Cinematical

On August 31, 1997, the world suddenly came to a screeching halt upon hearing the news that Princess Diana had died in a car crash on the streets of Paris. In an instant, the story ran on TV news and landed on the front page of every major newspaper across the globe. People everywhere were shocked, upset and swept up in a tremendous amount of grief. In England -- a country trained to approach even the most extreme situations with a sort of quiet reserve -- the event rocked society's foundations, sending millions of people onto the streets to pay their respects to a woman everyone adored and obsessed over.

Only four months into his new role as Prime Minister, Tony Blair immediately jumped into action, preparing a National address in which he called Diana "The People's Princess" (a term coined by a writer brainstorming ideas, and not Blair himself). However, Blair's words were not enough, as England wanted more -- they wanted their Royal Family. They wanted their Queen. Thus, Blair -- presented to us as a young, hot shot PR wizard hell-bent on creating a new, hip England -- found himself up against a family steeped in tradition dating back hundreds of years, who wanted to treat the death as a private matter by hunkering down at their summer home in Balmoral, Scotland. And so we have the premise for The Queen, a new film directed by Stephen Frears.

Using a number of different anonymous sources -- private secretaries, journalists, employees of the Palace, maids, biographers -- screenwriter Peter Morgan has constructed an amazing script, analyzing every minute of every conversation that took place between the Prime Minister, his people and the Royal Family the week after Diana's death. That said, the finished product is by no means some paint-by-numbers, "here's what we think happened and that's that," account of those precious days. Instead, The Queen gives a personal, compassionate and human look inside the lives of England's leaders as they, like us, try to come to terms with the mayhem that surrounds them.

Having already played Queen Elizabeth I on TV (for which she won an Emmy), there's no doubt Helen Mirren gives an outstanding Oscar-worthy performance here for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II -- a dangerous and somewhat controversial role to take on with the Queen still alive. Sharp, witty and delicate, Mirren packs years of tradition and emotion into her eyes, making it easy for the audience to look past the Queen's Royal aura, causing us to sympathize with her dilemma on a very real and human level. While the film certainly provides quite a few laughs at the expense of the Royal Family (who can't help but remain true to themselves even though their country is obviously evolving), The Queen has some incredibly deep moments, including one scene in which Her Majesty confronts a lone stag in the middle of an open field, tears streaming down her face. Watching her, we realize how much these two really have in common -- what with both of them being hunted by a society that no longer understands their beauty, power and grace.

Michael Sheen, who is playing Blair for a second time (he starred in The Deal, a TV show from the team behind The Queen) does all he can to keep up with Mirren. Here he does a fantastic job taking on a man who at first ridicules the Royals ("Will someone please save these people from themselves? What a family!"), but soon comes to realize how important their role is in leading the country. Frears and Morgan use a decent amount of archival footage to introduce the film's most important character, the media. As Frears and Morgan explained at a post-screening press conference, the millions of people who showed up to grieve for Diana really only knew her through the media, and so it was necessary to introduce the non-stop television coverage as a meaningful player throughout the entire ordeal.

But the film also has some wonderful performances from Alex Jennings (who's Prince Charles is surprisingly weak and sympathetic -- who knew the man was fearing for his life that week?), James Cromwell (as the grumpy and often foul-mouthed Prince Philip) and Sylvia Syms (as the hysterical, yet clueless Queen Mother), not to mention Frears' ridiculous attention to every little detail, including outstanding set and costume design that decisively help the feel of the film. Thus, The Queen turns out to be one of the best films this year.