The Queen

PG-13

9/30/20061h 43m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Our Leaders. Ourselves. ~

Overview:

The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.

Director:

Stephen Frears

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$15,000,000.00

Revenue:

$123,384,128.00

Key words:

dying and death
great britain
upper class
loss of loved one
sadness
queen
paparazzi
headline
monarchy
palace
royal family
biography
based on true story
deer
british prime minister
1990s
british royal family
british monarchy
westminster abbey
princess diana

Cast

Helen Mirren

~ as ~

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Michael Sheen

~ as ~

Tony Blair

James Cromwell

~ as ~

Philip of Edinburgh

Helen McCrory

~ as ~

Cherie Blair

Alex Jennings

~ as ~

Charles III of the United Kingdom

Roger Allam

~ as ~

Robin Janvrin

Sylvia Syms

~ as ~

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

Paul Barrett

~ as ~

Trevor Rees-Jones

Tim McMullan

~ as ~

Stephen Lamport

Douglas Reith

~ as ~

Lord Airlie

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
I'm not sure if Stephen Frears was really just trying to kick-start the Tony Blair fan club when he made this highly speculative and frankly rather unkind feature about how Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) - and, to an extent, her family - dealt with the aftermath of the death of the divorced Princess of Wales in Paris. Mr Blair (Michael Shannon) has only just been elected and together with his pretty openly hostile (to the monarchy) wife Cherie (Helen McCrory) heads to the palace for his appointment audience. When the tragedy does ensue, the Royal Family are at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire and the remainder of this film - intercut with occassional news actuality - postulates on just how the relationship between the prime minister and his Sovereign might have played out in the face of the growing and totally irrational public outpourings of grief and frustrations following the accident. Mirren and Shannon are both on great form here and even if the former is more of a mimic than an actress with this part, she still imbues enough characterisation for us to accept the plausibility that this might just have been the response of the actual Queen Elizabeth. It's beautifully shot and it was nice to see Sylvia Syms on screen again, albeit briefly and again, rather unsympathetically. I can't help but wonder how much of this has become the gospel in many people's eyes as to just how things did happen back in 1997. Somehow, I very much doubt it - but it's interesting to watch nonetheless.