Venice. The Queen.

"Peter Morgan's well-researched screenplay, which the ever-versatile director Stephen Frears has meticulously brought to vibrant life, zeroes in on the traumatic week in August 1997 following Princess Diana's death in a Paris car crash," establishes Kirk Honeycutt in the Hollywood Reporter. "The film, a fascinating mix of high-minded gossip and historical perspective, examines the clash of values - of ritual and traditions versus media savvy and political ambition - that leads to a crisis for the British monarchy."

"I don't imagine Her Majesty cares much about the altered fortunes of the people's Prime Minister," muses Mary Riddell in the Observer. "She has watched nine worn-out leaders, from Churchill onwards, shuffle from her presence and, besides, she is not the sentimental sort. In Frears's film, she sheds no tear for Diana, but weeps for a Balmoral stag, an emblem of the mighty slain. The Queen's horror, wonderfully conveyed by [Helen] Mirren, was that she no longer knew her subjects. She had believed them stoical, decorous and resilient, only to see them burying west London in Kleenex and carnations while baying for her presence or her blood.... Frears's film could be more than a fine insight into a royal family at bay. It may be the first epitaph to the House of Windsor."

Updated through 9/4.

David Poland finds The Queen "so simple and so complex and so polished to just the right degree of shine that [Frears] makes something so few can do look effortless.... This is a small movie. But what seems to be specific turns universal at some point. And that is the wonder of it. A really compelling story, terribly well told."

"There's no need to disturb Freud to say that Queen Elizabeth II is part of my subconscious. In 50 years, she has penetrated the depths of all English people." For Cineuropa, Camillo de Marco gets an eerie quote from Frears and adds: "To those expecting a vitriolic portrait of the leader with the Cheshire Cat-like smile and a caustic view of the royal family, we can say that the director's view is indulgent even if inexorable in emphasising the absolute anachronism between the royal presence and Blair's determination and ambition." De Marco also notes that the producers aren't expecting any legal hassle from either the royal family or Downing Street 10.

"Deliciously written and expertly played," declares Variety's Derek Elley. Mirren's performance is "socko"!

Updates, 9/4: Tobias Buck talks with Frears for the Financial Times. Via Ray Pride at Movie City Indie.

Geoffrey Macnab for Screen Daily: "Despite an occasional tendency toward mannerism and caricature in the early scenes, Frears steers a deft line between satire and sycophancy, creating a work that is ultimately complex and moving."

At europeanfilms.net, Boyd van Hoeij recalls a relevant scene from Prick Up Your Ears.

The Telegraph's David Gritten: "The Queen is not merely the year's best British film, it is one of the year's most intriguing, provocative films from anywhere."

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw: "Helen Mirren, as the Queen, gives the sort of barnstorming performance that our unwritten constitution decrees must be rewarded with a shower of awards."

Elisa Bray outlines Mirren's career, decade by decade, from the 60s to the present, for the Independent.

Posted by dwhudson at September 3, 2006 6:45 AM