The Queen (film)

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The Queen

The Queen Movie Poster
Directed by Stephen Frears
Produced by Francois Ivernel
Cameron McCracken
Scott Rudin
Written by Peter Morgan
Starring Helen Mirren
Michael Sheen
James Cromwell
Helen McCrory
Alex Jennings
and
Sylvia Syms
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography Affonso Beato
Editing by Lucia Zucchetti
Distributed by - UK -
Pathé Pictures (theatrical)
20th Century Fox (DVD)
- USA -
Miramax Films
- Australia -
Icon Productions (theatrical)
Warner Home Video (DVD)
Release date(s) September 15, 2006 (UK)
September 29, 2006 (USA)
Running time 103 min.
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Queen is a 2006 Pathé Pictures film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan and produced by Scott Rudin.

The film takes an intimate, behind-the-scenes glimpse at the interaction between Queen Elizabeth II and British Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, to reach a compromise between treating her death as a private tragedy for the Royal Family and appeasing the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.

Actor Michael Sheen, who appears as Tony Blair, previously had played the same role for director Stephen Frears in the 2003 television drama The Deal.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II
Enlarge
Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film begins on the eve of Tony Blair's 1997 election as the United Kingdom's first Labour Party Prime Minister in 18 years. While posing for an official portrait, the Queen makes small talk with the artist and expresses her regret about not being allowed to vote. Queen Elizabeth is slightly wary of the new prime minister and his pledge to 'modernise' the country, but Blair promises to respect the independence of the royal family. Blair visits Buckingham Palace for the first of his weekly audiences with the Queen, at which she asks him to form a government.

A few months later, Diana, Princess of Wales is killed in a car accident while visiting Paris with her boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed. Britons erupt in an intense state of grief, and thousands come to Buckingham Palace to place floral tributes along the fence. Blair makes a public statement, written by his director of communications, Alastair Campbell, in which he describes Diana as 'the people's princess'. The phrase catches on immediately. The film contrasts the formal lifestyle of the royals in their stately residences with the relatively modest middle-class household the Blairs keep in their constituency.

Meanwhile, the royal family is still on holiday at Balmoral Castle, the Queen's estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Diana's death sparks mixed feelings among senior members. Diana had not been much beloved by them while she was alive. The Queen observes that, since Diana divorced her son, the Prince of Wales, a year before, Diana is no longer a member of the royal family. Consequently, as she insists to Blair, the funeral arrangements are a 'private matter' to be left to the late princess's own family. After initially hesitating, though, she accedes to Prince Charles' request for his use of an aircraft of the Queen's Flight to fly to Paris and bring Diana's body back to Britain.

In London the bouquets begin to pile up along the Palace fence, forcing the changing of the guard to use another gate. As the days pass, the British tabloids become increasingly impatient with the absence of an expression of public condolence from the monarch. Prince Charles, during a brief conversation with Blair when Diana's body is returned to London and later through back-channel contacts, leaves no doubt that he shares Blair's views about the need for a more public expression of grief. Blair's popularity rises sharply, to the delight of the Prime Minister´s more republican-minded advisers, including his wife, Cherie, who see the monarchy as hopelessly antiquated.

Blair, however, does not share these sentiments. He wants to save the royal family 'from themselves' before it is too late. Cherie Blair speculates that her husband sees something of his late mother in the Queen; both came of age during World War II. After days of building pressure, Blair calls the Queen at Balmoral and urgently recommends a course of action he believes is needed to retain (or regain) the public's confidence in the monarchy. These measures include attending a public funeral for Diana at Westminster Abbey, flying a Union Flag at half mast over Buckingham Palace (a step without precedent in four centuries of royal protocol), and speaking to the nation about Diana's legacy in a live, televised address from the Palace.

