The Queen

I had heard quite a lot about The Queen and it had quite a reputation behind it, so I decided that it would be a good idea to watch it. It’s a film which considers the British Royal Family’s dealing with the public after the death of Princess Diana. Now I was too young to remember exactly what happened with the death of Diana and so this film was very useful to me as a bit of an explanation.

Upon the breaking news of the death of Princess Diana, the Royal Family did not expect the response that was seen by the public. The Queen and her family wanted to deal with the news in a very private manner and did not consider it to be a royal death. However, the public opinion, largely channelled by Prime Minister Tony Blair, was that a more widespread expression of grief should be seen. The film also provides a bit of an insight into the workings of the labour government under Blair, but this takes a backseat relative to the focus on the Royals. In the year that The Departed won the Academy Award for Best Picture, The Queen definitely deserves its nomination and might have been a close contender.

Helen Mirren stars as The Queen and is absolutely wonderful to watch. She fully deserves the award for Best Actress and for me is the perfect actress to play Elizabeth II. Not only does she fully look the part in this film, which is of course a credit to the makeup department, but she sounds perfect as well. She has obviously dedicated herself fully to this role, and the result is an absolutely flawless and fantastic portrayal of The Queen. Generally I think she presents the monarchy in a positive light in this film, and although a certain degree of stubbornness is seen in the character, the audience is allowed to understand her reasons behind her actions. Also, she is portrayed as a genuinely caring mother and grandmother, which is really nice considering how private the Royal family is.

Michael Sheen portrays the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in this film and is as enjoyable to watch as ever. He had played Blair before The Queen and does so again after, but does very well at replicating the mannerisms of the man. His ‘all-smiles’ approach to this role perfectly captures the character, and he comes across as a very believable Blair. He does very well at conveying the difficulty that a modern Prime Minister can have with the Royal Family. There are a number of times when Blair’s modern ideals do not ring true with the Queen’s old fashioned way of doing things, and when this happens I found myself feeling a bit wary at where the scene was going. This level of awkwardness is perfectly captured by Sheen. Michael Sheen is fast on his way to becoming one of my favourite actors, just for how likable he is on-screen (and off-screen I’m sure).

The supporting cast is also very enjoyable to watch, particularly the other members of the Royal Family. Whereas Helen Mirren attempts to portray the Royals positively, the other actors highlight exactly how old fashioned and traditional the monarchy really is. For me, Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh (played by James Cromwell), is the polar opposite of the Queen in this sense. Where she is prepared to consider and understand the public’s love and appreciation of Diana eventually, Phillip seems to have no understanding of why they should break tradition for Diana. This obstinance is brilliantly conveyed by Cromwell who deserves credit for his performance. Equally enjoyable is the old fashioned views held by the Queen Mother (Sylvia Syms). I particularly enjoyed the scene where she was outraged by the decision to use her funeral plans as the template for Diana’s. Although she doesn't have a particularly big part in the film, she definitely adds to the presentation of the royals.

Alex Jennings plays Prince Charles very well, but if I had one criticism of him it is that his accent isn't completely perfect. I think that it is actually relatively inconsistent at various points, and if it wasn't for the fact that he was introduced as the Prince of Wales, some might struggle to understand who he is. Although, that said, Charles’ accent is particularly difficult to imitate and I’m sure Jennings gave this role his best shot. Finally, I found Helen McCrory as Cherie Blair to be particularly annoying in this film. It might just be because I find Cherie Blair particularly annoying and McCrory does a good job of conveying this, but I thought the character seemed to be a bit vindictive about the whole scenario.

Overall, The Queen is a thoroughly enjoyable and very entertaining take on the events surrounding the death of Princess Diana. As films of this sort go, it is definitely one of the better ones. Complete with a very proficient supporting cast and a couple of exceptional performances from Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen, The Queen is definitely a film to watch if you get the opportunity.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Having read the book of the same name by Douglas Adams, I was curious about the film of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. My flatmate has said that the film doesn't match up to the book at all and I would agree with this. My last post was about The Da Vinci Code and I talk about how difficult it is to adapt a book into a film that genuinely matches up. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is another example of this.

It’s definitely not a bad film though. The book is very funny and keeps you captivated page by page. I think the focus with the film was to produce a visualisation of everything for the audience. In this respect the film does very well. I particularly liked Alan Rickman as Marvin the depressed robot. Alan Rickman has a voice that particularly lends itself towards the slightly depressed character. His manner in playing the character is absolutely spectacular and is completely how I imagined the character when reading the book.

Also, for me, Martin Freeman is perfectly cast in the role of Arthur Dent. It might just have been the fact that I knew it was Freeman who plays Dent when reading the book, but I could imagine him being completely comfortable as Arthur. His unique manner of acting lends him very favourably to this character. Martin Freeman has a way of delivering comedic lines which many people find entertaining and it is displayed very clearly in this film.

The other cast is very good too. I enjoyed Zooey Deschanel as Trillian. It’s is quite hard to tell the difference between an actor’s unique manner and them playing the same character in a lot of films. I thought there was nothing about Zooey Deschanel’s character that marked the performance out from anything else she’s done. I did like Mos Def as Ford, and there was a brilliant eccentricity about him in this film that perfectly captured the essence of Ford. I’m not sure what I made of Sam Rockwell as Zaphod though. It might just be because he played the character differently to how I imagined him, but I wasn’t convinced. He managed the zany character very well, but there was nothing that screamed ‘President of the Galaxy’ to me.

For me, it is the small parts that very successful actors and actresses have in this film that marks out how successful the book was. With Bill Nighy, Warwick Davis, Helen Mirren, Stephen Fry and John Malkovich all playing a role in the film it was obviously a big enough project to attract the big names. However, it was lacking something for me. While graphics are impressive for 2005 I felt a bit disappointed that the film added an extra scene at the end which wasn’t included in the book. I never like it when a film does this because the intention of the film is to adapt the book and by adding an extra scene at the end interprets the book in a way that the author may not have intended. It can also completely change the impact of the film. It is a shame that The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy does this, but ultimately I can get over it.

It’s never easy to adapt a book into a film, and especially with a science-fiction book there will always be people who don’t like it for one reason or another. Personally, although there’s no real problems with the acting or anything like that, I just don’t like that an extra scene was added. It doesn’t live up to the book at all and so I would read the book before you think about seeing the film. In all honesty, having read the book, I would avoid the film.