paisleypiper's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the queen Unusually warm and even muggy weather continues. The smells of the dampish and decaying leaves are quite pungent and are inspiring the sneezes this weekend. Each time I sneeze, the dogs become excited as though I were taking out a foot-long biscuit covered with peanut butter and asking them to show me how much they want it. They dash up to me, tails wagging, hugely amused, in some sort of congenial attack mode. Today Quinn and I walked to the movie theatre for an early matinee of The Queen. The movie focuses on the week just after Princess Diana's death and the Queen's response. The tragedy of Diana's untimely death provides an interesting situation in which to explore the Queen and the monarchy. Helen Miren was outstanding. She played the Queen as cold and calculating yet through it all I warmed to her and the struggle to change. Change does not come easily I suppose for an institution that is a thousand years old. And yet, the contemporary world seems to be consuming time and tragedy at faster an faster rates. Privacy, dignity, quietness all seem like priviledge not even the monarchy can afford these days. At the same time I could feel for the Queen, and this gets to the real brillance of the movie, I was able to laugh at the soft humor of the movie and see the amount of isolation and the stiffness as ridiculous. The Tony Blair character says at one time "will someone please save these people from themselves" (or something like that) and I agreed with his wish. I found the speculation on Royal attire quite interesting. And who knew Prince Phillip called the Queen "Cabbage." The various ensembles and routines were humanizing and quietly humorous and even moving at times. I recommend this movie for the big screen because it is sort of quiet and yet very moving in seeing these heads of state and their heads so much larger than life. 4:13 p.m. - 2006-11-27 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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