God save 'The Queen'

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2007)

When celebrity, family, and majesty collide, who will be left standing?
And it is with the terrible collision that abruptly ended the life of Lady Diana that the story begins of the worst crisis in the British monarchy since before the War.
That story is revealed in the Stephen Frears film, 'The Queen,' in what feels like quite a faithful dramatization of those real-life events.
At the start of the film, we fear we've been dropped into one of those quick-cut MTV-style Euro films which machine-guns us with over-saturated edits like 'Crank,''Snatch,' and 'Millions.' But after this rough start, thankfully, the story takes over and is told in a brilliantly concise ensemble performance headed up by Helen Mirren as QEII and Michael Sheen as Tony Blair. Not a note is missed through to the end of the film after this screeching start.
Scarcely does one encounter a film that resists the temptation to take that bait which might endear itself to a wider, dumber audience, and joyfully, 'The Queen' is just such a film. By telling the WHOLE story, the present film redeems not just Diana, not just the Queen, but to my mind, Western society in general  and at a time when it is gravely needed. 'The Queen' also wonderfully reacquaints us with that oft-maligned magic of just being British and does so in far better a fashion than any new James Bond genre ever could.
Shortly after Tony Blair is elected Prime Minister of the UK, the movie recounts, he is faced with the daunting task of playing middle-man to Queen Elizabeth II and her subjects in the wake of Diana's untimely death. Diana was divorced from Prince Charles when she died and participated in royal life only when mothering her sons.
With the notable exception of Prince Charles, the reaction of the royals to Diana's death, the film shows us, grows quickly to a level of indifference that verges on the monstrous. But is it indifference or dignity which steels the Queen and her court against the worldwide outpouring of emotion for Diana's passing?
When she goes out of her way to lovingly stroke the decapitated head of a favored deer, but rejects the popular vigil for the mother of her own grandsons, what is it we're witnessing? Wanton, pitiless, disdain? Those trappings of formality which infuse the royalty? Leadership in some form too antiquated for modern sensibilities to surmise?
A case is made for all three, but what this film does so brilliantly is leave it up to us to decide. Mobs of mourners outside Buckingham Palace complain into cameras that no flag hangs at half-mast on its flag-pole. But we learn that no flag is flown at Buckingham when the royals are not there (they reside at a place called Balmoral in the countryside when not in London, apparently). The crowd complains that the Queen won't come and console them. But we learn the Queen hasn't mixed it up with a crowd for any occasion since the War. Is Diana's rejection of Prince Charles causing the Queen to hold fast her pity? Or is it precedent which governs her heart? It is left to poor Tony Blair to translate the position of the pressing mourners and their defenders to the Queen and vice versa. In a truly dramatic climax, Blair must face the prospect of countermanding the "Sovereign," a task anathema to any Brit assuredly. In this day when dignity and tradition seem to have been labeled obsolete and thrown overboard in favor of expedience and sympathy, watching Sheen's Blair handle his task should be required reading for any businessman, negotiator, diplomat, Westerner, or adult human being. Sheen's performance is absolutely perfect. By showing this white-hot diamond of a crisis from every angle, 'The Queen,' reacquaints us with what is good and noble in all of us and it respects us enough to divine these for ourselves.
Which brings us to Helen Mirren. What can be said? She utterly disappears into the role of Queen Elizabeth II and to my mind, an Oscar for best actress is a foregone conclusion. You will never see a role played more gorgeously or respectfully. It is truly, truly a stunner. Bravo!
This movie review by Erik Gloor