The Queen

"Our Leaders. Ourselves."

2006 1h 43m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 1,469

DramaHistory

Synopsis

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The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.

“Our Leaders. Ourselves.”

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Cast

Helen Mirren
The Queen
Michael Sheen
Tony Blair
James Cromwell
Prince Philip
Helen McCrory
Cherie Blair
Alex Jennings
Prince Charles
Roger Allam
Robin Janvrin
Sylvia Syms
Queen Mother
Paul Barrett
Trevor Rees-Jones

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stephen Frears
Writers: Jan Fleischer, Temple Clark, Peter Morgan
Languages: German, English, French
Countries: France, Italy, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 8.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, Italy, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

234+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stephen Frears, shot by Affonso Beato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Lucia Zucchetti shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stephen Frears directs. Affonso Beato behind the camera. Alexandre Desplat scores. Lucia Zucchetti cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in France, Italy, United Kingdom. Dialogue in German, English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 8.2× over at the box office.
2Released 20 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, English, French.
4International production across 3 countries: France, Italy, United Kingdom.
5234+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Stephen Frears, shot by Affonso Beato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Lucia Zucchetti shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen and James Cromwell carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Our Leaders. Ourselves.".
11IMDB entry: tt0436697 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 22 themes, including "dying and death", "great britain", "upper class", "loss of loved one".

The technical file

Cinematography: Affonso Beato
Original score: Alexandre Desplat
Editing: Lucia Zucchetti
Production design: Alan MacDonald
Costume design: Consolata Boyle
Makeup / hair: Rebecca Cole
VFX supervisor: Mark Nelmes
Sound: Richard Davey
Stunt coordinator: Elaine Ford
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $123,384,128
Return: 823% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Queen (2006)

Awards

Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Stephen Frears

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-09-03
★ 7/10
I'm not sure if Stephen Frears was really just trying to kick-start the Tony Blair fan club when he made this highly speculative and frankly rather unkind feature about how Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) - and, to an extent, her family - dealt with the aftermath of the death of the divorced Princess of Wales in Paris. Mr Blair (Michael Shannon) has only just been elected and together with his pretty openly hostile (to the monarchy) wife Cherie (Helen McCrory) heads to the palace for his appointment audience. When the tragedy does ensue, the Royal Family are at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire and the remainder of this film - intercut with occassional news actuality - postulates on just how the relationship between the prime minister and his Sovereign might have played out in the face of the growing and totally irrational public outpourings of grief and frustrations following the accident. Mirren and Shannon are both on great form here and even if the former is more of a mimic than an actress with this part, she still imbues enough characterisation for us to accept the plausibility that this might just have been the response of the actual Queen Elizabeth. It's beautifully shot and it was nice to see Sylvia Syms on screen again, albeit briefly and again, rather unsympathetically. I can't help but wonder how much of this has become the gospel in many people's eyes as to just how things did happen back in 1997. Somehow, I very much doubt it - but it's interesting to watch nonetheless.

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