Best in a long time

Rating: 10/10 (9 October 2006)

This was a complex movie to pull off as the story of Princess Diana's death is still so sharp in our memories. The filmmakers are to be commended for their multidimensional HUMAN characters -- these portrayals gave this film the depth so many films lack. If you took away any biases you may still hold from that time when St. Diana ruled the covers of magazines, the film will give you a thought provoking looking glass - through which to reexamine that period without all the hype that overwhelmed us. The messages of the writer and the filmmaker are then allowed to come forward into our consciousness. The use of real television footage was brilliantly interspersed. It was clear that the Royal Family was (is)in their own bubble and yet the Diana they knew and the one the public "thought" they knew were two different beings --- they seemed to have reason to be bitter. The film once again showed that there are always two sides to every story and even though the Royal Family handled their side very badly until Tony Blair stepped forward to guide them back to humanity, ultimately they did make an effort. It may have been a shallow one, but frankly, that's the point. The deer scene says it all. To Steven Frear and the entire cast and crew - with special deep curtsy to Helen Mirren - WOW. Thank you for making the best film I have seen in so so long.