screen, Grace sees people commenting on her potential role in Hitchcock’s movie. One interviewee says “What if she kisses another man? They do that in movies”.
  • At the boat party, someone comments that they are ‘Sitting on the world’s largest penis’.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is minimal sexual activity within the film, including:

  • Grace briefly kisses Ray.

Use of substances

There is limited use of substances in the film, including:

  • Throughout the film, the characters are seen at parties where there is champagne, wine and cigarettes.
  • There are references to some individuals enjoying ‘being the biggest drunk on the boat’.
  • Grace tells Ray to ‘stop drinking, you need to keep your wits about you’ after there is an assassination attempt on the French President.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Shit.

In a nutshell

Grace of Monaco is a film that demonstrates the difficulties of being part of a royal family, while presenting the contrasting view that love is an incredibly powerful emotion with the capacity to create change. The movie also depicts the destruction and devastation caused by opposing political agendas and governmental disputes, as well as the misery that can at times come within seemingly happy lives lived in the public eye. It highlights the lack of choice and freedom that Grace experiences after six years of marriage to a prince, but also demonstrates that people are ultimately able to make their own choices.

While there is little to disturb young children, the film is not recommended for children under 12. It lacks interest for under 12s, while raising a number of issues which could be discussed with teenagers.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • The value of speaking your mind, despite it creating potential discord or upset to others.
  • The importance of being true to yourself while making sacrifices for the individuals you love and care for.
  • The need to remain positive and hopeful, regardless of how dire the situation seems, and understanding that the power of love may help people put aside their personal differences.

Parents may also wish to discuss:

  • National and international politics, and the consequences that may be inflicted upon the people of a country when their political leaders are at war (taxation laws, limited food supplies, etc).
  • The responsibilities and limitations that may be imposed on people who marry into a royal family.