|
The Queen November 5, 2006 |
||
|
Late in the proceedings of Stephen Frears’ new film “The Queen”, a much acclaimed slice of speculative modern royal history, Helen Mirren, playing Elizabeth II, stands alone in the middle of a shallow creek, miles away from civilization, pressure, responsibility, and a country that in a week’s time has turned against her, when she’s confronted by a peaceful 14-point buck, staring at her with black eyes and an air of godliness. The scene is beautiful and deceptively simple in it’s symbolic implications, for at this crucial juncture in the film, and in the hectic week following the shocking death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth is a wanted woman, her country is calling for a royal response to the tragedy of a beloved figure, and she, following 400-year-old monarchy traditions, refuses to acknowledge publicly the death of a woman she knew privately as everything opposite of that saintly image the public holds so special. The deer, one could argue, symbolizes personal freedom; a solitary figure alone in the forest, at peace with its natural surroundings, glorious in its own stunning beauty, as is the Queen, by herself on vacation on a remote piece of country land unbothered by the head-spinning events and media frenzy of the past week, but more importantly, and symbolically, the deer represents Lady Di herself, a beautiful spirit confronting the overbearing monarchy that treated her so coldly during their years together, even in death her spirit form a hunted entity, set loose by the royals for the sole purpose of eventual slaughter. In this reading the royal men – Prince Philip and his son Charles – having set a natural beauty loose to death for entertainment purposes, are akin to the paparazzi who hounded the Princess to her eventual death in a Parisian tunnel, while the Queen, recognizing the symbolism of it all, sheds a worried tear realizing that it’s too late for change, the Princess is dead, the deer will soon follow, and to win back the public she will have to swallow her pride, and tradition, and give into a royal funeral for a non-royal figure that goes against everything her proud family has come to represent. What we get out of this most important scene, the turning point of the entire narrative, is sympathy for both Diana and the put upon Queen, two headstrong women that, in life, were clashing traditionalist/modernist personalities, but in sudden death are on the same plateau, over analyzed by an aggressive media contingent, and a grieving, needy public. “The Queen” is a well made and handsome picture with impeccably dressed set designs, both royal and residential, and it’s representation of famous people during a historic, stressful time makes for a riveting narrative that, if not entirely fact based, is at least as durable and respectable as the season’s other royals-in-turmoil period extravaganza, “Marie Antoinette”. Both films have similarities, including a young Queen who faces tremendous pressure from either her family or her public (here it’s her public, while in ‘Marie’ it’s the pressure of producing an heir to the French throne, and then of course the whole French Revolution thing), but Stephen Frears’ drama is more acute to the highly visible, intensely scrutinized royal Mum’s conflicting attitudes toward being her own person, and being a tool of the people and the government below her. It’s a testament to Frears and his actors, especially Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen, who plays the newly elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair, with such command and assurance that when a joke rolls off about how popularity will eventually abandon him (like, say, now) it’s more sad than satirical, that the obviously unaccountable material (we don’t really know if she came face to face with that symbolic deer, or if the cards outside Buckingham Palace really read nasty stuff like “You were too good for them”), comes off so truthful and authentic. Mirren’s performance is the stuff of Oscar gold, and she’s an obvious choice for a Best Actress nomination, never wavering or breaking down beneath the Queen’s incredible stoicism and sometimes cold demeanor, but supporting work by Sheen, James Cromwell as the annoyed Prince Philip, and the marvelous Sylvia Syms as the aged Queen Mother, bring class to an already classy production. Frears has never been a director to conceal his hand, and it’s clear early on in the film that we’re supposed to feel for Elizabeth’s predicament, while still criticize the condescending nature in which they handled Diana, pre and post death, and in the best of democratic circumstances, the judgment is often partisan and difficult to commit to either stance at any given time during the film’s week long time span. Perhaps that was what Elizabeth was thinking too when she saw that gorgeous buck staring at her in the depth’s of a Scottish forest, that a thing so lovely could essentially be used for blood sport, a brutal contradiction of nature’s laws, and a perfect symbol of a nation’s, and by extension, a monarchy’s overwhelming flaws. “The Queen” is a wonderful film, one of the year’s most original productions, and one of the year’s strongest Oscar contenders. “The Queen” is playing at the North Park Theater, Hertle Ave. in Buffalo. by Adam Suraf
|