Movie Review: The Queen

After having missed it last weekend, I was more than a little anxious that I did not miss Stephen Frears’ tour de force, The Queen. So this weekend, I set out with an old friend, to watch it – she was keen to watch it too. And might I add, both of us were not disappointed.

At a time when Tony Blair has, in real-life, made way for Gordon Brown as the new UK PM, The Queen ensures that his (Blair’s) politically populist, media-savvy campaigns and views do not fade into oblivion. Michael Sheen gives a notable performance as the newly-sworn in Prime Minister.

But the movie belongs to Helen Mirren, who delivers a stellar performance as the enigmatic, guarded, stoic, wary of the PM who is intent to “modernize” Britain, class-conscious monarch. A stalwart HRH, her dry humor and ability to bring down people a peg or two, be it her nutty husband, Prince Phillip (played by James Cromwell), her spineless, whining son – the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles (Alex Jennings), the “brash” pro-modernist Blair, or his “middle-class” and outspoken anti-royalist wife, Cherie Blair (played by Helen Mccrory), as also her private secretary Robin Janvrin(Roger Allam), is par excellence.

Most of the movie is based on the time right after the People’s Princess, Princess Diana’s death in August 1997, and the complex relationship between the traditionally restrained Queen and the bursting-with-ideas Blair, barely three months into his role as PM after a landslide Labor win. Post news of Diana’s death, the Queen retains the monarchical stiff upper lip, refusing to let the Union Jack fly at half mast over Buckingham Palace, rebuffing a public mourning, and declining to address the nation live about Diana’s legacy. The reason – Diana was separated from Charles, and technically did not “deserve” a royal funeral, especially after her escapades with Dodi Al Fayed were lapped up by yellow journalists and / or the paparazzi.

At a time when the British public were anxious to hear condolence messaged from the Queen, she instead seeks refuge at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, surrounded by her dogs, jeeps, kilt-wearing husband, son, and grand-children, more concerned with stag-hunting than the humongous public grief that had built up. Her single arched-eyebrow speaks volumes, and she is appalled by the publicity Diana’s death has generated.

This is where the slick Blair steps in, carefully steering the much-vilified-by-the-fourth-estate Queen in the right direction. She makes a public appearance, addresses the nation live, and does damage-control for her appallingly aloof English reaction. HRH – the aristocratic, acid-talking, class-driven Royal, bound by protocol, has the perfect antidote in the savvy, politically-driven, smooth-operator, modernist, Blair.

Helen Mirren fittingly deserved the Academy she marshaled for the vivid role she essays with such consummate ease.

The movie is a no-nonsense intimate human drama of manners, where each person is shown battling his / her own private battles with an aching vulnerability.

Miss it at your own risk.