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THE QUEEN (2006) (****)

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Set primarily during the week between Princess Diana’s death and her funeral, this intimate portrait follows the differing reactions of Queen Elizabeth II and her subjects to the tragic event. Helen Mirren (GOSFORD PARK), playing The Queen, gives a simply remarkable performance that will be hard to top come awards season. However, her stellar performance does not overshadow the wonderful work of her co-star Michael Sheen (UNDERWORLD series), who plays the newly elected prime minister Tony Blair.

After the tragic death of Diana, the United Kingdom went into shock. Blair quickly made a statement calling Diana the People’s Princess while The Queen opted to keep the matter private, because Diana was no longer a royal. The unprecedented situation posed difficult questions in regards to what traditions to keep and which ones to bend. Prince Philip (James Cromwell, BABE) and the Queen Mother (Sylvia Syms, I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD) steadfastly wanted to follow precedent while Diana’s former husband Prince Charles (Alex Jennings, BRIDGET JONES: EDGE OF REASON) understands that the celebrity-obsessed Britons want more than stoic tradition in this time of grief. At first, Blair agrees with his wife Cherie (Helen McCrory, CASANOVA) that the royal obsession with formal tradition seems far out of touch with the modern society.

Director Stephen Frears (HIGH FIDELITY) and writer Peter Morgan (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) start with putting us in the perspective of Blair then adroitly show us the pressures that The Queen faces. By the end, we may not totally agree with the royal response, but we understand it more fully and have sympathy for the difficult position Diana’s death put everyone in. Frears and Morgan argue both sides of the debate regarding whether the monarchy in the U.K. is still worth maintaining. The film wisely doesn’t take a stance, yet presents the issues in a compelling way.

As a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the film is thought-provoking, touching and mesmerizing. Her life is one of excessive privilege and wealth, yet filled with great pressure and duty. When The Queen says that she was raised to put the crown first and everything else second, we feel the true weight of what that means, because Mirren makes us understand with a searing portrayal.

Mirren plays The Queen as we know her in public — dignified to the point of seeming cold and emotionless. However, it’s the behind-the-scenes moments that Mirren truly shines in, because she is able to show a more relaxed person, yet presents a public and private Elizabeth that may be a bit different yet still feel like the same person. On another emotional level, the film masterfully utilizes news footage to capture the degree of love the country had for Diana, which adds even greater emotional poignancy to The Queen’s story. However, the film wouldn’t nearly work as well as it does, if it had dealt any less fully with Blair and how the situation posed great challenges for a newly elected leader, who must take on the difficult balancing act of giving the people what they need while abiding by the wishes of the monarchy. THE QUEEN is one of the very best films of the year and proves yet again that a new Frears film is something to look forward to.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks