The Queen
Since this year marks Elizabeth II’s 60th year of reign, I figured it would be a good time to watch the most acclaimed film about her.
Actually I had no idea what the film would be about beforehand. I just knew that Helen Mirren did a great job as Elizabeth II, but actually it was all about grieving Diana’s death. My younger childhood (before the 9/11 incident which I consider adolescence) was marked by two big media events. One was the Levinsky affair which made me stop watching the news because I couldn’t stand her face anymore, and the other was Diana’s death. The latter was much more annoying, bit I had a certain fascination with it. I read biographies of her, watched this movie about her life and especially liked those comparison articles with Sissy. But now, over 10 years have passed, and “The Queen” is a surprisingly interesting way to look back at it.
Sometimes I don’t really know why films are highly acclaimed, such as this one. Its storyline is largely boring and it deals with a time which is not exactly interesting anymore either. Today, Elizabeth II probably doesn’t busy herself with Diana anymore, it is largely forgiven and forgotten. But in the film, Diana lives on as a ghost, she is almost a second main character next to the queen herself. Luckily the film is about Elizabeth II, a much more interesting character than Diana. Perhaps the real Elizabeth II is nothing like that at all, but what Helen Mirren presents here is an interesting extension of the little bit you can see publicly. Just like Gorp has said previously, all the scenes involving her were the best of the film – absolutely amusing.
I do not quite think that the film was supposed to be purely comical though. Certainly some of the characters were designed to be a little comical (*coughcough* Charles *cough* Philip), but there is a lot of beauty in the friendship between movie-Blair and movie-Elizabeth. He is the only one who sees how misunderstood she is, and how dignified she is as a queen, desiring privacy in grief rather than a public outpour of emotions. I actually liked this premise of the film, and if it wasn’t for that silly stag, the film would have been a marvel in execution of a story in which not all too much happens. It is ultimately a story about Elizabeth not doing anything, and the film made this “nothing” surprisingly interesting and suspenseful.
I don’t think I would ever re-watch this film, especially since most characters besides Elizabeth II are rather weak. But it is definitely an interesting and rather unique film.