Movie Review - Wherein I Don't So Much Review as React: The Queen

Anglophile that I am, I anticipated enjoying "The Queen", the Stephen Frears movie that won Helen Mirren her Oscar this year. "Enjoy" is probably the wrong word, what with the film not exactly being a romp. But it is a very good film.

"The Queen" examines the relationship between the newly elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Queen Elizabeth II during the time of Princess Diana's death. A skillful use of actual news reel footage is employed to create the context and show the public outpouring that followed Diana's death. Meanwhile, the action of the film show us what was going on behind the closed doors of 10 Downing Street and Balmoral Castle.

The story is well-known to us: the people mourned in a completely uncharacteristic way, given the stiff-upper-lip tendencies of the British and the royal family holed up in Balmoral, thinking that it was a "private affair" and that the hysteria would all quickly blow over. The film shows us how a very modern Prime Minister struggled to guide the Queen to react, to give the people what they wanted. The subtext is the tension between the modern world and the hide-bound tradition of the monarchy and how Blair worked to avert what he saw as a crisis arising from the anti-monarchy sentiment that grew more fierce as the people mourned and the Queen kept silent. Tony Blair was overwhelming elected primarily because he promised a breath of modernity that the Brits seemed ready to embrace. The anti-monarchy sentiments are primarily given voice by Blair's wife, Cherie, played with brittle tartness by Helen McCory. (Whether this was merely a device or a reflection of Mrs. Blair's true feelings I couldn't say). As the story plays out it is Blair, the modernist, who ends up saving the monarchy from itself.

Micheal Sheen plays a very charming, accessible Blair. The real Blair always seems a bit theatrical; Sheen downplays that, rendering a character who is entirely believable. We're not distracted by Blair's tendency to be a bit of a toff so we can focus on the relationships at play. Nice touch.

There was, however, one thing that bothered me immensely about the film. Prince Charles, played by Alex Jennings, is written as a complete milquetoast, who's motivations are reduced to a fear of being assassinated. I was no fan of Charles' during the period in question, what with the Camilla thing and all, but I've read quite a bit about that time and know he was anything but weak and passive. Not only did he retrieve Diana's body from Paris, against his mother's wishes, but he was, in fact, the one who told the Queen that if she didn't address the people, he would. That fact is dismissed entirely, with Blair doing all the heavy lifting. I can appreciate why the focus was on Blair's role but to dismiss Charles like that really bothered me.

Which I suppose goes to the challenge of making a film like this. It is necessarily a different thing to look at a recent time in history rather than something farther back in time. We're still so close to that fateful week, know so much about it. A film-maker must tread with some carefulness. Besides that one misstep, Frears succeeds.

In the end, though, I found myself having a completely different reaction to the film than I had expected and it had nothing to do with the movie and everything to do with Tony Blair. I liked the guy. His "people's princess" stuff was spot on...the people needed to hear that and if the Queen wasn't going to give it to them, the PM would. And I remember Blair on 9/11. He was the one who spoke comfort to me, something my own president didn't even attempt to do until days later. I could always get past his snooty manner of speaking and hear his words and I loved him for that. But then, oh, then...

I suppose you could make a case to justify his support of Bush in the early days of Iraq, what with the tight ties between the US and England, even though he was wrong. But I just couldn't get over it. I was watching this leader with his finger firmly on the pulse of the English people and couldn't help thinking, "What happened to that guy?" Why, why, why hasn't he been the voice of reason? He showed tremendous leadership in the face of all the crisis created by the death of a princess. Where was that leadership when the stakes were even higher? I don't know that Frears had any intention of raising those questions but with Blair leaving office, and leaving it with such low opinion ratings, I just couldn't divorce myself from all that. Which is probably way too bad.

The real gold in this film is, without question, Helen Mirren. Well, duh. Aforementioned Oscar was well-deserved. As challenging as it must be to play a historical character that is firmly ingrained in popular consciousness, how much more challenging to play a historical figure who is still living? But Mirren brings all her considerable skill to bear in her portrayal of Elizabeth II. In lesser hands Elizabeth's character, steeped as it is in duty and tradition, could have been portrayed on one stiff note. But Mirren gives us so much more. Yeah, Elizabeth has a stick up her hinney. But Mirren gives her depth and range, whether its in sparks of humor, chips of anger, a well placed "bugger" of irritation or quiet vulnerability. (There's something particularly charming in the moments when she calls the Queen Mother "mummy"). Mirren's Elizabeth is an embattled woman who is enormously confused about why she is under siege and there is not a false note in her portrayal. It's a brilliant performance.

The Film Czarina gives "The Queen" 3 ¾ Koihead out of 5