The Queen

The Queen is about Queen Elizabeth/Helen Mirren and Prime Minister Tony Blair/Michael Sheen dealing with the death of Princess Diana. The two take diametrically opposed paths on how to deal with her passing. One was caught up in tradition, a conservative approach and a personal dislike of Diana. The other recognized the standing of the Princess with the public. I thought both actors were excellent in their roles. Mirren always wanted to keep a tight upper lip while Sheen squirmed at what he saw as her mistakes. I think the movie also did a good job explaining how Diana was a disruptive figure for the royal establishment which was important context for how the queen reacted to her death. There’s plenty of documentary footage spliced in as well to see how people were reacting to both the death and the queen which was a nice touch.

Biopics are a dime a dozen, and the ability to make a successful biopic depends largely on who you're making the biopic of, who it's fanbase of the loved public figure is, and whether or not you want to please that fanbase or tick them off. "The Queen" chooses the middle road in this final decision, which was a risky move on the film makers part, but one that pays off nicely. "The Queen" is a fictional story of the events that take place after Princess Diana's untimely death. After a series of news clips that show Diana behaving questionably, we then cut to a servant waking up Prince Philip and letting him know that Diana has been killed in a car crash. The newly appointed prime minister Tony Blair is quick to make a statement about Diana's death, uttering his famous quote "she was the people's princess."After his statement, Blair goes to the royals and asks if they would like to say anything publicly about Diana's death. Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren, in a role that is sure to win her a Best Actress award come Oscar time) refuses, stating "no member of the royale family will comment on the Princesses death." The royals no longer consider Diana part of the royal family, remembering her as a woman who partied too much, had public affairs, and was an overall headache. Besides, the death of a family member is a "personal family affair, and the public will understand that." Too bad for the Queen, but the public doesn't respond well to the silence at all. They eagerly await a public acknowledgment from their queen, and are furious at the silence of the royals. When the royals refuse to hang their flag down to acknowledge the loss of a loved one, tempers flair even more.The media prints news article after news article, condemning the royals for their silence, while the Prince just mumbles about how rude the people are being. "They talk as if they were the one's who knew her," he says angrily. "To them she was a saint, to us she was a nuisance." Blair has a public relations nightmare as he tries to calm Britains anger, but finds himself in popular light where everyone is in favor of destroying the monarchy in favor of a new government (preferably with Blair in it). The royals themselves don't come off as cruel, selfish people, but rather as people who are controlled by tradition and time. The world has evolved greatly since Queen Elizabeth II began her ruling, where she once was the Queen, but now is the Queen in name only. She does not interact with people outside of the castle and royal grounds, and simply cannot relate to the peoples outrage.As the week goes on, we feel sad for her when she loses sleep at night, feeling hurt and rejected by her people. She can't even begin to figure out why they hate her so much. Is it too much to ask for some privacy when mourning the loss of a family member? Was Diana still considered a family member when the royal family rejected her a few years ago? If she is not, then why is it her responsibility to make a statement? When she discovers that Diana's funeral will be attended by celebrities, she wonders whether or not people will be watching Diana's funeral as if it were the circus. Compared to Prince Philips, who openly shows a lot of resentment towards Diana, Queen Elizabeth II truly comes off as someone who cares about the situation, but just doesn't know what to do about it. Even Prince Charles urges her to make a statement, though he certainly doesn't completely understand what his mother is going thru.When Queen Elizabeth II finally does exit the castle to be with her people while they mourn, she is shocked and touched by how much love and emotion she feels from her people. Her eyes swell up with tears, as if she was feeling what it was like to be a true queen again for the first time in years. There was a whole world she was missing full of love and compassion, and it was waiting for her if she would just go outside once in awhile. Even Tony Blair, who receives the full blow of the ripple effect caused by the royals silence, begins to understand where the Queen is coming from. When his wife encourages Blair to just let the Queen "hang herself," Blair frowns at her and says "You don't understand, this is six hundred years of tradition she's throwing away."Yes the royals made a mistake, but maybe it wasn't a mistake. Maybe it was a miscalculation. The royals certainly couldn't have predicted what silence would mean to Britain, and they were unprepared for the backlash they received. Maybe they just didn't understand the situation in the first place? Maybe we didn't take the time to understand their feelings, or wonder what their situation was? Maybe it was a combination of all the above? Regardless what the situation was, it was all worth it for a little bit more understanding of each other. For in the midst of confusion, hope shined through.Rating: **** stars

At the time the movie was done it was good to see the differences between what the the press said anvwhat actually happened.

Stephen Frears’ 2006 film, “The Queen,” adapts a screenplay by Peter Morgan focusing on the election of Tony Blair as Prime Minister in 1997 and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, followed by the declining public perception of the British monarchy immediately afterward. The film stars Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, James Cromwell as Prince Philip, Helen McCrory as Cherie Blair, Alex Jennings as Prince Charles, and Roger Allam as Robin Janvrin. It uses a combination of original footage, archival footage, and footage in which the actors have replaced the actual people in order to create a sense of verisimilitude. The movie offers a glimpse into the functioning of a constitutional monarchy in the age of paparazzi prior to Netflix’s examination in “The Crown.” As such, each actor gives a brilliant performance with the film appearing as Tony Blair’s own political fortunes dimmed and the monarchy began to attain new popularity in the twenty-first century. Frears and Morgan successfully examine how the public relations instincts of a traditional monarchy clashed with the expectations of a society that thrived on reality TV and gossip.

