The Queen (DVD)

When you win only one Oscar it doesn't hurt that the one Oscar you won happens to be Best Actress as The Queen earner Helen Mirren her first Oscar to go along with their six total nominations including Best Picture. One thing is for certain however, while many films appear to be artsy fartsy and rack up the Oscar noms this is not one of them, this is a movie for everyone, you just have to sit down and watch.

Telling the story of the time following the tragic death of Princess Diana, The Queen takes a close look at the British government and the Royal Family as they both deal with their "grief" in separate ways. Also, weaving in the temperature of the British people this film manages to tell such a complex story with so much ease it never really even feels like a movie. Utilizing stock video footage of the actual news reports you are always kept on your toes as this dramatic, yet funny, film plays out.

The Queen shocked me in theaters as I mention in my "A" review here, but now that I knew what I was in for I wondered if my experience would be the same. While I can say a second viewing of the film does not hit quite as hard as the first one did the dialogue and acting in this picture are unmatched. Despite six nominations the one person that didn't get nominated and I think should have actually won was Michael Sheen thanks to his performance as Prime Minister Tony Blair. Sheen is the heart and the voice of the people in this film and without his performance Mirren's wouldn't have been as special.

As for the DVD it comes with a rather generic and slightly pompous making of featurette, but more importantly a pair of audio commentaries. The first commentary is with director Stephen Frears and writer Peter Morgan, the second is with a couple of historical experts on the history of Britain and the other wrote "Majesty" which I am sure you can assume is about Queen Elizabeth. There really is no favorite between the two commentaries. The Frears and Morgan commentary is a bit more lively while also including a larger number of silent spots, and the historical commentary is simply filled with factoids about the feature and giving you a heads up on what is real, what is assumed and what might not be so exact. Both are interesting, but considering this movie is 103 minutes you may want to space out your viewings if you want to listen to both.

Overall this is probably another film you should rent before you buy, and maybe even rent it twice. After walking out of the theater I wanted to see this movie again right away, but now that I have watched it on DVD once I am not sure how often I will revisit it. I have plenty of movies like this resting on my DVD shelf that I know I will watch again one day (The Station Agent, In America), but the mood required to pop these kinds of movies in are few and far between once you have seen them, even if they are this good.