Duty first, self second

The Queen: 20 September 2006.
A cracking perfomance by Helen Mirren as the title role in this chronicle of the latter days of August 1997, as the royal family struggles to come to terms with the ramifications of a car accident in Paris. Stephen Frears' direction is not without humour, and succeeds in avoiding both schmultz snd sicophancy. More that just a biopic study of the tri-partite tensions between the monarch, the House of Wales and the Palace of Westminster, the film reveals the proximity to popular hysteria and civil unrest that was almost precipitated by this crisis. Reassuringly it is clear that the British, unlike our continental cousins with their tumbrils and guillotine, manifest their revolutionary tendancies with flowers. At the heart of the film is the evocative scene when the Queen inspects the mountain of bouquets outside the gates, the very flowers she suggests only moments previously be swept aside for the changing of the guard. A strong supporting cast led by Michael Sheen as Tony Blair 'with his cheshire cat smile', and Sylvia Sims as HRH Queen Mother only serves to further enhance the entertainment. It is interesting and somewhat ironic that Mirren, an ardent republican as I recall, should play such a role so well.