Morgan Bell
Kynaston
REVIEW: The Queen
April 27th 2008 12:43
Directed: Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, Dangerous Liasons)
Written: Peter Morgan
Starring: Helen Mirren (Gosford Park, Teaching Mrs Tingle, The Mosquito Coast, Prime Suspect), Micheal Sheen (Blood Diamond, Kingdom of Heaven, Wilde, Othello), James Cromwell (The Longest Yard, Angels In America, The Green Mile, The Bachelor)
This film succeeds in providing the Queen of England with a real human face, someone you can relate to, respect, and want to know more about. The film is set in the period of time around Princess Dianas death showing how royal protocol caused the public to despise the Queen believing her reaction to be cold. We see the Queen prioritise the well-being of her grandchildren and learn to appreciate her conservative war-time upbringing as a factor in upholding tradition and treating Dianas funeral as a "private family matter" not to be publicized or turned into a media circus. This is an intimate portrait of a woman largely misrepresented for acting with dignity and decorum as she was taught. This film highlights the higher importance that the war-time generation put of honour and duty in much the same way as "Remains Of The Day" and the placement of the Queen largely in the natural outdoors environment of Balmoral is very effective in revealing her compassionate human side. Mirren is perfectly cast given the Queen a youthful vibrance and beauty we do not usually associate with the monarch, and Sheen as Tony Blair is earnest and adorable "smiling like a chesire cat"! I highly recommend it!
Written: Peter Morgan
Starring: Helen Mirren (Gosford Park, Teaching Mrs Tingle, The Mosquito Coast, Prime Suspect), Micheal Sheen (Blood Diamond, Kingdom of Heaven, Wilde, Othello), James Cromwell (The Longest Yard, Angels In America, The Green Mile, The Bachelor)
This film succeeds in providing the Queen of England with a real human face, someone you can relate to, respect, and want to know more about. The film is set in the period of time around Princess Dianas death showing how royal protocol caused the public to despise the Queen believing her reaction to be cold. We see the Queen prioritise the well-being of her grandchildren and learn to appreciate her conservative war-time upbringing as a factor in upholding tradition and treating Dianas funeral as a "private family matter" not to be publicized or turned into a media circus. This is an intimate portrait of a woman largely misrepresented for acting with dignity and decorum as she was taught. This film highlights the higher importance that the war-time generation put of honour and duty in much the same way as "Remains Of The Day" and the placement of the Queen largely in the natural outdoors environment of Balmoral is very effective in revealing her compassionate human side. Mirren is perfectly cast given the Queen a youthful vibrance and beauty we do not usually associate with the monarch, and Sheen as Tony Blair is earnest and adorable "smiling like a chesire cat"! I highly recommend it!
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Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Some reviewer referred to this as 'glorified TV', and while I do not disagree, I have to say it was pretty engaging.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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i cant exactly remember what the homophobic comments were but i presume it was used to set the scene of the royal family being out of touch with the consensus of the general public . . . i found by the end of the film the Queen had actually undergone a personality change where she had a bit of a shake up and was forced to start listening to people like Blair . . . the scenes out in nature showed her actually contemplating the world and her position . . . what i liked about this film was that it was the first time i understood the woman and where she was coming from at all . . . to bring a bit of warmth to such a cold character was an impressive feat!
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Yeah, I think the movie was quite successful in asking you to contemplate her position, and putting her airs in context. I heard that the Queen actually invited the cast and crew to have a meal with her, so she must have liked something about it!
Comment by Morgan Bell
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i heard someone, i think helen mirren, say that the first thing you notice about the real Queen is her amazing posture . . . sitting up straight is apparently more difficult than it first appears! lol (i guess thats another sign of the times, something once held in high importance that we dont really care about nowadays)
thanks for the comments epiphanie, i always enjoy discussing films with you, you pick up all the interesting little details!