Review of The Queen (2006) by Robert M — 24 Dec 2009

The film is focused entirely on the period of Princess Diana's death and the period upto the funeral a week later. In common with most people from the UK that is something that is very much etched in the memory, so the film does very little in terms of information. I can certainly vouch for it's accuracy although the reaction does seem a little over the top in retrospect.

Mirren puts in a fine performance as the Queen and you certainly couldn't quibble about the Oscar recognition. Although the historical content is very accurate it is impossible to comment on the accuracy of the royal characters. The film seems to adopt the stereotypical representation of the royals and it is quite possible this is correct. The royals are so detached though that it is hard to say this for sure.

The film is really about whether the monarchy can survive even though they aren't aware they are under such close scrutiny. I found the film quite entertaining and it's really a docu drama. You can also see little indications that it was originally meant to be a TV film. It will not change your life, but it's reasonably entertaining.