The Queen Appears on DVD
Helen Mirren Gives an Award-Worthy Performance
Focusing on the events following the untimely death of Princess Diana, "The Queen" focuses on Queen Elizabeth's struggles to do the right thing.
As an actress, Helen Mirren is a virtual chameleon, effectively transforming herself into characters as diverse as a police detective (“Prime Suspect”) a middle-aged woman who poses nude for a good cause (“Calendar Girls”) or an unsatisfied spouse in “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.”
It’s her performance as the troubled and frustrated Queen Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears’ “The Queen,” though, that brought the acclaimed actress legions of new fans and a shiny Oscar statuette.
The story begins in August, 1997, a time when the marital troubles that plagued the House of Windsor for more than a decade had finally quieted down. Princess Diana apparently had found a new love in the person of Dodi Al-Fayed, the son of an Egyptian millionaire. Her ex-husband Prince Charles also was once again getting friendly with Camilla Parker Bowles, the woman who would eventually become his second wife.
In the early morning hours of Sunday, August 31, however, Diana and Al-Fayed were trying to outrun the paparazzi in their car when their driver, Henri Paul, crashed the vehicle in a tunnel in Paris. Diana died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash and her death sent shockwaves across the world.
“The Queen” focuses on Queen Elizabeth’s reaction to Diana’s untimely death. After serving her country in an official capacity for more than 50 years, Elizabeth decides to follow royal protocol and not make a public statement about Diana’s death, primarily since she gave up the title “Her Royal Highness” (HRH) when she and Charles divorced in 1992. The Queen figures that a small, private funeral is in order with only members of the immediate family in attendance.
Newly-elected Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) takes a different approach to the tragedy, however. Sensing a change in England’s political climate, Blair, with the help of his determined speechwriter, appears in front of the television cameras and refers to Diana the “People’s Princess,” a phrase that endears him to the British people.
The Windsors really underestimate how popular Diana was with the English people. As mourners leave countless bouquets and remembrances outside the gates of Buckingham Palace, Blair tries, in his words, to save the royal family from themselves, especially after Queen Elizabeth, supported by her crusty husband Prince Phillip (James Cromwell), refuses to fly the flag at half-mast above the palace to honor Diana's memory.
As Queen Elizabeth II, Mirren gives an understated, almost subdued performance that paints the monarch as neither a hissable villain nor a saint. Mirren’s Elizabeth simply sees herself as a public servant and does what she thinks is best for the country, even when it makes her look cold and uncaring.
Anyone who missed this intriguing film in theaters gets a second chance when “The Queen,” rated PG-13 for brief strong language, appears on DVD on April 24.
