Good, interesting film I BELIEVE IT
Added 9/28/2009
I did not think I was going to like the film. Had NO Interest in it when released.
Being from the United States I have NO interest in the British Royal Family, Princess Diana, any of them.
I watched the film 1 day & did enjoy it.
Helen did deserve the Oscar for the role. Only other film of hers I had ever seen was I was 1st in the door opening day for "The Mosquito Coast".
And, I believe the film. Yep, we knew they did NOT care about Diana. Arranged marriage & she ended up cheating in the marriage as well.
Has normal extras on the DVD. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED Helen did not do a commentary. This is HER FILM & won the Oscar for it. WHERE IS SHE?
Of course, ruined by the I HATE THEM WHY WERE THEY MADE FLIP THE LITTLE FLAP OPEN DVD CASE.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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"Long Live "The Queen""
Added 7/17/2009
Helen Mirren won the 2006 Academy Award as Best Actress for her impeccable portrayal of Queen Elizabeth of England. "The Queen" maninly focuses on the death of the beloved Princess Diana and its aftermath and how the Queen wanted to treat her death as a private family matter instead of a public spectacle in which British Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted. The film depicts the public disaapproval over the Queen's decisions during this time and how she reacted to their opinions.
Hellen Mirren is amazingly perfect in the role of the Monarch. Her speech patterns and mannerisms are impeccable and she shows that the Queen is in essence a real human being with real flaws and emotions.
"The Queen" was budgeted at 15 million dollars and blew expectations for its success out of the water grossing over 100 million dollars world wide. Fans and critics hailed the moving for Mirren's searing portrayal of one of the most well loved figures in modern history.
The DVD features an excellent "making of "The Queen" featurette" along with an informative commentary by Director Stephen Frears and writer Peter Morgan.
Richard Roeper of "Ebert and Roeper" states "the acting is pinpoint perfect".
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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A movie fit for a queen
Added 6/27/2009
"Nowadays, people want glamour and tears, the grand performance. I'm not very good at that. I never have been. I prefer to keep my feelings to myself." -- Queen Elizabeth II
Retaining the dignified privacy that's typical of England's royal family versus showing feelings to an upset and saddened British public that craves monarchial comfort and emotion -- those are the difficult options facing Queen Elizabeth II after Princess Diana's sudden death in this spellbinding movie starring Helen Mirren.
Following Diana's death, it's a clash of old-world thinking from the queen and her entourage, up against the newly elected Tony Blair, a "modern" and forward-thinking politician who hopes to revolutionize England. In Blair's corner are the people of Great Britain, who loved Diana and now scorn the queen's reluctance to display remorse after the princess' untimely death. In a world filled with 24-hour news cycles and wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve reality TV shows, the public desires an appearance from Queen Elizabeth II to put a stamp on memorializing the "people's princess."
But the queen has a mindset and a long history of her own, not all of it regal, and she isn't easily pigeonholed. A former mechanic in World War II and a lover of the outdoors and dogs, Queen Elizabeth II defies convenient stereotype. Though initially her airs reek of snobbishness, Elizabeth is actually a down-to-earth, razor-sharp gal who's filled with the same range of humanity that all of us possess and truly loves and believes in her country. Observing her interaction with people and during personal moments is fascinating and hearkens back to a bygone era that valued familial privacy, honor, restraint and proper decorum.
Nuance abounds from Blair as his relationship with the queen evolves and he begins to view her less as an archaic figurehead and more as a noble leader who in many ways can't help her mentality and circumstances. Blair, who starts his term as prime minister a bit in awe of the queen's presence, delicately begins to open up and make suggestions to assist with her predicament of holding on to private family grief versus showing her face to the people of England. Ultimately, though there are some critical words along the way, both the increasingly confident Blair and the staid, honorable queen show themselves to be compromising leaders who only want to do what's right for their country.
This glimpse into privileged worlds is made even better by stellar acting by everyone involved. Michael Sheen is practically a carbon copy of the real Tony Blair; Mirren won an Academy Award for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II; and everyone else, from the boorish James Crommwell (the Queen's husband) to the stately Roger Allam (the Queen's adviser) to the brusquely opinionated Helen McCrory (Blair's wife), were spectacular in their roles.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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The sentiments are correct, ambiguous.
Added 6/17/2009
This film depicts the feeling of ambiguity that was generated around the hysterical mourning for Diana Spencer. It also suggests, correctly,in a powerful way, that the impact that public opinion had which forced the Royal's response, the demand for a public display of emotion, had a fundamentally debilitating effect on people's views of the Monarchy. That the Queen actually gave the public address as her own decision, rather than from the advice of Tony Blair (as suggested in the film), would be more consistent with reality then this film. Of course the Prime Minister would never offer such advice nor would the correspondence between the Queen and the Prime Minister ever be divulged. Firstly, such a suggestion would pressure the Queen to be political, and secondly, no correspondence between a monarch and a Prime Minister concerning a fundamental issue of constitutional duty would be divulged because it would violate state protocol (its something for historians 200 years from now to read about). I lived next to Hyde Park in a University of London hall of residence when the events this film depicted actually took place, there were plenty of people who went to the park because they were mystified by the outpouring of emotion. What this film does show very bluntly is how the population forced a change in Royal protocol. The flying of the flag at half-mast, the intermixing between the crowd and the Queen. In the scene depicting the intermixing there is a sound over from a TV news broadcast saying that this hadn't happened since the celebration of the end of the second world war. That suddenly said it all for us who were there but skeptical. This nothing of a woman, Diana, that everyone had read feelings and emotion into, forced the Monarch to do something that hadn't been done since the end of WW2, and then in celebration. Well, I guess the death of Diana was exactly the same as a war that killed 50 odd million people, wasn't it? I guess flying the flag at half mast was correct after its role for centuries had been simply to denote the presence of the Monarch. What is implied in this movie is exactly what has happened in Britain since the Diana event: the monarchy, the constitutional symbol of Britain, has diminished in significance in people's minds and people have forgotten about Diana. The Queen's instincts to remain aloof were correct. Her action, forced on her by a mob of morons who were boobyed by Diana's death, has helped undermine the British sense of self. In these days of economic problems, the Queen is no longer someone beyond politics and worldliness to look to for comforting support. Was it worth it?
