The Queen
by Stephen Frears
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alex Jennings, Helen Mirren, James Cromwell, Michael Sheen, Sylvia SymsDirector: Stephen Frears
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language); German (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-04-24
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Miramax
Movie Reviews of The Queen
Movie Review: Truth manipulated (details)
Summary: 3 Stars
I want to say up front that Helen Mirren's performance as Queen Elizabeth II in this film is first-class, just superb. In fact, this is the most redeeming facet of the movie.
The story is this: Here, we have an intimate glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II (as well as her husband, the Queen Mother, and Prince Charles) during the window of time just before and during the week or so period of time after Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. The focal point of the movie is the hostile reaction of the British people toward the Queen's cold attitude in regard to Diana's death.
I need to say up front that I'm a fan neither of The Royals nor of the late Princess -- but I AM interested in hearing all about their endless peccadilloes. In fact, this actuality was one of my disappointments because I thought that this film was about the Queen's entire reign, and it's not. Still, I can't rightfully criticise what the film is NOT about... I just wish that the title had been more explicit.
In any case, right away the Queen and the Windsor-Mountbatten family are portrayed as pretty heartless and rotten, at least by American standards. Following the death of Diana, Prince Charles is also served up to us as a spineless flip-flopper and a witless wimp... okay so far.
At that point, newly-elected Prime Minister Tony Blair begins advising and urging the Queen to relent on her silence and isolation and share in the grief of the British people over Diane's death, a pill that the old sourpuss finds almost impossible to swallow. Still okay so far.
Then, at a turning point in the movie, the producers elect to REDEEM the Queen, just because she came out and sniffed the flowers under extreme political pressure and duress. There was not the first bit of actual remorse in that woman's heart (neither in the film nor in reality!) So, WHY did the film-makers decide to attempt to make her look like a normal human being? I surely have not figured it out!
So, in summary, I found this movie to be manipulative, although I must assert that this device was completely lost on me. I hold the Queen in no higher esteem now (post-film) than I did when she was acting like a witch the day after Diana died, (or even before that.)
As far as the cinematography and the continuity of the film, it was superb. The Producers also shrewdly used some actual footage of Diana and others which was sprinkled throughout the movie. There's a lot of nice scenery in this flick and some really terrific acting. Overall, I was okay on watching this film all the way through but I would not watch it again. With some trepidation, I would slightly recommend it to others.
Summary of The Queen
The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle following the death of Diana to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.DVD Features:The making of The QueenRun Time: 103 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre:?DRAMA Rating:?PG - 13 UPC:?786936712414 Manufacturer No:?05208100Helen Mirren reigns supreme in The Queen, a witty and ingenious look at a moment that rocked the house of Windsor: the week that followed the sudden death of Princess Diana in 1997. Diana's death came at just the same time that Prime Minister Tony Blair (played by the bright Michael Sheen) was settling into his new government--and trying to figure out the delicate relationship between 10 Downing Street and Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren). A large portion of the British population was trying to figure out the Windsors that week, as Elizabeth remained stiff-upper-lip and largely mum about the death of the beloved princess. In Peter Morgan's skillful script, we watch as Blair grows increasingly impatient with the Royals, who are sequestered in their Scottish estate while the public demands some show of grief. Prince Philip (James Cromwell, in good form) clumsily decides to take Diana's sons hunting, while a sympathetically-treated Prince Charles (Alex Jennings) displays some frustration with his mother's eerie calm.
None of this conveys how funny the film is, or how deftly it flows from one scene to the next. Director Stephen Frears (Dirty Pretty Things) deserves great credit for that, and for the performances, and for the movie's marvelous sense of well-roundedness; you could see this movie and groan at the cluelessness of the Royals and their outmoded existence, or you might just sympathize with showing reserve in a world that values gross public displays of emotion. But either way, you'll marvel at Mirren, who makes the Queen far more alert and human than one might ever have imagined. --Robert Horton
Beyond The Queen
 The British are Coming! Kings & Queens on DVD |  Helen Mirren Essential DVDs |  The Queen: Music From the Motion Picture by Alexandre Desplat |
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