Word: queene
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Queen...
...Queen, written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Frears, is the fact-based chronicle of the week Diana died. At first, the royals choose to do nothing, issue no statement, betray no emotions--which, toward Diana, are pretty rancorous. Only when Tony Blair (Michael Sheen), swept into 10 Downing Street in a landslide, gently insists that a consoling word or two might be in order does the Queen realize with a shock that she is not the most beloved woman in Britain...
...acid (James Cromwell's bullying, befuddled Philip), some daubed with sympathy (Alex Jennings' bereaved Charles). And after about an hour of wickedly acute satire, the movie shifts its focus to find the pathos behind Elizabeth's stern gaze. As incarnated by Mirren, that least sentimental of great actresses, the Queen might be any aging executive, devastated by the insight that her reign has been endured but not embraced. Mirren, who won an Emmy playing Elizabeth I for HBO, may deserve an Oscar for this ripe appraisal of Elizabeth...
...range of emotions that are eerily familiar. That's why we delight in seeing chimps wearing tuxedos, playing the drums or riding bicycles. It's why a potbellied gorilla scratching itself in the zoo reminds us of Uncle Ralph or Cousin Vinnie--and why, in a more unsettled reaction, Queen Victoria, on seeing an orangutan named Jenny at the London Zoo in 1842, declared the beast "frightful and painfully and disagreeably human...
...viewers know, Morton and Frears have created a niche industry in Tony Blair docudramas. The first, The Deal in 2003, was about the agreement between Blair (played there as well by Sheen) and Gordon Brown that birthed the New Labour Party. That was a TV film; The Queen was made for movie theaters. I hope it finds a wide and receptive audience - for beyond the tattle, it tells a parable of political wisdom: knowing when to listen to the people, and when to lead them...