The Queen
Directed by Stephen Frears.
Starring Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen.
Stephen Frears has built a reputation on films that explore the dichotomy and conflict inherent in the British class system — My Beautiful Laundrette, Dirty Pretty Things — and his latest picture, The Queen, from one perspective offers up a similar critique. The film chronicles Queen Elizabeth II’s private and public reaction to the shocking, sudden death of Diana Spencer, former member of the royal family, but also holds up for examination the burgeoning relationship of the Queen (Helen Mirren) with freshly appointed Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen).
Blair, with his insistence aides call him ‘Tony’ and his portrayal on screen as a ‘modern’ politician draped in football guernseys, is a distinctly middle-class counter to the monarch. Thus, the film immortalises on celluloid the fascinating debate of “out-of-touch”, wealthy elites ruling over subjects who lead vastly different lives, and also communicates the brain-drain of governing an increasingly diverse people, with global resonance.
However, one of the successes of The Queen — and there are many — is that it interweaves other issues, such as the pressure the monarchy faces to modernise (which Frears asserts is directly at odds to the entrenched ethos of the royal family). Another jewel in the crown of the production is, indisputably, Mirren’s performance. Faced with the unenviable challenge of embodying a character so famous and yet unknown, Mirren also had to juggle the sticky consideration that this biopic’s protagonist was still living. Royal offence aside, mimicry alone could have foiled such a finely tuned performance. The movie also succeeds with its deft handling of an alternative, lesser-heard perspective on the premature death of Diana, one which may be considered heartless. Mirren is instrumental in striking such a delicate balance, while Michael Sheen is to be commended for his speech in which he illuminated the reasons the Queen had to dislike Diana, a convincing argument that could have turned ugly in another actor’s hands.
The movie garners another pat on the head for its balanced consideration of most perspectives during this period of national shock and mourning, an accolade that cannot be bestowed upon the contemporary media. The effect on Diana’s sons is notably avoided visually, despite discussion, but this is less of a criticism than an acceptance that some facets of the incident cannot be covered in a standard-length film.
The Queen has been released nearly ten years after the death of Diana, and it is interesting to consider the reasons for the wait. Frears has created a brave, respectful, yet probing account of the tumultuous week in British history. The Queen dodges melodrama and conjures authentic pathos for a young woman whose life was cut short, and for another woman whose life was also threatened.
