994. The Queen

The Queen
2006
Directed by Stephen Frears

I miss England terribly and watching films like this just makes it harder.  I don't remember the aftermath of Diana's death, but I do recall some of the royalty related hysteria when I visited London just before Prince William and Kate Middleton's marriage.  Man, they love those royals.

After the death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II struggles in the aftermath of a tragedy that no one could have predicted.  While the Queen believes that the royal family's grief should be a private affair handled away from the mourning public, Tony Blair and Prince Charles think that the nation deserves a more public expression of grief.

I expected to love this movie, but I didn't end up finding it as riveting as I initially hoped.  I felt as thought the filmmakers kept hinting at more interesting events taking place off screen, while the audience was stuck watching everyone try to dislodge the stick up the Queen's ass.  Ahem.  Clearly, I am not royalty material yet.

In any case, Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen did fantastic jobs and I still managed to find the politics of this one rather interesting.  Biopics just aren't for me.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Cherie Blair's dislike of the royal family has been widely reported.

Helen Mirren discovered while researching the role that the Queen has OCD.  It was her idea to use this element of her personality in the film.

786. Dangerous Liaisons

Dangerous Liaisons
1988
Directed by Stephen Frears

I love the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, so I was pretty much ready to love this, no matter how many scenes featured Keanu Reeves.  I kid; he actually wasn't as bad as everyone makes him out to be.    Well, sort of.

Marquise de Merteuil (one of the greatest villains in literature) asks her morally impaired friend Valmont to seduce her ex lover's fiancee Cecile for revenge.  She promises him sexual favors, which he turns down (odd, as sex with Glenn Close seemed to be the thing in the eighties) as he is trying to seduce Madame de Tourvel, the wife of a judge.  Meanwhile Cecile finds herself falling for her music teacher while Merteuil is still determined to ruin her life.  Hell have no fury like Glenn Close scorned.

As I seem to be the rape police (don't you wish that existed? HA!), I have to point out how weird that scene was with Valmont and Cecile.  I kind of felt like it ruined the fun.  Before that Merteuil and Valmont seem to make their conquests through manipulation and skillful seduction, which is always fun to watch.  Watching Valmont take someone by force...not so much.

Still, Merteuil is a great character.  She seems to desire power and as she is a woman in 1781, this is the only way she knows how to get it.  I also enjoyed the adaptation Cruel Intentions, although that is mostly because I have a crush on Sarah Michelle Gellar.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

The nobel was considered so scandalous upon its release that Marie Antoinette had her copy bound in a blank cover so no one would know she owned it.