b r a v e c r e a t u r e s

I defy any world leader to be as funny for charity. Whatever you might say about Tony Blair, I cant see Dubya or Little Jonny Howard doing anything this imaginative.

With immaculate timing, worthy of the monarch Herself, "The Queen", new film from Stephen Frears has been released here in Australia right on the heels of the release of the Stevens Report . The film examines closely the week between the death of Diana Spencer in Paris and her funeral in London and focuses on the, at the time, highly controversial behaviour of Royal family and in particular the apparent inaction of Elizabeth the Second.

Helen Mirren is superb in the title role and she is brilliantly supported by the rest of the cast including James Cromwell as the bombastic Prince Phillip, Alex Jennings as the tentative Prince Charles and outstanding amongst them, Michael Sheen as the newly elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

The main dramatic tension in the film is between The Queen, who is attempting to maintain reserved dignity in the face of events, and Tony Blair who finds himself working to modernise the Monarchy in an unexpected way by showing them the need for a more emotional and engaged approach. These two central characters are dynamic and multidimensional, and the performances of Mirren and Sheen brilliantly show the difficulties these two complex, proud and powerful people face in coming to terms with one of the most globally watched events of the 20th century.

Although some of the emotional transitions are a little unsubtle, they are heartfelt and appear honest leaving me wondering how much of it is strictly true and how much is fiction.

This is a intimate, familiar film showing a human and recognisably dysfunctional family trying to deal with a tragic accident the best way they know how. It is personal and engaging in the way the British do best while capturing the enormity of the events. The cinematography is beautiful and the production design superb, although there are some dodgy digital set extensions that some might find off putting.

At the end of the film I was left with an deep sense of compassion for The Queen, who from a very young age has devoted a lifetime to a service to her people, her country and the world - a service she saw kill her father and which has to a large extent robbed her of any normalcy in her life or the life of her family.

While "The Queen" will translate well to the small screen I would highly recommend seeing it in the cinemas as some of the scenes have a grander that deserves to be seen on the large screen. This is a film that I would gladly see again, it is beautiful, engaging and heartfelt.