Queen (2006) - Golden Globe Winner®!

"...the kind of thought-provoking, well-written and savvy film that discerning filmgoers long for but rarely get.  Claudia Puig, USA Today
"...[Mirren] delivers the performance of a lifetime...witty, touching and engrossing...  Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"A sublimely nimble evisceration of that cult of celebrity known as the British royal family.  Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
"...Mirren gives the mostly subtly expressive performance based on a living historical figure that I've ever seen.  Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
"Politically shrewd, unexpectedly funny yet immaculately tasteful docudrama.  Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly

Editor's Note Helen Mirren delivers a royally stirring performance as Queen Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears's fictional romp, THE QUEEN. The year is 1997, and Great Britain has a newly elected prime minister, the youthful, optimistic Tony Blair (Michael Sheen). In Buckingham Palace, the Queen doesn't appear to be fazed by Blair's arrival. Then again, she doesn't appear to be fazed by anything. But when Diana--her son's ex-wife and the mother of her grandchildren--is killed in a tragic car accident, her authority is tested as never before. While the Queen Mother (Sylvia Syms) and Prince Philip (James Cromwell) agree with her decision to remain at their holiday estate in Balmoral and not publicly acknowledge the tragedy, Tony Blair feels differently. Unfortunately, so do the English people. Making matters worse is the out-of-control media, which has begun to castigate the queen for her silence. In order to retain her grip on the country that she has served for so many years, she must swallow her pride and let the world know that she does, in fact, care. With THE QUEEN, the consistently superior Frears (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, DANGEROUS LIAISONS) strikes once again. Peter Morgan's devilishly clever script provides the foundation, but the expert performances are what make the film such an exhilarating ride. What begins as a humorous critique of the stuffy royal family becomes an unexpectedly sympathetic portrait of a woman who carries the weight of a nation on her shoulders. This film was chosen to be the opening night selection of the 44th New York Film Festival organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

	Helen Mirren
	James Cromwell
	Michael Sheen
	Sylvia Syms
	Affonso Beato - Cinematographer
	Alexandre Desplat - Original Music By
	Christine Langan - Producer
	Franck Schwarz - Art Director
	Lucia Zucchetti - Editor
	Matthew Broderick - Art Director
	Peter Morgan - Writer
	Scott Rudin - Executive Producer
	Stephen Frears - Director

Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "Stephen Frears' taut run-through of the week following the demise of The People's Princess sees the bickering royals isolated at Balmoral." 10/01/2006 p.44

Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "THE QUEEN is one of the best and liveliest movies of the year -- funny and touching in ways you can't predict." 10/05/2006 p.79

New York Times
"How heavy that crown and how very lightly Helen Mirren wears it as queen. With Mr. Frear's gentle guidance, she delivers a performance remarkable in its art and lack of sentimentalism." 09/29/2006 p.E1-E8

Entertainment Weekly
"[An] engrossing and unexpectedly penetrating drama....THE QUEEN pays serious attention to how an ancient monarchy operates in a modern country..." 10/06/2006 p.49

Premiere
Included in Premiere's "10 Best Movies Of The Year" -- "[The film] has as many twists and turns as a great political thriller, and a sly wisdom as well." 01/01/2007 p.48

Rolling Stone
Ranked #7 in Rolling Stone's "The 10 Best Movies Of 2006" -- "[Frears] is devilishly good at springing surprises, political, personal and profound." 12/28/2006 p.118

Entertainment Weekly
Included in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Films Of The Year" -- "Mirren deserves each and every honor bestowed upon her..." 12/29/2006 105

Film Comment
Ranked #5 in Film Comment's "20 Best Films Of 2006." 01/01/2006 p.36

Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "Rightly acclaimed for Helen Mirren's extraordinarily persuasive lead....This is Stephen Frears' best film yet." 03/01/2007 p.122

Ultimate DVD
5 stars out of 5 -- "In its blend of dramatization and news footage, it presents a cannily authentic view of events." 03/01/2007 p.120

ReelViews 8 of 10
With The Queen, Stephen Frears has at least two items on his agenda: to humanize the head of the British monarchy while at the same time indicating how far removed she has become from the concerns of her subjects. He also poses questions about the relevancy of the monarchy in today's society, but that's hardly a new issue and Frears doesn't press the matter. The Queen is an interesting character study...The film will inevitably have greater appeal in the United Kingdom, where the Queen is an integral part of life, than in the United States, where she is a distant (and somewhat curious) figurehead. Nevertheless, the movie is compelling enough to interest nearly anyone, even an anti-monarchist, and remind us that even the most glacial of icons contains a human heart. - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Told in quiet scenes of proper behavior and guarded speech, "The Queen" is a spellbinding story of opposed passions -- of Elizabeth's icy resolve to keep the royal family separate and aloof from the death of the divorced Diana, who was legally no longer a royal, and of Blair's correct reading of the public mood...The screenplay is intense, focused, literate, observant. The dynamic between Elizabeth and Philip (James Cromwell), for example, is almost entirely defined by decades of what has not been said between them -- and what need not be said...Mirren is the key to it all in a performance sure to be nominated for an Oscar. She finds a way, even in a "behind the scenes" docudrama, to suggest that part of her character will always be behind the scenes. What a masterful performance, built on suggestion, implication and understatement. - Roger Ebert