"The Queen" (2006) - Film about Elizabeth II and the Death of Diana

[Sildesotten]

"The Queen"-movie

Have anyone seen the "The Queen"-movie? I am thinking about the movie with Helen Mirren as Queen Elisabeth. (Maybe it's a silly question - members of a royal forum would most probably watch royal movies.. ) The movie I'm talking about it's on Norwegian TV tonight, and I'm considering watching it. Well, should I?

 

[Dierna23]

I watched it and yes, I liked the movie.

 

[MelinaB.]

It's a great movie, definitely a must watch! Helen Mirren's acting was amazing!

 

[Patra]

Wonderful movie, yes, watch it! Great acting, wonderful costumes and set designs. I especially like the stag symbolism. Enjoy it!

 

[Sildesotten]

Thank you for your response I really liked the movie (Even though I did not think the the Prince Charles-actor looked like the real-life-Charles at all...)

 

[CordeliaFitzgerald]

I just saw this movie and I really enjoyed it. Even if wasn't historically accurate, I enjoyed how it treated fairly all sides.

It did feel very anti-Diana though. I get that she was different person in private than she was in public, but one would think from the reactions her family and the Blair contingent was having towards her was that she was some serial killer in secret and the people mourning her were just being stupid to do so.

Still, I find the film strangely compelling and it's one of those films where every rewatch reveals a new layer. So I'm looking forward to future rewatches of it.

 

[cmkrcwi]

I don't think the movie was anti-Diana at all. I think it was just trying to show that the Queen didn't see Diana as anything more than an ex-daughter-in-law so she wasn't able to grasp the amount of grief people were feeling. Of course, she felt sympathy because of her grandsons but she wasn't going into hysterics over someone who she no longer felt was part of the Royal Family.

Anyway, I always thought the movie was really more about her relationship with Tony Blair and how it went from her having the upper hand and not really thinking very much of him and him being a little starstruck in her presence to one where they were almost equals.

 

[georgiea]

The Queen was on television Monday. I have now seen this movie twice. I came away with the feeling both times that the Queen Elizabeth became more aware of her subjects and their feelings in the days after the Princess of Wales death. The movie was a fictional drama of actual events and should have a disclaimer for future viewers.

Both times I saw the movie I felt the drama was very believable. It seemed before my eyes the Queen was transformed by the feelings her subjects had for the Princess. In the film's climax, the Royal Family returns to London and inspects the floral tributes. The Queen also goes on live television to speak about Diana's life and legacy, even going so far as calling her "an exceptional and gifted human being." Two months later, Blair visits Buckingham 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 one day he too will find that public opinion can rapidly turn against him. She declares, however, that times have changed and that the monarchy must "modernise." And at this date April 2010 it has.

Another part of the movie that I loved was the stag scene. The Queen was sitting waiting for a repair person for her vehicle. Finally, with everything that's happen she cries. Elizabeth looks up and sees a majestic stag and tries to make it run away from being hunted. This to me is a symbol of Diana being hunted by the press. The next day the Queen hears about the amatuer killing of the stag and went to see it on other estate. Here she decides to go to London and take Tony Blair's suggestion about making a speech and communicating with her people about the Princess. I think that symbolic symbol made the movie.

 

[MARG]

What can they include though? 10 years worth of Daily Express headlines? The film went thus; Di dead. Queen miserable. Charles creepy. Blair hero. Di buried. People get over it. Queen happy. What more is there to say?

Succinctly put! And yet here we are more than a decade after her death and people still think the movie is "History" with a capital H!

I thought the whole movie was a hoot. Every aspect of it, aside from those with actual footage of actual events, was no more than the wild fantascising of the screenwritier. The less said about deers or stags the better!

In the asbsence of "real" events he created a fantasy tale . . . . the "Wicked Queen", although to be quite honest it's a toss-up between who he was trying to portray, the Queen or her mother. As for the Duke of Edinborough and Prince Charles . . . . . . complete cardboard cut-out characters, so stiff upper-lipped that it translated to their supposed "chinless- wonder" personalities imagined by the film's creators.

I don't think it was anti-Diana in any way. Anti the Queen and the entire British Royal family yes except of course for "The Boys". It creeps me out that people talk and write about them like they are still the same age, forever frozen in time so that people who don't know them, never knew them and are even more unlikely to actually see them in the flesh, can commiserate with each other over the poor wee things for all eternity.

I think the only comment that BeatrixFan missed out was "World sucked in by journos, and went loony!" Maybe they can make a film about the world going nuts, after all there is a surfeit of footage about the extremely embarassing looneyness back then.

 

[georgiea]

10 years worth of Daily Express headlines? The film went thus; Di dead. Queen miserable. Charles creepy. Blair hero. Di buried. People get over it. Queen happy. What more is there to say?

What is more to say about the movie THE QUEEN. By 2010 the British Royal Family has modernized. The BRF has intimate royal engagement now and a website to keep in contact with the common person. Prince William and Prince Henry at all their engagements show, very human qualities, like their wonderful mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

 

[MARG]

King George, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the Queen, Prince Philip, Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward, The Princess Royal obviously never cracked a smile before the movie . . . . .

Princes William and Harry result of immaculate conception and so "show, very human qualities".

 

[georgiea]

King George, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the Queen, Prince Philip, Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward, The Princess Royal obviously never cracked a smile before . . . . .

I don't think there was much INTIMATE human contact before Diana, Princess of Wales came on the scene. They smiled, but after Diana died they employed PR men around the Prince of Wales. I will give an example: a very human action of hugging and carrying a sick child, Diana did that, but the Princess Royal never did, and she is patron to a major children charity. The Queen recently drop something and a little girl gave it back to her. It was very touching and I wonder if the Queen in the past would be that close and that responsive to the little one.