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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We Liked It!!!
Added 5/29/2009
Watched this movie with family members, young and old, who thought it would be "boring and dumb". SURPRISE!!! We ALL liked it! It had a little of everything; humor, drama, suspense, history, great acting and gave us another faceted look into the life of the Royals! We did expect it to cover the life of the Queen, a little more extensively, but still found it well worth watching. We would buy this movie again.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Good, interesting film I BELIEVE IT
Added 9/28/2009
I did not think I was going to like the film. Had NO Interest in it when released.
Being from the United States I have NO interest in the British Royal Family, Princess Diana, any of them.
I watched the film 1 day & did enjoy it.
Helen did deserve the Oscar for the role. Only other film of hers I had ever seen was I was 1st in the door opening day for "The Mosquito Coast".
And, I believe the film. Yep, we knew they did NOT care about Diana. Arranged marriage & she ended up cheating in the marriage as well.
Has normal extras on the DVD. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED Helen did not do a commentary. This is HER FILM & won the Oscar for it. WHERE IS SHE?
Of course, ruined by the I HATE THEM WHY WERE THEY MADE FLIP THE LITTLE FLAP OPEN DVD CASE.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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"Long Live "The Queen""
Added 7/17/2009
Helen Mirren won the 2006 Academy Award as Best Actress for her impeccable portrayal of Queen Elizabeth of England. "The Queen" maninly focuses on the death of the beloved Princess Diana and its aftermath and how the Queen wanted to treat her death as a private family matter instead of a public spectacle in which British Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted. The film depicts the public disaapproval over the Queen's decisions during this time and how she reacted to their opinions.
Hellen Mirren is amazingly perfect in the role of the Monarch. Her speech patterns and mannerisms are impeccable and she shows that the Queen is in essence a real human being with real flaws and emotions.
"The Queen" was budgeted at 15 million dollars and blew expectations for its success out of the water grossing over 100 million dollars world wide. Fans and critics hailed the moving for Mirren's searing portrayal of one of the most well loved figures in modern history.
The DVD features an excellent "making of "The Queen" featurette" along with an informative commentary by Director Stephen Frears and writer Peter Morgan.
Richard Roeper of "Ebert and Roeper" states "the acting is pinpoint perfect".
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
A movie fit for a queen
Added 6/27/2009
"Nowadays, people want glamour and tears, the grand performance. I'm not very good at that. I never have been. I prefer to keep my feelings to myself." -- Queen Elizabeth II
Retaining the dignified privacy that's typical of England's royal family versus showing feelings to an upset and saddened British public that craves monarchial comfort and emotion -- those are the difficult options facing Queen Elizabeth II after Princess Diana's sudden death in this spellbinding movie starring Helen Mirren.
Following Diana's death, it's a clash of old-world thinking from the queen and her entourage, up against the newly elected Tony Blair, a "modern" and forward-thinking politician who hopes to revolutionize England. In Blair's corner are the people of Great Britain, who loved Diana and now scorn the queen's reluctance to display remorse after the princess' untimely death. In a world filled with 24-hour news cycles and wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve reality TV shows, the public desires an appearance from Queen Elizabeth II to put a stamp on memorializing the "people's princess."
But the queen has a mindset and a long history of her own, not all of it regal, and she isn't easily pigeonholed. A former mechanic in World War II and a lover of the outdoors and dogs, Queen Elizabeth II defies convenient stereotype. Though initially her airs reek of snobbishness, Elizabeth is actually a down-to-earth, razor-sharp gal who's filled with the same range of humanity that all of us possess and truly loves and believes in her country. Observing her interaction with people and during personal moments is fascinating and hearkens back to a bygone era that valued familial privacy, honor, restraint and proper decorum.
Nuance abounds from Blair as his relationship with the queen evolves and he begins to view her less as an archaic figurehead and more as a noble leader who in many ways can't help her mentality and circumstances. Blair, who starts his term as prime minister a bit in awe of the queen's presence, delicately begins to open up and make suggestions to assist with her predicament of holding on to private family grief versus showing her face to the people of England. Ultimately, though there are some critical words along the way, both the increasingly confident Blair and the staid, honorable queen show themselves to be compromising leaders who only want to do what's right for their country.
This glimpse into privileged worlds is made even better by stellar acting by everyone involved. Michael Sheen is practically a carbon copy of the real Tony Blair; Mirren won an Academy Award for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II; and everyone else, from the boorish James Crommwell (the Queen's husband) to the stately Roger Allam (the Queen's adviser) to the brusquely opinionated Helen McCrory (Blair's wife), were spectacular in their roles.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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