Brilliantly acted. I have to say, I never understood the mass hysteria around the death of Princess Diana, and Helen Mirren’s portrayal of the Queen struggling to deal with the public’s reaction is fantastic.

By focusing on the Queen / Tony Blair angle the film has a strong narrative – it really tells a good story. Everyone come off well in the movie: with the exception of the Queen Mum is a cow, Cherie Blair who is a lunatic and Blair’s Chief of Staff who represents everything that is wrong with politics.

The casting and acting is first class – the portrayals are very good: all the aussies, kiwis and of course poms would pick up on some of the mannerisms and in-jokes. I am sure however that the yanks and europeans who don’t know them that well could still get a lot out of the film.

I only watched one movie on my trip from Australia to the US: The Queen.

I had wanted to see this film for quite some time, so I was delighted to see it as an on demand movie on the plane. I really enjoyed the film. I thought the storyline and its insights were fantastic, and Helen Mirrin was wonderful.

However, I found the film a little difficult to watch, just because the British Royal Family is so often photographed. I found myself constantly comparing the characters in the film to the images I had of them in my mind. I found it very hard to let go and get lost in the film. I think the images of Diana (which were the real thing, and not played by an actor) didn’t help in this respect either.

Cross-posted on What Katie Did.

After I watched this movie, I became more sympathetic toward the British monarchy.