Princes William and Harry "show, very human qualities".

Yes, they hug the children at royal engagements just like their mother. There was a photo of Prince William recently doing that. Both Princes engage a crowd on engagements. Prince William sleeps with the homeless. I know the movie was fictional, but the main theme: BRF modernized after the Princess, I got that out of the movie.

 

[MARG]

The Queen recently drop something and a little girl gave it back to her. It was very touching and I wonder if the Queen in the past would be that close and that responsive to the little one.

You obviously didn't see or read of the kids outside Crathie Parish Church and seen the interaction between the BRF and those that camp out in the cold just to greet them. The tradition predates the marriage of Charles and Diana, not to mention the film "The Queen" as does a large part of HM life which you so neglegently toss off as never having happened nor containing any empathy or sympathy.

The Queen was visiting hospitals as a child. It is offensive to write off her life as irrelevant before the advent of Diana. Similarly the Princess Royal carries out a heavy load of official engagements most of which tend not to be covered by the media. You do not know how she interacted with those children she met. Being spoken to and noticed may in fact be a lot nicer than being mugged by someone you have never met and have a hundred flashbulbs going off in your face!

 

[Dierna23]

I remember seeing a picture of Queen Mary visiting a hospital, probably in the 20s. She stood at a sick childrens bed and gave this child a single flower and smiled slightly. It was so touching since it seemed spontaneous. I have to say that I prefer such spontaneous moments rather than Princes and Princesses hugging totally unknown, poor sick children because there's a bunch of cameras around them.

 

[Anne-fan]

I have to say that I prefer such spontaneous moments rather than Princes and Princesses hugging totally unknown, poor sick children because there's a bunch of cameras around them.

I agree. It's much nicer to see something spontaneous, because then it's natural and not faked.

 

[georgiea]

I guess there are different views of the Royal Family before Diana and after. So guys, we have to disagree to agree about things. But for the record, I do admire Queen Elizabeth II and all the hard work Prince Anne does.

 

[CrownPrincess5]

I love this film! Great casting and directing. The dialogue's exceptional too. I love the way this movie focused on the Queen. Her attitude, her feeling, etc. There's so many movies about Diana and the Queens of old, but this one really focuses on Elizabeth when Diana died. Part 2 is supposed to be in production, If it is I will definitely be wanting to see that one.

 

[MARG]

You've lost me. I thought "The Queen" was about the death of Diana and it's aftermath.

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan
What can they include though? 10 years worth of Daily Express headlines? The film went thus; Di dead. Queen miserable. Charles creepy. Blair hero. Di buried. People get over it. Queen happy. What more is there to say?

 

[Lumutqueen]

It was about the aftermath of Diana's death and how it was handled by The Queen.
That is why the film is called The Queen.

If there is a sequel, i will scream. The Queen was a masterpiece and it should be left at that. It left nothing to be answered and no loose ends.

 

[CrownPrincess5]

If there is a sequel, i will scream. The Queen was a masterpiece and it should be left at that. It left nothing to be answered and no loose ends.

Looks like you'll be screaming because the sequel is supposedly in pre-production. But it seems like this one will focus more on Tony Blair.

 

[Warren]

It may be a sequel to "The Queen" but it's actually the third part of a trilogy concentrating on Tony Blair.
The films are The Deal (2003), The Queen (2006) and The Special Relationship, which according to Wikipedia is due to be shown on HBO in Canada and the US in two days time - May 29. This last film centres on the Tony Blair/Bill Clinton dynamic.

 

[IloveCP]

I loved the movie!

Helen Mirren did such a great job.

 

[scooter]

The sequel is supposedly about the death of QEQM.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Just got done watching this movie again. It made me cry...mostly for Elizabeth and how hurt she must have been and how much she suffered. Even at her age I hope she was able to take it as just a learning experience on mass hysteria.
I don't understand why some people didn't like the portrayal of the QM? I thought she came off as a sweet old lady who cared about her daughter. I also didn't see Charles as weak.

 

[DaughterofFrance]

As much as I like and respect Helen Mirren, I didn't think she deserved to win the Oscar for this role. She did a great job in it, however I saw nothing Oscar worthy of it. I do think she was worthy of a nomination however.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I disagree, I've only seen Helen in 2 movies but she truly became QEII in this movie. It made me see her as a woman as opposed to the elderly Queen of England.
Also is there still going to be a sequel about the death of her mother? I hope it also deals with the death of her sister.

 

[Warren]

see post #411 regarding the sequel to "The Queen".

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

Helen Mirren did a truly terrific job as HM and I think that her Oscar was well-earned.

I've actually just finished writing my major written assignment on this film and while thoroughly analysing films can really ruin films for you, I still like it a lot. My only problem, really, is that the DoE and the Queen Mum both have really suffered under the entertainment value of the film. They both come across as a little too snarky and ignorant for the mere purpose of a little laughter and that's just sad. The dialogue would be witty enough without that.

I love the Stag-scene (which, after doing a shot by shot analysis of it, I love even more now than I did before). I like to believe that she mirrors herself in the stag and see Diana in it as well. Diana was being hunted and in those four-five days, so was HM. There's also something very beautiful and sad in the fact that she breaks down in tears only when she's alone, where no one can see her. Ugh, I could go on about my love for that scene, but I wont

 

[MARG]

Terrific film and a tour de force by Helen Mirran. Stunning to realise that it is a work of fiction.