The Queen!

The most recent film I have seen in its entirity was "The Queen". The Queen in question is Elisabeth II of Great Britain. The film is a portrayal of Elisabeth during the time following the death of Princess Diana.

The Queen is pictured as mostly governed by old protocols stating how a sovereign of the United Kingdom should act and behave towards her, or his, subjects. When Diana, the former Princess of York, is killed in a car accident in Paris these old protocols are put to a test. And it turns out they are not really applicable in a modern Britain where the Royal family has lost most of its former glory but still remain very dear and important to its fellow countrymen. The behavior of the queen, and of the whole royal family, during this crisis does not meet the need or expectations of the British people. Instead it is the, at the time, newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair that rises as a leader. It is his influence that makes the Queen finally find a way to publicly approach the people and consolidate her position. If she had not been able to do that the whole monarchy in Britain had been in jeopardy. So it turns out rather awkwardly that it is a labor party prime minister that is the one saving the monarchy.

Since the film is not a documentary you cannot really know how much of the story that is made up. This I think is the big weakness of the film. You recognize the frame story, with the car crash of Princess Diana and remember the huge drifts of flowers in front of Buckingham Palace, but apart from that you do not know what is true and what is fiction. However Helen Mirren's portrayal of the Queen is done really delicately and that makes the story appear really genuine. Her skillful presentation rendered her an Oscar for "Best actress 2006".

I enjoyed the film and thought it was interesting, even though I am not a big fan of royalties or scandal chronicles. Somehow you got concerned with Elisabeth and felt sorry on her behalf because of her inability to adjust to a modern society and to allow her self to show some humanity.