thePeanutBloggery

The British love their monarchs. From the grainy images covering the nation’s tabloids, to the vast variety of royal kitsch available for purchase, it’s obvious that the people of the U.K. can’t get enough of all things Queen and country. But for one week after Princess Diana’s death in 1997, people in Britain–and all over the world–harbored contempt for the beloved monarchy. Director Stephen Frears and writer Peter Morgan saw this as an opportunity to expose the inner workings of the royal mind, bringing to the screen one of the best films of 2006, The Queen.

There exists no part of this film that diminishes its quality. There are no soap opera-esque melodramatic moments or overly creative interpretations of actual events. The film strives for realism in the sense that the characters are based on actual people and must act–and react–as such. The royal family’s personal interactions are, of course, fictionalized interpretations of what might have occurred at Balmoral and Buckingham Palace during the week following Princess Diana’s death, but the manner in which they are carried out adds an air of believability and dignity. Cinematographer Affonso Beato (Dark Water, Ghost World) relies heavily on natural lighting and captures the inside of royal residences with the same matter-of-fact style used to capture both 10 Downing Street and Tony Blair’s private home–turning her majesty’s royal houses into homes instead of museums.

Helen Mirren proves herself as an indomitable acting force yet again. Her small screen turns as Jane Tennison on the BBC’s Prime Suspect and HBO’s Elizabeth I are impressive, but it is her interpretation of Queen Elizabeth II that truly deserves accolade after accolade. So lost is she in her character–physically, psychically, and emotionally–that it’s difficult to remember that the events unfolding on screen are fictionalized. Her stately reserve, elegant gestures, and even her posture denote a queen so enmeshed in the edifice of royal dictum that the very act of going to bathroom can’t be met without pomp and circumstance. And it is, in fact, this restrained lifestyle that begs for and receives our sympathy.

What unfolded in the summer of 1997 was both horrifying and cathartic for the British people. It was a time for Tony Blair to shine brightly, and a time for the royal family to modernize and finally connect with Britain. But in the end, it wasn’t modernization that moved her majesty to address her people, The Queen would like us to believe it was far more personal than that.