THE QUEEN
UK, 2006, 97 minutes, Colour.
Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Roger Allam, Alex Jennings, Sylvia Sims, Helen Mc Crory.
Directed by Stephen Frears.
While the rating for The Queen is 'excellent', it may not be everybody's cup of tea. What we like depends on where we stand.
Some strong traditional British (and other) royalists may judge that this is an intrusion into the life of the royal family (though it is much more fair-minded than many a TV documentary of recent years). For those of a more republican frame of mind, it is a critique of the culture of protocol that seems to bind the behaviour and attitudes of the royals.
For those who want to understand the royal family, it goes a long way to help us appreciate the background that has shaped their lives and the effect that it has had on them.
The film is never less than interesting. It is very well crafted and most of the performances are excellent. Helen Mirren recently won an Emmy for her performance as Elizabeth I. She won the Best Actress award in Venice, 2006. Not only does she look and sound like the queen, she creates a character that can both attract and baffle the audience. James Cromwell probably underplays the gruff reputation that the Duke of Edinburgh is famous for.
Director Stephen Frears and writer Peter Morgan made the telemovie, The Deal, some years ago, a dramatisation of the agreement of succession between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. (This new screenplay also won at Venice.) Michael Sheen portrayed Tony Blair. Here he is again, even more persuasive in capturing the look and manner of the prime minister.
Of course, the other principal element of the film is that it is mainly set during the week of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. She appears in a great deal of television news material as well as in some of her interviews. The film is overwhelming in its reminder of the outpouring of grief at Diana's death, a powerful memory of what the British public felt and did at the time.
We are also reminded of the slow response of the queen from Balmoral and how that grew into harsh criticism, especially from media headlines. This is all dealt with here, not in a sensationalist way, but in a forthright way, a drama of the desire for privacy and the consequent decisions by the queen, the issue of the flag over Buckingham Palace and the delayed arrival of the family in London.
The Blairs (although the prime minister is shown as becoming devoted to the queen) and the Labor party members, including a strong Alistair Campbell lookalike, voice the criticism of the constricting effect of
protocol, precedents and procedures.
We also see the consequences of a sensibility that avoided any outward emotional show, even within the family. Prince Charles seems to be something of an exception, someone who has felt the need for touch and warmth and who could acknowledge that in this way Diana was an excellent mother.
In many ways, this film humanises the queen through showing us in her more ordinary life: waking up in the morning, reading the papers, watching TV, talking with her mother and, in fact, at the steering wheel of a four-wheel drive.
The film's, and the queen's, final question is whether this episode harmed the British monarchy, not just the slow response to Diana's death but perceived feeling that the queen did not care (seen especially in her tight-lipped presence at the funeral).
The Queen offers us plenty to discuss.
1.The impact of the film? For British audiences? Commonwealth audiences? Overseas? An appropriate piece of cinema? The focus on the week of Diana, Princess of Wales’ death? The context of Tony Blair’s election in 1997? A symbolic week in the life of the monarchy?
2.The strength of the cast, their resemblance to the real characters, their acting, impersonations?
3.The use of television footage, archival, texts being enacted by Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen, the air of realism? The atmosphere of a docudrama? The skill of the writing, creating characters and insights?
4.The London settings, the Blairs, parliament, their home? The contrast with the Scottish settings, the locations, the beautiful mountain countryside, Balmoral? The television footage of ordinary people in London and their grief for Diana?
5.The status of the monarchy, its popularity, the presence of the queen for so long, as a girl, during the war, abdication experience of her uncle, her father becoming king and it killing him? The Queen Mother? Stoic upbringing, patriotic? Cold in manner, the cold upbringing? The queen as a figurehead? Her experience, her wisdom? The screenplay giving her perhaps more irony than she has in real life? The attitude towards Diana, the marriage, the perspective on the divorce? Diana in the public eye, her judgments? Celebrity, friends? The fact that she was no longer a member of the royal household? The death, the news, the reaction, privacy, protecting Diana’s children, the attitude towards Charles (and the other children absent except for their mother referring to children as a blessing)?
