jürgen fauth’s muckworld

Frears, Mirren, Morgan. Photo: Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE

I’ve watched and written about this movie more than once, but a DVD commentary with Stephen Frears and Peter Morgan was reason enough to give it another whirl. On the audio track, the film’s director and screenwriter are every bit as entertaining as they were at the NYFF press conference, but I was disappointed to find them somewhat reluctant to share tricks of the trade. Instead, they delight in pointing out jokes and sharing their favorite lines. (Peter Morgan’s is a single word: “Mummy?”)

There is, however, a short discussion of the meaning of the stag, and right before the end, they make a few incisive comments about the nature of truth. Apparently, The Queen gets all sorts of details completely wrong, most notably the sets. (They say in reality the inside of Buckingham Palace resembles a “dilapidated hotel.”) Yet nobody criticized the film for this, which leads Stephen Frears to observe that “plausability is more complex than just getting things right.” They end on an affirmation of the power of fiction: “You can only tell the truth by lying.” Amen.

The Queen. Stephen Frears, 2006. *****

Together with two dozen of our esteemed colleagues, we spent the afternoon voting for the annual New York Film Critics Online awards. Stephen Frears’ The Queen was a clear favorite, winning no less than five categories: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, as well as acting awards for Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen. Guillermo del Toro’s fable Pan’s Labyrinth won for Best Foreign Film, and the climate change shocker An Inconvenient Truth was awarded Best Documentary. See the complete list of winners.

[tags]nyfo, film, awards, jurgen, marcy, nyc, the queen, helen mirren, documentary, pan’s labyrinth, guillermo del toro, al gore, michael sheen, stephen frears[/tags]

You can watch good movies again and again, but only great movies get better every time. Helen Mirren is getting all the press for her outstanding performance as QEII, but the writing is what made that performance possible. Peter Morgan’s screenplay manages to be at once historically specific and archetypal, using a unique week in English history to illustrate eternal truths about the balancing of power, innovation, and tradition, and he does it all with heartbreaking candor and genuine British wit. The Queen is superbly structured, doesn’t waste a second, and continues to reveal new layers of brilliance every time. I’m still trying to rewatch Shortbus, INLAND EMPIRE, Volver, and Pan’s Labyrinth before we vote for our awards next weekend, but this is one of my absolute favorite movies of the year.

The Queen. Stephen Frears, 2006. *****

• Previously on muckworld
  
• On muckworld, again
  
• On About.com

[tags]5 stars, aristocracy, england, film, helen mirren, stephen frears, peter morgan[/tags]

In the onrush of the ever-churning hype machine, never-ending blogs, and the constant RSS-fuelled river of news, it’s hard to hold on to two or three related thoughts for much longer than it takes to hit post. To counteract the continuing blurbification of the culture at large and my head in particular, here are a few items that deserve a little more than whatever has become of Warhol’s 15 minutes.

Must-See Movies, Out Now

• Shortbus. Finally, in what has been a lackluster year at best, there are some serious contenders for film of the year. John Cameron Mitchell’s paean to post-9/11 New York is still very much in the running. Detractors like to point out the ramshackle filmmaking, but I think it adds to the film’s enormous charm. If the characters can be generous enough to share their lovers freely, shouldn’t we forgive when Mitchell crosses the line once or twice?
• The Queen. A more perfect piece of filmmaking than Shortbus, and only slightly less daring. It’s only a matter of time before I go see my girlfriend Lilibet again.

Must-See Movies, Coming Soon

• Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro’s masterful fairy tale won’t be out until after Christmas, but this is one film you should feel free to get excited about early.
• The Host. Ditto for Bong Joon-ho’s riveting marriage of monster movie and art house film. Scheduled for release in January, and I’ll be first in line to see it again.
• Woman on the Beach. No distributor, no release date, but I keep thinking about the sly wit and seemingly accidental elegance of this movie.
• Volver. Almodovar’s latest opens Friday, and I’ll leave the superlatives to Marcy.
• INLAND EMPIRE. My ankle’s not swollen any more, but Lynch still has a hold on my imagination. He’s releasing the film himself so perhaps an uncut version will arrive sometime soon.

Books
Been reading top-secret drafts of friends’ novels and J. Robert Lennon’s wildly amusing Happyland as serialized in Harper’s. I’m also halfway through Klaus Kinski’s amazing autobiography, Ich Brauche Liebe. (Of course it’s outrageous. More on this soon.) I keep encountering variations of ideas Daniel Pinchbeck presents in 2012, many of which I first heard about from Danielo at Tikal . Here’s a video of Daniel with Douglas Rushkoff. Like the snake that bites its own tail, this gets us right back to accelerating culture, Shortbus, and the permeability of a shrinking world.

Finally, a week after the paperback release, no round-up can be complete with another plug for Marcy’s stellar debut Twins. If you missed her reading at In the Flesh, I’ve got the video.

[tags]roundup, shortbus, film, coming soon, books, tikal, twins, 2012, pinchbeck, bong joon-ho, pedro almodovar, david lynch, stephen frears, john cameron mitchell, guillermo del toro, klaus kinski, j robert lennon[/tags]

I regret not having written my Shortbus review yet since I was going to announce it as the best movie of the year–but upon seeing The Queen a second time today, among a sold-out senior crowd and a serious technical breakdown at the awful, awful theaters on Third Avenue, I’m not so sure any more. Once again, I ended up crying for HM Helen Mirren and realized just how well written and conceived a film The Queen really is. “Brilliant, my dear.” — “Quite.” Upgraded to five stars.

The Queen. Stephen Frears, 2006. *****
[tags]helen mirren, stephen frears, bestof, 5 stars, england, aristocracy, nyc, uppereastside, seniors, technical difficulties[/tags]

• Earlier
• About.com
• Rotten Tomatoes

Stephen Frears’ film follows the Royal Family and the recently-elected Tony Blair during the days after Princess Di’s death. A very compelling mixture of taking the piss (James Cromwell as Prince Philip is a riot) and touching investigation into the burden of royalty. Helen Mirren’s performance as Elizabeth II is extraordinary because it’s not impersonation. She gets plenty of laughs in, but in the end, you’ll be tempted to cry for her. This is everything Marie Antoinette failed at–there’s real insight about the nature of aristocracy, its problems and possible uses in an age of media saturation, and so forth. Mirren, Frears, Cromwell and writer Peter Morgan were all very funny and very smart at the Q&A. About review etc forthcoming.

The Queen. Stephen Frears, 2006. ****

[tags]stephen frears, helen mirren, film, 4 stars, aristocracy, england, princess di, nyff[/tags]