Blair's recommendations outrage the Queen's husband, Prince Philip and mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. They view such steps as an undignified surrender to an emotional frenzy, whipped up by the newspapers, that will blow over when the public comes to its senses. The Queen shares their sentiments but (as she follows the coverage) begins to have doubts. Speaking with her mother, the Queen muses that there has been some shift in public values, that perhaps one should step aside when one no longer understands one's people. Her mother reminds the Queen of the vow she made as a princess (i.e., to devote "my whole life, whether it be long or short...to your service").

The Queen returns to London, inspects the floral tributes, and goes on live television to speak about Diana's life and work. This gesture seems to defuse the public's anger. Two months later, Blair comes to the Palace for a weekly meeting. The Queen has regained her popularity, but believes she will never quite fully recover from 'that week'. She cautions Blair that he too will find, one day, that public opinion can turn rapidly.

[edit] Production

The Queen was filmed entirely on location in the Scottish Highlands, in London and at Halton House in Buckinghamshire.

Mirren says transforming herself into the Queen came almost naturally after the wig and glasses, especially since she shares a default facial expression — a slightly downturned mouth — with the monarch.[1] She also regularly reviewed film and video footage of Elizabeth and kept photographs in her trailer during production.[2]. Morgan says it was convincing enough that, by the end of production, crewmembers who had been accustomed to slouching or relaxing when they addressed her were standing straight up and respectfully folding their hands behind their backs.[1]

Mirren also arranged for the other actors playing members of the royal family — Cromwell, Jennings and Syms — to spend much time together off-camera so they would be as comfortable with each other as a real family.[2]

[edit] Realism

Morgan reconstructed the events of that week through extensive interviews with many unnamed sources close to the Prime Minister and the royal family. Many of these sources were able to corroborate the accounts of others, giving Morgan enough information to imagine intervening scenes.[2]

Some aspects of the characters are known to be true to their real-life counterparts. Cherie Blair's hostility to the monarchy has been widely reported, including her refusal to curtsey (said to amuse the Queen in private, as it does in the film).[3] According to Morgan, "cabbage" is an actual term of endearment Phillip uses for his wife.[1]

The electric guitar seen behind Blair in his personal office is a reference to his past membership in the band Ugly Rumours while a law student at St. John's College, Oxford. The Newcastle United football jersey he wears to a family breakfast at 10 Downing Street is a reference to his constituency, Sedgefield, located in that region of the country (Blair's claim to being a longtime Newcastle fan has been called into question [4])

[edit] Cast

[edit] Awards

[edit] 64th Golden Globe Awards

[edit] 2006 New York Film Critics Circle Awards

[edit] 2006 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

[edit] 2006 Satellite Awards

  • Nominated: Best Motion Picture, Drama
  • Nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama - Helen Mirren
  • Nominated: Best Director - Stephen Frears
  • Nominated: Best Screenplay, Original - Peter Morgan

[edit] 2006 National Board of Review Awards

[edit] 2006 Chicago International Film Festival

[edit] 2006 British Independent Film Awards

  • Won: Best Screenplay - Peter Morgan
  • Nominated: Best British Independent Film
  • Nominated: Best Director - Stephen Frears
  • Nominated: Best Actress - Helen Mirren
  • Nominated: Best Technical Achievement - Alan MacDonald (production design)
  • Nominated: Best Technical Achievement - Daniel Phillips (makeup)

[edit] 2006 Venice Film Festival

[edit] Trivia

This will mark the second time that the actress Helen Mirren has portrayed a British monarch in a film, the first time being the HBO two-part special Elizabeth I, where she was cast as Elizabeth I.

[edit] External links

[edit] Interviews

[edit] Reviews

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Gritten, David; 9 September 2006; 'I do look a bit like the Queen, you know'; The Daily Telegraph; retrieved 26 November 2006.
  2. ^ a b c Levy, Emanuel; The Queen according to Frears, emanuellevy.com; retrieved 26 November 2006
  3. ^ Rayner, Gordon; 21 April 2006; That b**** Princess Anne; The Daily Mail; retrieved 26 November 2006.
  4. ^ Calder, Peter; 6 November 2005; Tony Blair's own goal; liberalengland.blogspot.com; retrieved 26 November 2006.
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