The Queen" – a film about one of England's most misunderstood political figures.

Rating: 8/10 (17 April 2013)

If you are interested in modern history, you should have a look at "The Queen". This film was directed by Stephen Frears and is set in England the week after Princess Diana's death in 1997. "The Queen" deals with her death and offers a look into the royal's point of view of the events and Queen Elisabeth II personal conflict when she was caught between the relentless media and the desire to protect her family.
The plot of the film is as follows:
In the beginning the new elected Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) meets Queen Elisabeth II (Helen Mirren) in Buckingham Palace for the first time. Their meeting hints that they have different ways of making political decisions. Three months later, Diana, Princess of Wales dies in a car crash at the Alma Bridge tunnel in Paris. In the next time it becomes clear that they also have different views on how to react to Diana's death. The Queen wants to keep the issue private. Meanwhile her nation is annoyed that she does not fly a Union flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace, and speak to the nation about Diana's life and legacy in a televised address. When the media has finally turned their attention on the supposedly unfeeling Royals, Blair has to find a way to bring the Queen closer to her nation again. But to find out how the film ends, you will have to view it yourself.
All the cinematic devices used in the film serve a function and achieve their intended effect. For example the use of original interviews and video footage of Lady Diana creates authenticity.
In sum, I can only strongly recommend this film because it is fascinating and very interesting to people who want to learn about history. If I was asked to rate this film on a scale from zero to ten, I would give it eight points.