fourteen points

Rating: 10/10 (14 November 2006)

i've had a few days to think about THE QUEEN, and i say without shame that this is a perfectly constructed film with the necessary bonus of a great ensemble cast. This has got to be the great, Helen Mirren's year, in spite of everything. She has now recreated both ElizabethR's, and does it like nobody else. Watching the solid and versatile James Cromwell playing her idiot, cousin-husband was also very good; and i mean no offense to staunch royalists. British history and particularly it's ancient monarchy is one of my passions, so i waited for the films' release with anticipation. It was a true treat seeing Ms Sylvia Syms playing the queen mum. There are brief comments made about the royal family which are less than complimentary but true. But Mr Frears doesn't dwell on them, points out Elizabeth's devotion to her country and to her tradition, without hitting us over the head with it. I loved his film, THE GRIFTERS. THE QUEEN is equally as good. Some of my fellow film fans feel that the magnificent stag, so relentlessly hunted for it's fourteen points, represented Diana. For me, it represented the entire royal family, and especially the Queen. I loved the opening quotation assessed to Henry 4, who basically usurped the throne from family with a better claim: "uneasy is the head that wears the crown", or something close to that, For him, it was. But he did his fair share of back stabbing himself to retain power. The scene with Helen and Sylvia consulting about what to do was especially powerful. it's quite true that Elizabeth is descended from a long, unbroken line which precedes the Norman conquest. As queen, she has, imo, done everything she can and more to fulfill her obligations and her birth right, putting her country before anything else. The weak and ineffectual Charles wasn't man enough to marry the woman he loved. Some may argue that he was doing "his duty", but if he was, he destroyed a few lives along the way. And i do believe that yes indeed, he would let his mother take a bullet for him. Not nice to say, and perhaps a tad unfair. Elizabeth, on the other hand, threatened to abdicate as heir presumptive if she couldn't marry Phillip. Then there are the references to George the sixth's demise, from the stress of being King when he wasn't up to it, nor groomed for it. Well, other Kings had older brothers die,such as his own father; one was even passed over in favour of a younger one; others seized it. I think his excessive smoking and depleted immune system from generations of cousin-marrying probably didn't help, since he died from emphysema. or so we're told. But i admired him, and i adored his wife, the late Queen Consort Elizabeth. Don't get me wrong; i really feel no moral criticism about cousins marrying; but i do believe in hybrid vitality. And then there's the Hapsburgs! Her relationship with Tony Blair was believable and quite likely very close to the truth. I do believe i recently watched Mr. Sheen portray the insane emperor Nero... This is a glorious, tasteful film with an unbelievable performance by Helen Mirren. It may not be everybody's "cup of tea", but it is a gem. *I wish i could have had a better look at those portraits hanging behind The Queen. There were her grandparents, her great grandparents, and Victoria, i believe, who was her great great great grandmother...spectacular collection of art and portraits...some were cut off at the waist, headless..like that magnificent stag....