Perhaps, though, my reaction to the film is no more than a reflection of my own views on the personalities anyway. I still think of the Queen selling Socialist Worker, Spitting Image-style. I wouldn't go out of my way to describe myself as a Royalist, but if we assume that an alternative Head of State would come from the political establishment, I think we could do rather worse than the present arrangements. I didn't mourn Diana; a tragic death for those around her, but only one of how many thousands killed on the roads by dangerous driving every year. Like 9/11 or the Boxing Day tsunami, it was impossible to escape the collective gloom deposited on us by the media, but in less globalised times we would have carried on with our lives quite satisfactorily without the news.
The soundtrack was also effective. One might have expected Michael Nyman for such an archetypal Brit-Flick, but Alexandre Desplat's score, led by the harpsichord, gave the right atmosphere of grace, formailty and anachronism.
Perhaps the only bit which seemed a bit forced was the reference to "legacy" in the final meeting between the Queen and her Prime Minister, very topical in these months but perhaps less likely for the autumn of 1997, but overall, the film constructs its characters and details very plausibly.
Tags: film
Current Music: Michael Nyman - Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings