Sunday, December 31, 2006

THE QUEEN




Docudrama

BACKGROUND
Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch.
Balmoral Castle is the Queen's private Scottish summer estate used during August and September.
10 Downing Street is the central London residence and office of the British Prime Minister.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Helen Mirren: HM Queen Elizabeth II, reigning monarch of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth
Michael Sheen: recently elected British Prime Minister Tony Blair
Helen McCory: his wife Cherie
James Cromwell: the Queen’s consort Philip, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
Sylvia Syms: HM The Queen Mother
Alex Jennings: the Queen’s eldest son and heir apparent Charles, HRH the Prince of Wales
Roger Allam: the Queen's private secretary Robin Janvrin

REVIEW
A wonderful character study not only of the Queen but of her advisors as well. There are really good performances by four or five of the cast and even though some of them may not look exactly like the person they portray, they have the mannerisms and tics down pat.
There is no way of knowing exactly what transpired during private conversations between the principals. But the dialogue rings true and that’s what matters.

CLASSIFICATION
for brief strong language (although to my mind the rating hardly seems warranted given the fact there is but a single instance of so-called “strong language”)

P.S.
I was so mesmerised watching the film I spent very little time eating my popcorn and came out of the theatre with the bag three-quarters full. That’s never happened before.

2 comments:

Pat Wood said...

I loved this movie. Helen Mirren does a superb job as Queen. I think the movie should have been called something like "One week in the life of the Queen". The one criticism I heard from unprepared moviegoers was that they thought it would be more about the Queen's entire life. Going to a movie having read a review or seen a preview certainly helps one know what to expect. Patricia Wood

Ralph said...

Not surprising that Miriam won the Academy Award in the category of Performance by an actress in a leading role