Acclaimed director Stephen Frears (Mrs. Henderson Presents, Dirty Pretty Things, Dangerous Liaisons, The
Grifters) pulls back the curtain on the private chambers of the royal family in the aftermath of Princess Diana's
death in 1997, where the contained, traditional world of the Queen of England (Helen Mirren) is brought into
conflict with the public, modern Prime Minister (Michael Sheen) and a nation looking to its leaders for
guidance in dark times. Dramatic and revealing, the story of The Queen was drawn from extensive
interviews, research, discreet sources and informed imagination.
The Queen has been showered with critical acclaim, including an Academy Awardİ Nomination for Best
Original Screenplay, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score; the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best
Actress (Helen Mirren); Golden Globeİ Awards for Best Actress (Helen Mirren) and Best Original Screenplay
(Peter Morgan); the Venice Film Festival's Best Actress Award (Helen Mirren) and Best Screenplay Award
(Peter Morgan); The New York Film Critics-Online Best Director Award (Stephen Frears) and Best Screenplay
Award (Peter Morgan); The National Board of Review's Best Actress Award (Helen Mirren) and The Los
Angeles Film Critics Best Supporting Actor Award (Michael Sheen).
The Queen Main Cast
List
Actor
Name:
Character
Name:
Helen Mirren
Michael Sheen
James Cromwell
Sylvia Syms
Alex Jennings
Helen McCrory
Roger Allam
Tim McMullan
Mark Bazeley
... Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
... Tony Blair
... Prince Philip
... Her Majesty The Queen Mother
... Prince Charles
... Cherie Blair
... Robin Janvrin
... Stephen Lamport
... Alastair Campbell
The Queen is set around the death of Princess Diana and as such the film is almost as much about her and her impact on England as it's about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The film is an effort to show what was going on with the Royal Family and the Queen in particular during those days. The film shows the Queen and new blood Prime Minster Tony Blair coming to respect each other as the Royal Family and the government work to deal with how to handle Princess Diana's death considering she was no longer a member of the Royal Family and thus not entitled to the traditional protocols.
As far as individuals portrayed in the film, Prince Philip comes across as extremely cold to the whole situation in that he basically spends the film talking about his hunting and trying to ignore the ongoing fallout from Diana's death. Blair's wife Cherie and advisor Alastair Campbell also come off poorly because of their complete dislike of the monarchy. Prince Charles is given a mostly positive role in encouraging breaking those traditional protocols.
As mentioned above, the film is as much about Princess Diana and the film employs montages of actual footage of Princess Diana, the outpouring of emotions from the British people and her funeral. The filmmakers walked a fine line in their representations of living British national figures. Though Helen Mirren won an Academy Award for her spot-on stoic portrayal of Queen Elizabeth, we found Michael Sheen's turn as Tony Blair more engaging. The film also embodied "the stiff upper lip" and no frills mentality that the British people as a whole are known for.
The film is subdued and somewhat sad since it's centered around Princess Diana's death, yet it was a riveting film that moved along at a steady pace.
The Queen DVD Extras:
- The Making of The Queen
- Feature Length Audio Commentary With Director Stephen Frears and Writer Peter Morgan
- Feature Length Audio Commentary With British Historian and Royal Expert Robert Lacey Buy The Queen DVD Now!
