The Queen

If I had seen The Queen back in 2006, I might have found it more compelling. Having watched the excellent series The Crown since then, not much in this film surprised me. However, it remains true that Princess Diana's death pushed the royal family to express emotions more openly. Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen are fantastic, portraying their characters with great respect. (02.09.2022)

A one-sided appeal to a mainstream audience, a transparent idea in the overall intention, and disappointment at how predictably academically desirable a promising-looking film can be. I just can't get rid of the feeling that The Queen mainly works because she is portrayed as a human. But so clumsily and cheaply that I can't take her seriously. Regarding Diana's funeral, she stubbornly stands by her decision, ignores advice, and when she encounters a deer, she softens and starts thinking in a completely different direction? I can't believe that. I am equally saddened that everything is turned into a semi-documentary form and yet the viewer is manipulated into being a Tony Blair supporter from the very beginning, without a deeper understanding of the political context, it is impossible to form a more accurate picture. I understand the worldwide success, but I attribute it to the intriguingly controversial plot and the fact that Helen Mirren looks like Elizabeth and Michael Sheen looks like Tony Blair (which, however, does not deny that most of the positives they are owed). And I wonder when was the last time I felt as conflicted as when I observed the Queen Mother in the position of a comic supporting character. (10.06.2009)

The film provides an interesting insight into the life of the royal family in Britain, which in itself is quite daring. Even more daring is the fact that it focuses essentially only on events related to Princess Diana's death. Personally, the fate of the princess leaves me indifferent, and unfortunately, the same goes for this film, which does have great moments, especially when Helen Mirren is on screen. However, in the end, it still feels like a movie trying to reconstruct fairly recent events that were largely captured by news cameras. In the end, a lot of original footage is indeed used. It's not a bad film; it's excellent in terms of filmmaking, Helen could instantly be queen, and she's also human, but the film didn't have a profound impact on me. (04.04.2014)

Great performances by Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen (whom I've seen before as Blair in the equally good The Special Relationship), a nourishing, almost theatrical script that is not afraid of satire, Desplat's fine music and Frears' direction skillfully mixing period footage with film footage... That is what you get with Queen. A riveting hour and a half in which there is "only" talking. (23.01.2013)

God Save the Queen After the controversial, fiercely filmed Dirty Pretty Things, it comes as rather a surprise that Frears filmed such a harmless, conservative and low-key story. Without great emotion of shocking revelations, we are give a peek into the royal family’s “mourning" over the death of Diana. The traditionally great performance by Helen Mirren would certainly equal and exceed the harshest of yardsticks and so it is no surprise that she won so many awards, deservedly. Thanks to the attractive topic and perfect actin performances, this is certainly an above-average picture and so neither the all-too-obvious parable with the deer, the exaggerated veneration of Her Majesty nor the enthusiasm for Tony Blair matter too much. It’s all a sort of an over-sumptuous theatre play. But a very good one, mind you. Exactly this type of play would fit perfectly in the repertoire of the Vinohrady Theatre in Prague. It would be a huge success, especially with the more mature end of the audience age spectrum. The Queen is the type of movie that you can watch with your (grand)parents, and not even the younger family members will get bored. (19.02.2007)