I watched this movie the morning after Queen Elizabeth II died. It ended just as King Charles III came on the air to give his first address to the people of the UK and the world. What an amazing segue!I had heard of the film for years, but never watched it until being reminded of it during the press coverage of her death. The film covers the time period surrounding Diana, the former Princess of Wales. The film did a remarkable job of portraying the queen’s attitude toward duty and her inability to perceive the needs of the people to grieve for Diana. I watched it again that evening with my husband – on Prime Video – and he had a similar response. He & I were also quite interested to see the inter-action between the queen and Tony Blair, the newly elected Prime Minister. Not only did it give the queen a brilliant foil to show her general attitudes toward royal and family life, but my husband especially enjoyed the extra insight into the character and role of Tony Blair in the British government.I was thrilled to watch it, throwing caution to the wind, knowing that the queen had liked Helen Mirren’s portrayal of her. I felt free to see that portrayal as realistic and not polished up to hide flaws. When I changed the TV to watch the new king’s first speech – both times I watched the movie – I found it remarkable how much of the family’s final decisions and understandings regarding the death of Diana & the grief of the people were echoed in the sentiments expressed by the new king regarding his “Mummy” and the people of the UK. It made for a very full experience. Please enjoy.

The other reviewers fail to mention the newsreel and television news footage which is included.Watching actors/actresses portraying the Royal Family is ok but including the genuine news footage included was a great idea.Princess Ann's wedding - A duplicate of her wedding dress was on show in Lewis's Limited early the following day. I managed to get to see it before the store opened.The three day week - but they did not show the piles of rubbish bags left in city centres on varying sizes of amounts of grass/empty space on public view.We all suffered the power cuts but later it was revealed that the Tory government had arranged to store fuel ready for such an occasion, did they allow the stored fuel to be used ? I seem to remember hearing they imported South African coal too towards this storage of fuel and that is mentioned in the portrayal.Also it shows the wreck of the army bus that was bombed in 1974 in a garage for investigation. I was in hospital at the time but my soldier brother was supposed to be on that particular bus. My father rang the hospital to make sure I was informed that my brother had changed to an empty seat on a later army bus leaving 30 minutes later from Chorlton Street Bus Station in Manchester so he could travel with another soldier he had not seen for a couple of years due to different postings.The later bus was not allowed to stop at the scene as the orders were in the event of incident it had to carry on with its journey. The driver did stop though to allow my brother to ring my parents before the news of the incident was broadcast to the public. He was the only one who should have been on the coach but wasn't. Sadly my brother died in 2011.If the driver of the second coach ever reads this "Thank you, sir" you must have saved my parents (and me) much heart ache and worry.My parents waited for a phone call to say my brother's coach had been blown up but it never came so the army had speedily sorted out who should have been on the coach but wasn't.I well remember watching the news of Princess Ann's narrow escape from kidnap in March. I was just home from hospital. Watching the portrayal of this incident I wondered how other members of the Royal Family would have reacted with the gun pointing at them. Would they have loudly refused as this brave young woman did.What a marvellous Queen she would have made if the law had been changed when our Queen took the throne to allow a female heir had she been first born.So this film is a documentary, a history lesson as well as an entertainment.I thought it was wonderful, not just another fictional film.

I originally had no intentions of watching this film let alone buying it, but then I got curious, so I picked it up for a couple of pounds.I'm very pleased that I did, I think this gives a very good account of what happened or what may have happened in the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana.There are excellent portrayals of The Queen (Dame Helen Mirren), Prince Phillip (James Cromwell) and Tony Blair (Michael Sheen), strangely enough there is very little screen time given to Prince Charles, which I found a little strange.I was never a great fan of Princess Diana, nor for that matter Tony Blair, although it does not harp on about how "wonderful" Princess Diana was, it does grind on me a bit how much they appear to credit Blair as if everything that was handled well was down to him sticking his nose in to that was none of his business, mind you he was always very good at that, so I can quite believe that he did make a nuisance of himself toward the Royal family.I can well believe that both The Queen and Prince Phillip were sick and tired of Blairs constant interference and pestering too.Overall though a great effort that tends not preach, but attempts to give a good account of what was happening in the country at that time, I think they succeed in doing this very well indeed.

This is a great film, looking inside the life of the royal family as they deal with the death of Diana. It shows how the country mourned her loss and how the royals found it hard to connect with the people they ruled. Tony Blair comes across as being in touch with the public mood and it is a good reminder of how he was when he started out and before the power corrupted! A few characters don't come across too well (Cherie Blair and Prince Phillip), but you tend to relate to the Queen by the end of the film and understand a little more how she was brought up in a different time and felt unable to connect with the country when they looked to her for a degree of leadership. All the parts are acted well and I found the film length to be perfect, with enough info and story before it became overlong and boring. Overall a good film, showing the more human side to the Queen and a snapshot of a turbulent time in the royals life. Worth a viewing.Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.

Replacement DVD. Love this film - recommend watching this second film in Morgan's informal "Blair trilogy", which dramatizes the political career of British Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997–2007), The Deal (2003) and The Queen (2006), The Special Relationship (2010) - Martin Sheen is excellent in all 3.The Queen is a 2006 British historical drama film depicting the British Royal Family's response to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales on 31 August 1997. Primarily it is how a family protected two children from the overwhelming and almost hysterical public response to the death of their mother and how the royal family had to share their time of personal grief with the nation, which they did with dignity and grace whilst grappling with an abrupt requirement of flouting tradition.

I love this so much, and I have a lot of respect for Her Majesty because of it. Mirren's performance is heartwarming and it makes me weep every time. The best scene to illustrate that occurs when she appears in public for the first time since Diana's death to find a little girl with flowers especially for her. This is a lovely Sunday afternoon flick to watch with a nice cuppa and a Hob Nob or if you want to simply view ninety-plus minutes of classy filmmaking then look no further.