Harry's nearly better now but I've got swine flu now :(
Harry's nearly better now but I've got swine flu now :(
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I was quite shocked to see that ITV were screening the Oscar winning movie "The Queen" already on Sunday night, so I knew I had to tune in to see what all the fuss was about. As you may or may not know, The Queen won lead actress Helen Mirren an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Award at the Venice Film Festival for being the Best Actress, along many others both for Helen Mirren, and the film was a whole. It has been hugely successful, and because of this I was thoroughly looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about!
The film shows us the events from when Tony Blair was elected as Prime Minister in 1997, to the death of Princess Diana at the end of August 1997. It focuses on the backlash that came about against the Queen when she did not appear to speak publicly on the Princess' untimely death, and how this affected politicians, the Government and the rest of the Royal Family. I was only 11 years old at the time of Diana's death so I was not really aware of the whole situation with the Queen taking place, so this was very much interesting viewing for me on something I hadn't been aware of before. I remember the event clearly, waking up and switching on GM:TV and running upstairs to tell my parents who thought I was telling a joke in VERY bad taste. I think we all remember where we were when we heard the news, and this film brings back many memories, even for those of us who were children at the time.
I really think although the story is fascinating and makes for interesting, and speculative viewing, it is really the performances of the actors which makes this film the enormous success that it is. I realise that it was Helen Mirren who got the adulation for her role as Queen Elizabeth II but for me, although she was superb, as expected, but I thought that stand out actor was most definitely Michael Sheen as the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. There is an uncanny resembelance in looks between the
two, especially when Blair was first voted in as Prime Minister. This adds to the believability of Sheen as Blair. However, it wasn't the looks which made this character for me, it was how accurately Sheen was portraying Blair's mannerisms, voice and his general persona. You could tell he put everything into the role, and captures Tony Blair in 1997 perfectly. He has a great arrogance about him, as a young Blair did have, as well as a great enthusiasm, but Sheen also shows Blair's softer side with shots of his home life within No. 10 Downing Street with wife Cherie and his 3 children (Leo Blair, his youngest son, was not yet born.)
His wife was played very well by Helen McCrory, who has a definite opposite view to Blair. She is incredibly unsympathetic, and has no time for the Royal Family, and is clearly on the side of the British Public who were against the Queen for not speaking out about Diana sooner. She has a witty tongue, and her comments were sometimes nasty, but her and Sheen did a great job in making the couple believable and clearly new yet enthusiastic in their roles as PM and our First Lady.
Prince Charles, ex-husband of Diana and father to their 2 children William and Harry was played magnificently by Alex Jennings. Again, there was a facial similarity between the two men and Jennings does a superb job in portraying Charles, both in character and also gets his voice spot on as well. I was very surprised about how the film portrayed Charles. He was shown as being quite weak, always seeking his mother's approval, yet towards the end he came out of his shell somewhat, only to support Blair's advice to the Queen about making a speech to the British public.
And I could not do a full review of this film without speaking about the leading lady herself, Helen Mirren. The similarities between Helen Mirren and Queen Elizabeth are outstanding, the wig and the outfits clearly transport Helen into the Royals' world, and she just pulls off the role of the Queen effortlessly. She has a superb accent as the Queen, and showcases a whole host of emotions from the Queen, some seen a lot more than others! Although the role seems to be one you cannot warm to very easily, especially with her harsh views and haughty manner, Mirren manages to win you round in the end when she has her final scene with Sheen as Tony Blair, and the two appear to have a more honest chat, bringing the Queen much more to life, and makes her seem much more human!
One thing I really enjoyed about this film was the inclusion of real footage taken from news bulletins, from the funeral itself and real messages from the public about their outrage towards the Queen and the Royal Family really adds to the reality of the situation and makes the film something different from other films we have seen. The actors react to the various clips, which are shown on televisions within the film, and you really are taken back to 1997, and the emotions of the time are raw and clearly felt, yet the indifference of the Royal Family shocked me quite a bit. Some of Prince Philip's comments were also shocking, and he clearly did not like Diana, and did not react well to the television reports berating the Royals for their actions.
The footage of the English countryside were fantastic, with some lovely shots of Balmoral, the Queen's other residence. The interior shots of the Palace are superb, and clearly a lot of time was taken in making the sets realistic and as grand as possible. The Royals were always dressed in their best, and the costumes were lovely, especially some of the Queen's jewellery which was shown. Everything was made as authentic as it could be, from the Range Rover's that the Royal Family drove, to the Corgi dogs which the Queen loves dearly.
There is one thing that bothered me throughout the entire film though. Obviously, we will never known what went on within the Royal Family at the time of Princess Diana's death, and the scenes between the Queen and Blair, and Prince Philip and the Queen are full of speculation. It is in the script writers imagination what was said between these people yet we have to take what it said at face value in order for it to work within the film. The addition of the footage from the funeral, and the news shows on the television, added an authentic element to the film, but the rest is somewhat left to your imagination as to whether or not you believe it.
I would say that this film is outstanding, and well worthy of the many awards that it has received, especially those for Helen Mirren. However, I felt that Michael Sheen should too have been honoured for his outstanding role, as I felt he held the film together, particularly in the scenes with his advisors and Alastair Campbell in the Government offices. It is superbly acted, the scenes of the countryside and beautiful to look at, and it really is compelling viewing. The cast do an outstanding job, whether their character was a likeable one or not, and they did a great job with a plotline which was always going to be quite controversial, especially in portraying the Royals in a not-so-nice light.
It was really informative on the whole situation, especially for someone who wasn't aware of the whole situation at the time. I did not realise how everyone was reacting to the Royal Family, and the mistakes that they made. I felt quite indignant actually, when I was watching the film, about how The Queen reacted, and I can now see why the public reacted in the way that they did. I did not like the Queen at the beginning of this film, she was shown to be quite cold-hearted, and and nasty about Princess Diana. However, towards the end we are informed about how strong the Queen's views on her position are. She believes she was born to be The Queen, and always put "duty before self". She may have put her grief over the death of the back burner and was just thinking about her duty as a Queen, not as a mother and a grandmother. She found it difficult to deal with the fact the public were almost hating her and I felt that perhaps the presses strong views about this did irreparable damage to the monarchy and the publics views of them.
I would thoroughly recommend this film to anyone, it is highly enjoyable and will certainly challenge your views of the situations, whether you are supporter of the Royal Family or not.
Cast: Helen Mirren ... The Queen James Cromwell ... Prince Philip Alex Jennings ... Prince Charles Michael Sheen ... Prime Minister Tony Blair Helen McCrory ... Cherie Blair Sylvia Syms ... Queen Mother Roger Allam ... Robin Janvrin Mark Bazeley ... Alastair Campbell
You can purchase the DVD on play.com for £9.99. Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Frears. The film runs for 103 minutes, and has a certificate of 12A.
Thank you for reading.
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Excellent Review.
Haven't seen it yet, but will watch it if its on TV.
FlameDruid 25.09.2007 00:44
Yes - saw this with my daughter and agree with your views. There was a strong feeling at the time that the Queen should have expressed her grief more profoundly.
Following the death of Diana the 'People's Princess', the Queen (Helen Mirren) and her ... more
family remain hidden behind tradition and the closed doors of Balmoral Castle. whilst the heartbroken public becomes disillusioned with their Queen's absence, an inc...
![The Queen [DVD] [2006]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78135622.jpg "The Queen [DVD] [2006]")
Sep 8th, 2007
exceptional by (8%):
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