The Queen

On of my favourite things to do when I’m the UK is going to the cinema. I’ve always been a bit of a cinema buff. I just don’t get around doing it very much nowadays though. So when I do get to go the cinema it feels a little bit special, especial if I’m in the UK. I also believe that the chairs are a bit comfier there than here in Sweden. And then there are always the Maltesers…

So on Saturday afternoon, after having walked I don’t know how many miles since Tuesday night, it was time to go the cinema. As always there was a wide range of films to choose from (another reason why I like going the cinema in the UK). The film The Queen had opened up the day before and having heard so much about it I decided to see it. A very good choice. All of us in the audience were totally absorbed by what happened on the screen, even though we knew the whole story. The interaction between HM Queen Elizabeth II and newly elected PM Tony Blair after the death of Princess Diana, and how they reached a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for a display of mourning.

Helen Mirren is magnificent as HM Queen Elisabeth II (Oscar material in my opinion). Michael Sheen as PM Toney Blair does an excellent job and so does James Cromwell as Prince Philip. The dialogue is quite British with that typical dry sense of humour along with some very good one-liners. "Tell him to hang on" - in reference to a phone call from Gordon Brown got the whole theatre cracking up.

The film is of course fiction, but still shows how the world has changed. Especially if you are the Queen. Things aren’t black or white anymore. They are grey and to know what the people expect of you in a new situation is hard.