The Queen (film)

The plot focuses on the differing views in how to deal with the death of Diana. The Queen, along with her husband and mother, see the death as a private matter, not to be treated as an official Royal death, in contrast with Diana's former husband Prince Charles and Tony Blair, who attempt to reflect the public wish for an official expression of grief. Matters are further complicated by the media, royal protocol regarding Diana's official status, and wider issues about Republicanism. The views of Diana's sons throughout the film are only portrayed through other characters.

In contrast to the period in question, The Queen was released in 2006, a time of somewhat revived fortunes of the monarchy and a downturn in fortunes for Tony Blair, with his resignation coming less than a year later. Actor Michael Sheen reprised his role as Tony Blair from the 2003 Channel 4 play The Deal. Also a Frears / Morgan project, The Deal dealt with the relationship of Blair with his chancellor and eventual successor, Gordon Brown, prior to the events of The Queen.

The film earned critical and popular acclaim for both Mirren and Sheen, and some controversy as Mirren had previously refused a CBE in 1996,^[1] only to accept a DBE in 2003. Mirren praised the Queen in her Oscars acceptance speech,^[2] and was invited to lunch at Buckingham Palace in May 2007, only declining to attend due to filming commitments in the United States.^[3]

[edit] Plot

The film begins on the eve of the 1997 British general election, which saw Tony Blair (Sheen) as the United Kingdom's first Labour Party Prime Minister in 18 years. While posing for an official portrait, the Queen talks with the artist and expresses her regret about not being allowed to vote. Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren) 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 to kiss hands, where the Queen asks him to form Her Majesty's Government.

Three months later, during a visit to Paris, Diana, Princess of Wales is inside a car being chased by paparazzi when the driver crashes into a tunnel pillar underneath the Pont de l'Alma, resulting in her death. Blair makes a public statement, written by his director of communications, Alastair Campbell (Mark Bazeley), in which he describes Diana as "the People's Princess." The phrase catches on immediately. Over the next few days, Britons erupt in an intense state of grief, as millions go to Buckingham Palace to place floral tributes and notes along the railings.

Meanwhile, the Royal Family is still on holiday at Balmoral Castle, the Queen's Scottish estate in Aberdeenshire, a contrast with the relatively modest middle-class household the Blairs keep in their constituency. Diana's death sparks mixed feelings among senior members of the family. Diana had not been much beloved by them while she was alive. The Queen observes that, since Diana divorced her son, Charles, Prince of Wales (Alex Jennings), 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, the Spencers. After initially hesitating, she accedes to Prince Charles' request, following the Queen Mother's suggestion, for his use of an aircraft of the Royal Flight to fly to Paris and bring Diana's body back to England. Charles ensures that Diana's coffin is draped with a royal standard instead of being in a "wooden crate."

In London, the bouquets begin to pile up along the Palace railings, 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 royal family. 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 advisers, including his wife, Cherie (Helen McCrory), 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. Despite not concurring with the Royal Family's course of action, Blair respects the Royal Family and chides his wife for her lack of respect. (Later on, Blair reveals himself as a traditionalist who supports the Monarchy and angrily denounces the anti-royal disdain of his Labour counterparts.) 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, Duke of Edinburgh (James Cromwell) and the Queen Mother (Sylvia Syms). Philip is also surprised that Elton John is asked to attend and sing a song (Candle in the Wind) in Diana's honour. They view such steps as an undignified surrender to public hysteria, created by the tabloids, that will eventually calm down when the public comes to its senses. The Queen seems more concerned about this and although she shares their feelings, she begins to have doubts as she closely follows the news coverage. Speaking with her mother, the Queen muses that there has been some shift in public values, that perhaps one should step aside and hand over the monarchy to the next generation when one no longer understands one's people. Her mother reminds the Queen of the vow she made as a princess (to devote "my whole life, whether it be long or short... to your service").

While at Balmoral, as a way to take their minds off Diana's death, Philip takes his grandsons on stalks, to take a 14 point stag that has been sighted on the estate. While venturing out alone in her Land Rover to meet the hunting party, the Queen damages her vehicle while fording a river, and has to wait for assistance. While waiting, she starts to become upset, but then catches sight of the stag, which lifts her mood. Hearing a distant gunshot, she shooes the animal away, and it appears it has escaped. Later in the day, the Queen decides to carry out the recommendations of Blair. While preparing to leave for London she learns the stag has been taken on a neighbouring estate, by a visitor on a commercial shoot. She visits the estate where the stag is being dressed, and shares concern with the estate gamekeeper at the amateurish way it was hunted, and hopes that it had not suffered.

