The Queen

The Queen (Helen Merrin, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell) – The title is a bit misleading.  It should have been called “Diana and the Queen.”  Superb acting from the entire cast, most notably by the incomparable Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, defines this look into Britain’s momentous year of 1997.  Tony Blair (portrayed well by Michael Sheen) gets elected to “modernize” British society in the same year as Princess Diana, “the people’s princess,” dies in that Paris tunnel while being chased by the paparazzi.  For this queen, who assumed the crown four decades earlier as a young girl, Buckingham Palace is sacred ground – ground that has been desecrated by her former daughter-in-law.  It also possesses the traditions for a millennium of British monarchs, including her father.  So when Diana dies, there is little empathy for a former member of the royal family but great concern for her children, including the future king.  The story is as much about Blair’s maturation into his job as it is about the queen’s dilemma.  Blind to the popularity of Diana and the fact that queen has lost touch with her subjects, Elizabeth agonizes over what to do – break tradition or rescue the falling image of monarchy.  She opts for the latter against the wishes of the Queen Mother and her stoic husband, Price Philip (whose portrayal by James Cromwell is undoubtedly the most controversial aspect of the film).  I went in thinking this was a period piece about the rule of Elizabeth II, but it wasn’t.  In that sense, it disappointed me like Good Night and Good Luck, which I had hoped would track the entire professional life of Edward R. Murrow.  Mirren will likely get an Oscar nod for this reserved, but powerful, performance, but the movie won’t.  But as a narrow character study, this is worth the price of admission.