DVD Reviews

The Queen – DVD Review

By June L. Oct 16, 2010, 15:23 GMT

A dramatic portrait of one of the world’s most powerful women. Elizabeth Windsor rose to the throne in 1952 and has been Queen of the United Kingdom ever since. She has reigned over turbulent times. Social upheavals, cash problems, civil unrest, and family woes have challenged her spirit, her principles, and her resolve. This five-part British series blends dramatized scenes behind palace doors with documentary footage and new interviews with ...more

In a stunning five part series, five different actresses play the role of the world’s best known reigning Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.  Part documentary, political analysis and dramatization, these are unforgettable performances acknowledging the strength and resolve of one amazing woman.

For most of us Queen Elizabeth II is a familiar public figure with glamour and mystery and a long lineage of Royal ancestors.  She is living history.  In the television miniseries The Queen five moments within her almost sixty year reign are examined to display her leadership and devotion to her country. 

The moments held much consternation for the Queen and for her people, causing rifts and opposing viewpoints that could have ended the monarchy.  Instead the Queen led by her convictions and dedication was able to move the country back into order.

The first episode “Two Sisters” takes place early in the Queen’s reign, in fact she has just become Queen upon the death of her father King George VI.  Elizabeth was in Africa when she received the news, on a Royal Tour of goodwill to the Commonwealth nations.  She returned home, Queen at 25 years of age, to find that her younger sister was involved in an inappropriate (for that time) love affair. 

In an era when the Church of England did not sanction divorce, the Queen’s sister was in love with and wanted to marry a divorced courtier, group captain Peter Townsend.  Elizabeth struggled with her own feelings, her love for her sister and what she felt was her ethical position as Queen.  Emilia Fox plays the young Elizabeth who must put aside personal happiness for duty to one’s country, something that would become a mainstay of the Queen’s reign.

The second moment “Us and Them” , would not seem at first to be such a problem.  It was the late 1960’s and the Queen had decided to let the media film some of the lives of the Royals, to show what they did to earn the salaries paid them. 

It backfired in ways no one could have imagined, with people completely misunderstanding that the Queen and her family did not keep the money and buy things for themselves, that the funds went for running the households, staff salaries, State Occasions with heads of other countries, etc. 

Samantha Bond plays Elizabeth in a time when the Royal family was financially in trouble, and the government and the people couldn’t understand why a raise might be needed.
 
Episode three is called “The Rivals” and takes place during the time of Margaret Thatcher’s term as Prime Minister.  The Queen and the Prime Minister, both strong women, were political opposites. 

They tried to work together, but everything almost blew up with the question of sanctions against South Africa for apartheid.   Susan Jameson is the Elizabeth of this time period, firm in her obligations to her people and concerned about keeping the Commonwealth nations together.
 
“The Enemy Within” is perhaps the most chilling of the episodes as it deals with the break up of the Royal family couples of Charles and Diana and Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. 

Without choosing sides in the issue, the program shows how devastating Diana’s choice to let the Andrew Morton book be published was to the monarchy.  What happened to her was horrific, but it appears that had communication been better, such a drastic step might have been avoided.  Barbara Flynn plays the Elizabeth who lives through 1992 and christens it annus horribilis.

“How Do You Solve a Problem Like Camilla?” is the crisis Elizabeth faced in the 2000’s.  Diana was dead, and Mrs. Parker-Bowles was divorced and the Prince of Wales wanted to marry her. 

Seeming to have come full circle to the affair between Margaret and Peter Townsend, the Queen struggled with her desire to see her child happy, and again her duty to the nation. 

Had fifty years in between the two events changed Britain enough that what was once unheard of, could now be acceptable?  Diana Quick is masterful as the elderly Queen, who still will not be moved when it comes to duty and ethics.
  
The Queen is presented on two discs with five episodes, in a keeper case.  The case is illustrated with stills from the episodes and brief synopses of the moments dramatized. 

It is an excellent blend of documentary, facts and interviews with people who were there, combined with nicely edited and filmed dramatized vignettes. 

No matter what your position on the monarchy today, this is a tribute to one woman who has led for almost sixty years, and has managed to keep her country safe.

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