The Queen

Rating: 7/10 (7 January 2007)

In my quest in searching for good movies running in Amsterdam, I selected this new movie that is critically acclaimed and appreciated by all.
I saw this movie at Pathe Tunishchi Theater.
When the movie started and about after 30 minutes later I was trying to rate this movie  I gave it 4 Stars out of 10. The reason was because I found the movie too shallow  too current. It showed 2 characters of recent times  The Queen of England and the President of UK  Tony Blair. For me, it seemed comical, to make movie on recent living characters. Because it had all the chances of mis-representing thoughts and events  that would not have been interpreted in the way the Director has shown us. In the beginning 30 minutes or so  the director was trying to take a shot at making the laughing stock of the Queen's monarchy and their ways of life. The character of Queen, the King, Prince Charles and Tony Blair  seemed to me quite caricatured  almost like comic strip. I was not at all impressed by the first part of the movie.
But the movie started to grip me  as it progressed. Michael Sheen has acted fantastically as Tony Blair. But the stealer of the show was Helen Mirren, who put her heart and soul in portraying the emotional turmoil the Queen faces. The pride and arrogance and the humiliation and sadness, was projected with royal touch of smile, poise and confidence by Helen. She may surely bag this years top actress Awards at various awards ceremonies.
The movie shows how the media  after Diana's death  projects the Royal family as villains  and creates public pressure on the royal family to react to Diana  who no longer is part of their Royal family. Traditionally they need not react  but in today's changing world it is the job of Tony Blair  who is People's Voice  to make the Queen understand what to do to survive in respect of people's memory. The Queen goes through waves of emotional humiliation reflected brilliantly by Helen by her subdued eyes and emotions.
The best scene that I like and would love to remember is the scene when the Queen's Jeep's axel is broken and is in the midst of no-where in her 400 acres of Palace area, and encounters a Royal Stag  who is being driven and chased to be hunted by her own grand sons  sons of Prince Charles and Diana. She sees her suffering in the Royal Stag. And the killing of Royal stag reflects the director's vision of killing of all the Royalty that was left of the Queen. The poignant scene was very delicately handled when the Queen on hearing the killing of Royal Stag wants to go and pay her last tribute to it. The decorum with which Helen has handled that scene is brilliant.
And thus, by the end of the movie  I change my rating.