The Queen is One of the Best Films of 2006

You can rest assured that if the royal family watch movies, "The Queen" will not be at the top of their list. It's a tough and serious look at Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in the days following the death of Princess Diana. It's a well-written piece with some of the best acting of the year and happens to be one of the best films of 2006.

Helen Mirren stars as Queen Elizabeth in what is surely one of the best performances of her long career and one that will definitely be remembered when the Best Actress nominations are announced early next year. As you might expect the Queen is a no nonsense type of woman who has her routines and doesn't tolerate them being disrupted. She is also a doting grandmother who does everything she can to protect her grandsons, especially after the death of their mother.

As the film opens Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) has just been elected Prime Minister and is preparing to meet Elizabeth to ask officially ask for the position. We first see Elizabeth quietly staring into the camera as she prepares while Blair and his wife anxiously come to Buckingham Palace to meet with her. Blair is uncomfortable and a bit awkward at first as he tried to remember the proper protocols ("Bow from the neck only") but soon he and Elizabeth will be talking often in a more adversarial manner as a crisis threatens to shake the monarchy off its pedestal. Sheen is brilliant in the role as a man thrust into a situation he has no control over but still tries to placate both sides equally. He deserves an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

We all remember the night Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed were killed trying to escape the chasing paparazzi. Within hours the mourning of Diana has reached worldwide proportions but the royal family remained strangely silent. Blair is called upon to make a statement, which he does with his family by his side as they attend church. Soon the press and even Blair's advisors turn to Blair for an explanation for the Queen's silence, an explanation Blair cannot provide. Before long crowds of people are turning up at Buckingham Palace dropping off bouquets of flowers that will soon clog up so much space that the gates at the sight of the changing of the guard cannot even be opened. Elizabeth's indifference to the whole matter will be explained when she simply suggests that the flowers be removed and thrown away.

Elizabeth obviously was never a big fan of Diana's to begin with. Phillip (James Cromwell) concedes that he agreed to her marriage to Prince Charles because he "liked her at first." Prince Charles is portrayed as a man who simply doesn't know how to react to what is happening. While he has carried on an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles for many years he still steps forward to tell Elizabeth what a wonderful mother Diana was to the boys. Elizabeth quickly reminds Charles that his opinion has changed. Charles will soon use Tony Blair as a buffer to get Elizabeth to do the right thing. Charles is weak and unable to speak up for himself on his own behalf.

Elizabeth believes there should be no royal funeral for Diana as Diana made the choice to divorce Charles. She also refuses to fly the flag at half-staff, as the flag is her flag and only flies when she is in residence. The public is outraged and Blair takes it upon himself to convince Elizabeth that she was much too loved by the public and that this continued stance could be devastating. One of the brilliant aspects of this film is that no matter how wrong Elizabeth is, technically she is correct. We can see her reasons and understand them and further understand that when a monarch has rules they are followed to the letter.

At the last minute Blair is finally able to convince Elizabeth that the only way to save face is to make a public statement (which she does on live television) and give Diana the proper royal funeral the public is demanding. To further save face Elizabeth, Phillip, Prince William and Prince Harry come out of the palace to view the thousands of flower arrangements and sympathy cards. In one of the best scenes of the film Elizabeth is quietly shocked to read some of the vicious remarks written on the cards toward the royal family. She then faces a little girl holding a bouquet and offers to place it for her. The little girl refuses. Elizabeth is shocked and embarrassed until the girl informs her the flowers are for her.

"The Queen" was directed by Stephen Frears, an Englishman who has quietly made a nice career of small but very enjoyable movies including "Prick Up Your Ears," "Dangerous Liaisons," "High Fidelity," "Dirty Pretty Things" and "Mrs. Henderson Presents." Here Frears deftly handles the material by showing two sides of a tragic situation and how both sides were correct in their thinking. It's a tough act to pull off but Frears is up to the task.

"The Queen" is a thoughtful, quietly powerful film that gives us a glimpse into the lives of people we really don't know. There is no way to know how accurate the film is but its triumph is that it makes you believe this is exactly how it could have happened.