Mirren Deserves the Oscar!!!

Rating: 10/10 (25 January 2007)

An exceptionally well written, directed, and acted film. I am torn about the best picture category, but would not be disappointed if this film won. I would, however, feel that the Academy would be making a tremendous mistake if they did not honor Helen Mirren with a statue, in spite of the other fine actresses in the category. Ms. Mirren put a face on the most recognized yet most isolated monarch in the world. Kudos! I am far from a royalist sympathizer, but I do appreciate the human element this or any story provides. I was equally moved by the symbology employed by way of "stalking the stag." Princes Philip, Charles, William, and Harry, while at Balmoral would go out daily to stalk a 14-point stag for a hunting expedition in order to distract the younger princes from the horror of their mother's untimely and brutal death. Queen Elizabeth encounters the stag in one of the films most beautiful and emotional moments. The Queen's Range Rover breaks down as she tries to ford a river. While waiting for help, the stag appears. Standing before the Queen, the noble animal represents the British Monarchy; its ability to survive despite attempts on its life parallels the longevity of the Crown. The stag's tenuous hold on life mirrors the Queen's trouble at maintaining the monarchy due to rising unpopularity. Her attempt to honor the Spencer family's right to private mourning is seen as inaction and a lack of compassion by her subjects who mourn en masse. When the Queen acquiesces to Prime Minister Blair's recommendations to return to London and acknowledge the mourners she learns of the stag's death. Significant is the fact that the stag was not killed by a "royal" but by a "common" investment banker from London. An act portending the fate of the monarchy at the hands of the British subjects if the Windsors fail to modernize. It is not so much that the British, as portrayed in the film, were shouting down with the Queen, but were looking to their Sovereign for consolation during their collective mourning. Mirren and the entire cast succeed at putting this small slice of British history into perspective, and for that this film succeeds.