The Queen (2006)

Anyone who has seen The Queen, nominated for Best Picture of 2006, is going to be a fan of Helen Mirren's performance as the title character. Mirren won every award in sight that year for this portrayal, and she deserved every one of the honors. She's a master of the subtle facial expressions, of the archly turned phrases, even of the physical movements of Queen Elizabeth II. This is a towering achievement, one that will be studied for years to come. Just watch the moments when Mirren's Queen is watching the news to see how conflicted are the emotions that she is feeling. Here is a woman who sees the world around her changing so fast that she doesn't know if she can respond or adjust in time. it's breathtaking work.

However, as much as this film has been heralded for Mirren's performance, it is also a remarkable achievement on its own terms. It takes a recent historical event, the death of Princess Diana, and shows us--through some interesting speculation on the part of the screenwriter, Peter Morgan--how England and its people dealt with her death. Using actual footage from the time period throughout the fictional story, The Queen manages to bring back to the surface all of those feelings that the British people (indeed, the people of the world) had at the time. Part of that is, of course, due to the events themselves, but showing us documentary footage alone does not always work to raise emotions. The direction and editing of this film also contribute to its impact.

There are also other great performances here. Michael Sheen's portrayal of Tony Blair captures the freshness with which the Prime Minister assumed office and how often he had to change his perspective on the Queen herself during his early days of interacting with her. You sense a growing complexity of understanding on his part of why Elizabeth II reacts to the world the way she does. I also admired James Cromwell's performance as Prince Philip, but I will admit that if Philip is even half as mean-spirited or evil-hearted as portrayed here, he is truly a villain. Helen McCrory provides able support at Cherie Blair, and Sylvia Syms is quite funny (perhaps unintentionally so at times) as the Queen Mother.

I can still recall clearly Diana's death. My partner at the time was English, and I remember his sister calling to tell us to watch the news. For the next few days, we spent a lot of time watching BBC America and going online to find out more information. So I was quite familiar with the events that occurred after Diana's passing, including the reaction of the British people to the Queen's seeming indifference. I think it's a testament to the strength of The Queen that even though someone like myself is aware of the "public" events that it depicts, this film still manages to intrigue us by showing us the "private" aspect of them as well. That's a mark of an outstanding film.