You can’t help but curtsy before her. Helen Mirren in her Oscarwinning role is so prim, perfect and stiff-upper-lipped, she could be electedmonarch by popular vote. The very English film rests squarely on her shoulders andMirren never shrugs.
The Queen is anything but an autobiography of Elizabeth II. It narrates the events surrounding Princess Diana’s
death from the Queen’s point of view. The newly-elected modernist Prime Minister Tony Blair sympathises
with the grief of the people,while the Queen prefers to mourn in private. Diana was after all not a member of the royal family at the time of her death, the Queen reasons.
But public scorn of the Queen’s attitude mounts, and she finds it hard to maintain royal customs while keeping
the people’s affection. After much persuasion from Blair, the Queen decides to do the unthinkable — go
against tradition and become modern.
No woman in her 50s can keep a poker face for 90 minutes as good as Mirren. Not only does she look like the Queen, she has the commanding presence of one. The role demands that she portray a million different
emotions—grief, confusion, desperation,helplessness, anger and resignation — with just a flinch of a facial
muscle. She is a delight towatch, even in the googly, saucer-like spectacles.
Michael Sheen shares an unbelievable likeness with Blair, and is perfect in imitating his every hand gesture
and facial expression. He keeps his character strong, even as he kneels before the Queen. The screenplay by
PeterMorgan is mellowand soporific at times. Most of the movie is made up of news and television clippings of
Diana’s interviews and the moments before her car accident, which add pace here and there. Watch out for the
magnificent stag thatmakes even the cold Queen’s heart melt.
In all, it’s not the kind of movie that comes once in a lifetime, but is good nevertheless. The film is for
those who yearn for a quiet life in the English countryside. Very picturesque and proper.