Spencer
Okay, I might be alone on this, but I am tired of the whole “Princess Diana narrative.” Like how she was naive and how the monarchy just treated her like crap. (I’m also tired of the whole “Meghan and Harry narrative,” but that’s an explanation for another time.) I just feel like there has been so much media produced about Diana Spencer, though, and about how terrible her life was and stuff and I’m like “ENOUGH!” So, I was happy to see that this was a fictional story about what possibly could have happened. For those who don’t know, it is a story about the royal family celebrating Christmas and concludes on an event that COULD have happened and COULD have changed the course of Diana’s life, maybe.
I went to see this for one reason and one reason alone, Kristen Stewart.
I heard that she is incredible in this part and that she is a shoe in to win a bunch of awards. I have not heard much about her lately, I have this weird feeling that Nicole Kidman is going to swoop in for “Being the Ricardo’s” and take a bunch of her attention, however she was great! I think Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson (The Batman), and Jamie Dornan (Belfast) have done such great jobs in reshaping their careers after their early careers, the Twilight Saga for both Stewart and Pattinson and the Fifty-Shades franchise for Dornan. Anyway, back to Kristen Stewart's portrayal of Diana, I thought it was excellent, granted, I am young-ish so I don’t actually have life memories of Diana. I have, however, watched a weird amount of documentaries about Diana and Charles, and the whole royal family, and have done quite a bit of research so I feel like I know her even though I don’t. Her posture and the way she stood, the way she walked, the way she looked when she looked at things was so much NOT like Kristen Stewart that she will get recognized for that, I’m sure. Her accent! I feel like I talk about accents a lot which means that accents and seeming authentic are very important to me. It was great! If I remember right from all of the “Diana documentaries” I have watched, Diana wasn’t known for being loud or talking a lot, rather she was known for her phrases being well thought out and poignant. From what I know also, she had a soft voice, but a pretty strong accent. Kristen Stewart has a soft voice anyway which lent itself just perfectly to playing Diana. The only thing that might go against her here or shine the light away from her is the fact that Emma Corrin played Diana just great on The Crown as well and that, from what I hear, Elizabeth Debicki is playing her great as well on The Crown season 5.
I suppose that I would be remiss if I did not mention Sally Hawkins as Diana’s dresser.
I love that this movie explores themes of having someone to confide in and how it can make your life better and can give you the courage and strength you need. I thought Sally Hawkins played the part of Diana’s trustey-little sidekick quite well. I guess I should quickly mention Timothy Spall. Y’all know how much of a Harry Potter freak I am so to see Wormtail in something else is just great! I loved the little speech he gave about making a pledge to the crown rather than just a person. I thought that was really impactful.
Not going to lie, I was nervous about this film. I didn’t particularly like Pablo Larrain(the director)’s other big film, Jackie. I thought that film was kind of boring so I was nervous that this film would be too. It might be to someone who doesn’t know about Diana. I hadn't studied and learned about Jackie Kenneddy hence I didn’t care about her hence I didn’t like the film. Both films are quite beautiful, though. If you like beautiful sets, this and Jackie are for you. This was a dark film. And by dark I don’t mean dark talking about the plot. I mean dark as in dimly lit. I understand that it is England, during the winter, but it looked so miserable that I would be unhappy too.
I did not care about the score. It was interesting, don’t get me wrong. I just didn’t love it. I really enjoyed the choir of children singing in the main trailer, it was very “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”-esc. It wasn’t even in the film, though! It really brought the Christmas spirit in for this CHRISTMAS MOVIE! It should have been.
One little knit pick I have about the film as a whole was that I could never decide if this was a film about Diana or a film about the Monarch’s Christmas holiday. Really, that wasn’t too frustrating though. I liked the film a lot, actually! It really affected me and caused me to think about things I want to change in my own life. If you are curious about Kristin Stewart's performance, love Princess Diana, love “The Crown,” or if you just want to see this, see it. It’s a good time.
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