SummaryThe Queen takes audiences behind the scenes of one of the most shocking public events of recent times -- providing an illuminating, deeply affecting and dramatic glimpse into what happens in the corridors of power when a tragedy strikes. (Miramax)
SummaryThe Queen takes audiences behind the scenes of one of the most shocking public events of recent times -- providing an illuminating, deeply affecting and dramatic glimpse into what happens in the corridors of power when a tragedy strikes. (Miramax)
The Queen is a powerful historical drama that beautifully demonstrates the power of friendship through an outstanding performance by Helen Mirren. She definitely deserved her win for Best Actress.
Helen Mirren as the present Queen Elizabeth II is one of the grandest acting experiences of all-time. I use the term "experience" rather than performance because she creates this new atmosphere in the role - which **** you in immediately. Overall, a brilliant look at Great Britain and the Royal Family during the wake of Princess Diana's death. Bravo to Stephen Frears and Peter Morgan!
Helen Mirren is a goddess of an actress, and her Queen Elizabeth is maddening, hilarious, and deeply human, galumphing around the Balmoral estate in a tartan raincoat and waders as the Britain she thought she knew crumbles around her.
The Queen is a surprisingly compassionate portrait (excepting Blair's reactionary wife with the "shallow curtsy") of a rigid pragmatist in denial over the monarchy's out-of-touch dysfunction.
Mirren's finely calibrated performance reveals a complex woman coping with a bewildering world, and Blair's growing sympathy for his beleaguered monarch gradually becomes ours. This nuanced compassion may not impress the real Queen Elizabeth II, but, for us commoners, it makes for a richer experience.
A fascinating mix of high-minded gossip and historical perspective, examines the clash of values -- of ritual and traditions versus media savvy and political ambition -- that leads to a crisis for the British monarchy.
Perfect movie. Almost all the motion pictures show the point of view of other people, this one shows how Elizabeth II felt at those moments. And I think Mirrer won that Academy Award for an actual & incredible performance.
This film deals with a character still alive and contemporary for us all: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, one of the oldest monarchs in recent history and one of the most influential figures in the world. In this film, she faces the dramatic days following the death of Princess Diana. Directed by Stephen Frears, the film has script by Peter Morgan and has Helen Mirren in the title role.
Princess Diana was, as long as she lived, one of the most powerful and influential figures of European royalty, helping to popularize and modernize the monarchy the same way that, decades earlier, Grace Kelly did. Even today, there are people with very different views of Diana. Some people idolized her, other despised her and didn't like the way that, allegedly, she manipulated yellow press. Ironically, even her death is subject of debate and doubts. However, most people agreed about the antipathy between herself and the Queen, her mother-in- law. The film deals with the difficulties of the monarch to react to the death of a woman she inwardly abhorred, and the danger that unpopularity represents today to the old monarchical gears.
Helen Mirren surprised at the role of the British sovereign. She turned on her, gave her body, soul and life of an absolutely brilliant way, worthy of the Oscar for Best Leading Actress she won. She managed to give the public the image of a woman torn between what to do and to show, and what she really feels and wants. A woman educated to rule and not show weakness, keeping her composure under any circumstances and following the protocol, even when people demanded it to be broken. The film even shows one of the lesser known truths of this monarch, which is that of knowing how to drive, thanks to the period she spent as British Army auto mechanics. Michael Sheen also shone, in the role of Tony Blair, a smart prime minister who quickly realized what the Queen was slow to understand: that the will of the people was overlapping the state protocol.
The makeup and costume work was at the highest level. The scenarios also helped to set up the characters and show the everyday life of British royalty, without falling into the cliché of the luxurious and impersonal rooms, usually found in royal palaces. The photograph fulfills its role with intelligence and the soundtrack, by Alexandre Desplat, is excellent and fits perfectly to the film.
Helen Mirren's performance is amazing, but you can expect that if she wins an Oscar for it. The rest of the movie is still nice, but just nothing against her acting. Tony Blair is shown excessively kind and the royal family is also overacted. Still it's a sophisticated history story, but you are also not missing that much, if you ignore this film (except Mirren's brilliant performance, keep that in mind!)
Indeed, the film is almost all of Helen Mirren, perfect in the role of Queen Elizabeth II. The rest stays average. A story already known to the general public, because it is based on real facts well documented at the time. Personally, I really like the director Stephen Frears, but this is not one of his best work. It is worth it to know all about the personality of one of the most famous monarchs of the past decades, sovereign facade of the English monarchy. It really is an odd figure, compassionate through a poor animal slaughtered during a game, but unable to surrender to the greater popularity of the charismatic Princess Diana, all because of the vanity of the royal family, whose still didn't realize that their time changed.
A very well crafted film that attempts to humanise those that the public see very little human emotion from - The Royal Family. The film is not a rebuttal from those that support the Royal family because they had already regained the faith of the public by the time of it's 2006 release. It is instead a touching, sensible and sometimes humorous account of what went on behind the scenes during one memorable week. Another point of note is that the popularity of the main protagonist of this film in Blair was on a slide in 2006, marking the relevant public shallowness for their powerful public action figures. The film itself is very well made, with the acting as exquisite as the Royal decor. It paces itself nicely and doesn't run as long as a film with a title as 'The Queen' could have - a credit due to the filmmakers here. By keeping The Queen to just over an hour and a half, Frears and Morgan have saved it from becoming bland and boring - two terms that on this occasion can be separate from the Royal family.
Production Company
Pathé Pictures International,
Pathé,
Granada Film Productions,
Pathé Renn Productions,
BIM Distribuzione,
France 3 Cinéma,
Canal+,
Future Films,
Scott Rudin Productions