The Queen, Stephan Frears, 2006
As I'm a huge Hellen Mirren fan, I saw this film this past weekend. What a great little movie.
Mirren plays Queen Elizabeth II during the incredible week of Princess Diana's death. Michael Sheen plays the new Prime Minister, Tony Blair. The film mostly is about how Blair gets the Queen to realize her subjects do not want the British "stiff upper lip" of old, but a Queen who acknowledges their grief over the death of a beloved Princess.
What's most amazing about this movie, is how well Frears and screenwriter Peter Morgan make the Royals so very
human, with pride and foibles and insecurity. Just like us.
They make their own tea, drive their own cars, and watch TV as a family, just like everyone else. Mirren's monarch is slyly humorous, as is her husband, Prince Phillip and the Queen Mum. It's actually quite funny - in a dark way - when the Queen Mum is told that Diana's funeral will be held at the exact place where the Queen Mum herself has planned her own funeral! She's broken-hearted but understanding.
The relationship between the Queen and Prince Charles is also very interesting. While the fact that one is Queen and the other the Heir to the Throne must always be present in their relationship, they are first and foremost mother and son. And the sympathetic way in which Charles is portrayed is both surprising and welcome.
Michael Sheen plays Blair as an Everyman, and does a wonderful job. His obvious affection for the anachronistic trappings of the Monarchy is obvious, even while he's busy trying to "modernize" his country.
As an American, it's hard to understand the dichotomous love/hate relationship England has for Her Majesty, and the Windsors as a whole, but it is utterly fascinating to watch. How The Queen realizes that tradition and what is proper has changed in the minds of her subjects, and how she adjusts to it, is remarkable.
And to see The Queen's hurt when she realizes the country does not understand that the family thinks of Diana's death as just that - a family tragedy and nothing more. This is a woman who became Queen of England as a teenager after seeing what it did to her father - and has served her subjects her whole life - and to be the subject of scorn and hatred like she was during that week was very hard for her to understand.
A remarkable woman and a remarkable film.
And Helen Mirren will sweep most of the best Actress honors come Awards Season.
4.5 out of 5 stars.