6.Tony Blair, the 1997 election, the landslide, the queen waking up to a new era, the newspapers? Robin and his continued presence for the queen, his advice? Her attitude towards Tony Blair, mocking Cherie’s curtsey? The preparations for meeting Mr Blair, the protocol, the bowing, his asking the questions and her reversing the process? Giving them fifteen minutes? Her impatience with them? The formal nature of the meeting?
7.The presence of Diana in the UK in the 80s and 90s, the televisual collage of her behaviour, her attitudes, her charities, in the public eye? The interviews and her comments on the marriage? The queen and Prince Philip’s attitude? Charles, the relationship with Camilla? Her relationship with her children? The relationship with Dodi Fayed? Her errors of judgment? The visualising of the final night, the paparazzi hounding her in Paris, the driving, the crash? The issue of Charles hearing the news and weeping, going to Paris, his mother making difficulties, his getting the ticket, bringing the coffin back, his regret at not taking the boys to Paris, the honour when the coffin arrived back in England?
8.The people’s feeling, the people’s princess, the flowers, the cards, the crowds? For so many days? Tony Blair and his attitude, reading the people correctly, wanting to make a statement, his concern about the queen? Alistair Campbell and his quick and slick writing, the people’s princess? The misjudgment of the royal family, the Duke of Edinburgh being completely wrong? The phone calls, the headlines, the royal family’s reaction, wanting to ignore them, in denial, the polls and the anti-monarchy stances? Tony Blair ringing, giving advice – the queen pondering it, her taking it?
9.The different between the Blair world and the queen world? “Call me Tony instead of yes, Minister”? Cherie and her work, her jokes about the royal family, her socialist attitude? Her comments about Blair becoming a fan of the queen as did all Labour prime ministers? Seeing the Blairs at home, at the breakfast table, watching television, young, energetic? Tony Blair and his staff? The work with Alistair Campbell? His final outburst in defence of the queen? His speech to the public, the political angles of the queen’s attitude and Diana’s death, to the betterment of Tony Blair’s leadership? Alistair Campbell, spin and support?
10.The world of Balmoral, Charles and his phoning Tony Blair instead of talking with his mother? Robin and his listening in and his attitudes? The staff weeping? He thinking the reaction was over the top? His phoning Blair? The official in charge of the funeral, the meeting at Buckingham Palace, the arrangements, the vast changes, the public ceremony? The invitation to celebrities? (And seeing Pavarotti, Elton John, Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise?)
11.Life at Balmoral, the holiday house, the Victorian origins and traditions, the queen relaxing, the officials present, the news, her disbelief, her not wanting to say anything? The Spencer family? Privacy? Avoiding the media? Taking away the radios and televisions, protecting William and Harry? The phone calls, the phone call in the kitchen and the staff going out? The symbolism of the queen going out in the car, her being stranded in the river, her watching and admiring the deer? Later going to see it after it was killed, her grief for the deer (rather than Diana)? Her compliments to the guest who shot the deer? Yet her grieving over its being wounded?
12.The final decision to return, the Duke of Edinburgh and his hostility, his being out in the hills always with the boys, his short, sharp comments? The family walking amongst the flowers, meeting the public? The media talking about the quarrel being resolved between the monarchy and the people? The issue of the flag flying half-mast at Buckingham Palace, the procedures and protocols?
13.The funeral, Earl Spencer’s speech and the vast applause, the queen sitting tight-lipped?
14.What did the film have to say about the British people, traditions, the monarchy, class, Diana amongst the people, their grief, the people’s extroverted outpouring of grief, the need for some kind of support from the monarchy? The support from Blair and admiration for him?
15.The two months passing, the formal meeting with the queen, asking her about the damage to the monarchy, her walking in the garden with Tony Blair? The subsequent regaining of popularity of the royal family, despite the marriage of Charles to Camilla? Tony Blair’s leadership, the Iraq war and his losing popularity? The queen and her dismay at learning that one in four voted against the monarchy, that she could be hated?