The film ends when the Queen returns to London, inspects the floral tributes, and goes on live television to speak about Diana's life and work, even going so far as calling her "an exceptional and gifted human being." This gesture seems to diffuse 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. With some banter about who should be advising whom, they go for a walk in the Palace garden, talking about Blair's current policy plans and apparently enjoying each other's company. Then the credits roll.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

[edit] Filming

The screenplay was written by Peter Morgan and produced by Pathé Pictures and Granada Productions (ITV Productions). Stephen Frears had a clause in his contract from The Deal that allowed him to direct any follow-ups or sequels, and he was officially announced as director in September 2003.^[4] The film was shot on location in the United Kingdom, in England in London and Halton House in Buckinghamshire, and in Scotland at Balmoral Castle and Castle Fraser in Aberdeenshire. Mirren says transforming herself into the Queen came almost naturally after the wig and glasses, since she shares a default facial expression — a slightly downturned mouth — with the monarch.^[5] She regularly reviewed film and video footage of Elizabeth and kept photographs in her trailer during production.^[6] She also undertook extensive voice coaching, faithfully reproducing the Queen's delivery of her televised speech to the world. Morgan has said that her performance was so convincing that, by the end of production, crew members who had been accustomed to slouching or relaxing when they addressed her were standing straight up and respectfully folding their hands behind their backs.^[5] Mirren arranged to spend time off-camera with the supporting cast playing other members of the Royal Family, including James Cromwell, Alex Jennings and Sylvia Syms so they would be as comfortable with each other as a real family.^[6]

[edit] Television viewership and DVD release

ITV's role in the production of the film allowed them an option for its television premiere^[7] and it was broadcast on 2 September 2007 (coinciding that weekend with a memorial service to Diana) to an average audience of 7.9 million, winning its timeslot.^[8] The DVD was released in the UK on 12 March 2007. Special features include a making-of featurette, and an audio commentary by Stephen Frears, writer Peter Morgan and Robert Lacey, biographer of Queen Elizabeth II. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the USA on 24 April 2007. As of 30 September 2007, The Queen has generated DVD sales of over $23 million.^[9]

[edit] Historical Inaccuracy

Screenwriter Peter Morgan has stated that the film was not intended to be an historically accurate representation of the Queen's role. He says "As far as I am aware, I wrote about a cold, emotionally detached, haughty, difficult, prickly, private, uncommunicative, out-of-touch bigot. But people adore her [i.e. the character], because they think it was written with compassion and integrity rather than being a hatchet job." ^[10] However, there was considerable effort to recount the story with a degree of accuracy. 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 the intervening scenes.^[6]

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.^[11] According to Morgan, "cabbage" is an actual term of endearment Philip uses for his wife.^[5]

Other elements represent characteristics associated with people depicted. The electric guitar seen behind Blair in his personal office is a reference to his past membership in the band Ugly Rumours while a student. The Newcastle United football jersey he wears to a family breakfast at 10 Downing Street is a reference to his support of that team.

The most notable inaccuracy is that Robin Janvrin is represented as the Queen's Private Secretary during the aftermath of Diana's death, but in fact that position was then occupied by Janvrin's predecessor, Sir Robert Fellowes, a brother-in-law of the late Diana, Princess of Wales; Janvrin was only the Deputy Private Secretary up until 1999 when he took the position of Private Secretary to the Queen. However, the film is accurate in depicting Janvrin as the person who delivered the news of Diana's accident to Her Majesty at Balmoral during the night.^[12]

[edit] Reception

[edit] Box office

The film exceeded box-office expectations; with a budget of $15 million the film has earned $56.4 million in the United States and has a world wide gross of $120 million.^[13]

[edit] Critical reaction

Before the film was released, critics praised both Stephen Frears and Peter Morgan, who later garnered Golden Globe and Academy Award-nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay. Michael Sheen's performance as Tony Blair earned him particular acclaim. But Helen Mirren's tour-de-force portrayal garnered her acclaim from critics around the world. Her portrayal made her a favourite for the Academy Award for Best Actress well before the film was released in theatres. After its showing at the Venice Film Festival, Mirren received a five-minute-long standing ovation.^[14] Roger Ebert came out of recovery from surgery to give the film a review. He called it "spellbinding" and gave it four out of four stars.^[15] The Queen was the most critically acclaimed film of 2006 with Mirren being the most critically acclaimed actress of the year. The Queen currently has a certified freshness rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.^[16]

[edit] Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2006.^[17]

[edit] Awards and nominations

Helen Mirren won at least 29 major awards for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, many of which are listed below. She was nominated for at least 3 more.

[edit] Soundtrack

[edit] References

^ Helen Mirren declines CBE, The Times
^ Helen Mirren at the Oscars, news.scotsman.com
^ Mirren 'too busy' to meet Queen BBC News, 10 May 2007
^ Wells, Matt. "Frears on board for new Deal", Media Guardian, 2003-09-17. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
^ ^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.
^ ^a ^b ^c Levy, Emanuel; The Queen according to Frears, emanuellevy.com; retrieved 26 November 2006
^ Manzoor, Sarfraz. "The power behind the throne", The Guardian, 2007-02-27. Retrieved on 2007-06-28.
^ Leigh, Holmwood. "Queen commands 8m for ITV1", Media Guardian, 2007-09-03. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
^ Movie The Queen - Box Office Data, News, Cast Information - The Numbers
^ The man who rewrites history| Film | This is London
^ Rayner, Gordon; 21 April 2006; That b**** Princess Anne; The Daily Mail; retrieved 26 November 2006.
^ Junor, Penny (2005). The Firm: The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-710215-1.
^ The Queen :: Lee's Movie Info
^ Marin Independent Journal - Dame Helen Mirren's appearance at Mill Valley Film Festival fit for 'The Queen'
^ The Queen Movie - Official DVD Website
^ The Queen - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
^ Metacritic: 2006 Film Critic Top Ten Lists. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.

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