All hail the Queen, err Helen Mirren!

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2007)

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" - Henry IV, Part II All hail the Queen! Oops, I meant Helen Mirren, who won a much deserved Oscar for Best Actress at the Academy Awards this year! Helen Mirren's brave and confident portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in THE QUEEN is remarkable. Consider the fact that the monarch is alive and well and Mirren grew up under her reign in the UK. Besides the physical traits the Queen and Mirren share (such as a slightly down turned mouth), her portrayal of the Queen is imbued with a real humanity, quite beyond a simple "stiff upper lip". Our story is set in the year 1997, in London, during a very tumultuous week for England and its royal family. Tony Blair is elected Prime Minister and seeks to modernize the old institutions of the UK. He is overwhelmingly voted into office, and following tradition the Queen appoints him Prime Minister. This is a terribly formal event, involving some rather quaint formalities. Following the usual addresses and bows, the Queen is still obligated to ask him to be Prime Minister - he is not just assumed to have taken on that role just yet. On the heels of Blair's appointment comes the sudden death of Princess Diana in a high speed car chase in Paris. The public reaction worldwide is far greater than the Queen anticipates, and she takes Diana's two children, Prince William, 15, and his brother Harry, 12, away from all the publicity to protect them and help them deal with the tragic loss of their mother. They go to a country estate far from the city. With an old fashioned sensibility, the Queen wants a private funeral for Diana, and the solace of the English mountains. But as the public spectacle grows for Diana, along with the pile of flowers in front of the Buckingham Palace gate, the absence of the Queen is widely viewed as cold indifference. A rift forms between the people and the crown, fueling talk of abolishing the monarchy. Tony Blair respectfully pleads her to come and appear, but to no avail. In the meantime he acts as a mediator on the Queen's behalf; soon it is apparent however that she must concede. 'The Queen' grants us a glimpse behind-the-scenes at an enigmatic figure grasping awkwardly at the fact that times had changed, and that she had to change with them, or be the ruler of an unnecessary establishment. In the shadow of Princess Diana's passing we see the Queen's stoic vulnerability, her burdens, expectations, and conflicts faced in the public eye and behind closed doors. There is an inherent dignity which guides the Queen in her daily decision making. Director Stephen Frears' most recent film 'Mrs. Henderson Presents' starred Judi Dench and was outstanding. Frears does quite well with 'The Queen', earning an Oscar nomination for Best Director, along with a Best Picture nod. When you watch the film you cannot help but think - how do they have any idea of what happened in private? Through extensive interviews with many unnamed sources writer Peter Morgan is able to give us a peek into the intimate events the film focuses on. The sense of realism continues with the choice to use actual footage from that week outside of Buckingham Palace, in Diana's funeral, and the interviews with the public. Helen Mirren impressively paints a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II without wasting effort on perfect mimicry. This film is moving, surprising and completely fascinating.