"That's the way we do things in this country - quietly, with dignity. That's what the rest of the world has always admired us for."

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 2009)

Biographical films always prove a mixed blessing. For every triumphantly realistic (and often awards baiting) performance, there remains a certain cinematically stunted feeling, as if all concerned devoted so much attention to cramming in facts and details of the celebrity's life that the film adapts the feel of a "greatest hits" version of their life, capturing only selected fragments rather than a cohesive sense of the life or the individual in question. Bearing this in mind leads to a central reason that Stephen Frears' The Queen is such a triumphant undertaking. Rather than adhering to 'biopic' conventions and attempting to capture and condense the life of Queen Elizabeth into a two hour film, writer Peter Morgan selects a limited scope, concentrating on the election of Prime Minister Tony Blair, the death of Princess Diana and the subsequent media frenzy, and the Queen's role and reaction within them. This focus allows for far more depth, nuance and detail to be exposed within the film rather than the usual broad strokes and generalizations, superseding the common structure and making The Queen a fundamentally fascinating watch.
At first glance, given the above summary, the film being titled 'The Queen' might appear somewhat misleading, the central focus of the film being primarily dedicated to the re- creation of an almost unmatched media event through the reaction to Princess Diana's death and the political machinations ruminating on the relevance of the Monarchy in a contemporary context. And while the film begs investigation through the lens of its political and socio-cultural dimensions, it can just as easily be approached as a character study of its titular character. In terms of biographical representation, Frears and Morgan's in depth focus of a brief but essential period of her life provides a more telling representation of the Queen herself than any film attempting to cover a truncated version of her entire life could have resulted in. Morgan's fascinatingly complex screenplay fearlessly confronts notions which caused incalculable strife within the country and world in 1997 (and to some extent still do), recurringly focusing on the inescapable role of the media within contemporary government. This begs the question of whether the individuals in positions of power are running the 'people', or whether the masses in question are, by proxy, running their officials, as the public reaction to Diana's death sways the Queen's actions.
However Frears and Morgan are exceedingly careful to avoid political bias, simply presenting the events in a dramatic but detached fashion and allowing the audience to complete their own conclusions and judgments. That being said, interesting political parallels are pointedly drawn in reference to contemporary events (near the end, the Queen articulates Blair's attempts to build public support for her as out of fear that someday he might be in a similarly demonised position, to which she responds with a tiny smile, saying "And you will"), making the film more shrewdly relevant than it might appear at first glance. However, the film's beautifully measured pacing keeps it, like its title character, moving along at a brisk, smooth and continually unflappable pace, intercutting copious documentary footage within the narrative to underline its historical relevance and credibility. The film is also enormously aided by its technical components. Alexandre Desplat's sumptuously grandiose musical score creates a powerful emotional undercurrent without ever once feeling excessive or out of place. Similarly, Affonso Beato's bold, sweeping cinematography adds life and vigour to a potentially overly static drama, with constantly gliding cameras adding a lyrical immediacy to the film.
Furthermore, being a highly performance driven work, the fact that the film never once lags or becomes less riveting is just as attributable to the cast's incendiary performances as Frears' masterful directorial pacing and Morgan's impeccable script. Helen Mirren, rightly awarded with a best actress Academy Award, is undeniably outstanding. Taking a character so inextricably etched as highly constructed, performative and unaccustomed to confronting emotions in anything less than a detached, quiet and dignified fashion, Mirren manages to bleed aching silent emotion, credibility and near peerless class from her without breaking stride. Mirren's Queen is never entirely sympathetic nor in any way vilified, but remains consistently a genuine human being, the slightest furrowing of her brow denoting decades of flooring experience and craft. Although the comparison might seem outlandish, Michael Sheen is almost equally superb as newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair, coming across as, eerily like Blair himself, winningly charismatic and sympathetic, yet with a minutely ambiguous exterior suggesting an underlying Machiavellian self-interest beneath the informal charm. James Cromwell also gives a fantastic performance, commanding the screen as Prince Philip, his gruff, unflinching adherence to tradition being poignantly contrasted with Blair's striving for modernity and change. Roger Allam makes powerful use of limited screen time as the Queen's chief secretary, with concern or heated contempt radiating seamlessly from his eyes alone despite a continually impassive, contained exterior. Helen McCrory is a strong presence as Blair's anti-monarchist wife, often articulating crucial truths beneath the public constructions of the principle characters, and Sylvia Syms delivers continual class and wry humour as the Queen Mother.
An uncommonly vivid and riveting watch, The Queen functions just as well as an exceedingly honest character study as a poignantly representative political drama and exploration of media presence and power. Fuelled by the exceptional performances by Mirren and the rest of the cast, Morgan's meticulously superb screenplay and Frears' masterful command of the cinematic form, the film supersedes genre conventions and the usual stilted tone, making for a fascinating, highly relevant and lasting watch. Even viewers usually distanced by such a film are highly unlikely to be disappointed, so accessible and rewarding an experience is The Queen.
-9/10