Five years ago the Chilean director Pablo Larrain made the excellent but under seen 'Jackie', a film about Jackie Kennedy in the days immediately following the assassination of her husband Jack. Larrain returns to similar territory with 'Spencer' a film about the late princess Diana (whose maiden name was Spencer in case you forgot) covering Christmas Eve through Boxing Day 1991.
Kristen Stewart has gotten a lot of attention for this role which she should because she is excellent in it. I was a bit skeptical at first when I heard she had been cast, she is an American known for her long brown locks, but she really transforms into Diana here, at times they look so similar it's kind of creepy (much of the trick I think is capturing the very specific hairstyle she had).
This is a portrait of very sad and frustrated woman, and while the movie very effectively evokes time and place it is not over-wedded to the historic particulars. The film even calls itself a 'parable' in its opening moments, Diana gets away with some things here I don't she really could have. The film dramatizes the internal process of Diana coming to some decisions about her life that would result in her ultimate divorce from Charles and break from the royal family, and in time her death.
The actors who play the other royals look sufficiently like them, though the best supporting parts go to the likes of Timothy Spall and Sally Hawkins, whose characters appear to have been created for the screenplay. One aspect of the film I really liked were the young princes and Diana's relationship with her sons, which at times seemed to be all that was keeping her going. ***1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment