There’s much that is deliciously right about “The Queen,” chiefly in the marvelous performance by Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II. In fact, Mirren might almost be too good.
Before explaining that statement, let’s appreciate this witty film. It takes place during the week or so that followed the shocking death of Princess Diana in 1997, with special attention on the royal family’s reaction to the death – a slow, clumsy response that was widely criticized as stiff and heartless.
It happens that Diana’s death coincided with the installation of a new government in Britain. Those were the early days of Prime Minister Tony Blair, and his empathetic reaction to the Diana tragedy endeared him to a sector of the British people.
For Blair, deftly played by Michael Sheen, the death of a princess is not a policy problem but a dilemma in public relations. And he’s still trying to figure out his relationship with those odd, detached, entitled people known as the Royals.
“The Queen” works on a number of different levels. One of the best is the way it doesn’t tell the audience how to react. We might disapprove of the queen’s reserved reaction to the death of the mother of her grandsons, but we could also admire that same reserve, especially in an era where public emotional displays can border on the grotesque – at least as the media presents them.
Even Blair comes to change his feelings about those silly anachronisms in Buckingham Palace. Of course, the Windsors are plenty silly. Elizabeth’s husband, Philip (nicely etched by James Cromwell), is seen as stodgily devoted to some ancient code of behavior. That includes his idea of grief counseling for his grandsons: Take them hunting immediately.
Prince Charles (Alex Jennings) is less central, but screenwriter Peter Morgan is scrupulous about providing sympathetic moments for him, too. The movie is so scrupulous about such things, it could only be British.
The director is Stephen Frears, who has made a career out of versatility, including the occasional jab at his native country. Here he brings his calm, slightly bemused eye to a story both droll and touching.
He also elicits lovely performances. Helen Mirren is already being tabbed as an Oscar front-runner, and for good reason. She’s subtle and steady, and regal even when she’s tromping around Scotland in her Wellington boots and raincoat.
In fact, Mirren has so much intelligence and interior monologue going on that she hardly seems to fit in the rather dense Windsor family. One must wonder whether she’s endowing the queen with more self-reflection than really exists there.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
