ELIZABETH: A PORTRAIT IN PARTS
***
Director: Roger Michell
Principal cast:
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Tony Blair
Lee Kuan Yew
Dawn French
Country: UK
Classification: M
Runtime: 89 mins.
Australian release date: 21 April 2022.
Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts, directed by Roger Michell, is a documentary depicting the life of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee in this the year of her 96th birthday and who is history’s longest serving female head of state. Michell has selected rare footage from the Royal Archives plus material from broadcasters around the world and compiled it under loose, some would say random, chapter headings such as Let Me Entertain You, Ma’am, Heroes, Britannia, Horribilis, In the Saddle and Our House. We are privy to some very personal material that covers the Queen’s life as a child through to the present day. The editor, Joanna Crickmay (who also worked with Michell on Tea with the Dames), has done a splendid job of cutting these comprehensive moving images (including some hilarious ones involving HRH’s stand-ins) into a fast-paced distillation of the Queen’s long years of duty to her people, all without narration or any contemporary interviews.
Naturally, there are many famous faces included and some footage will be familiar, but most of it comes across as new, accompanied by lots of funny remarks. For example, when Dawn French explains on a talk-show that when she met the Queen she was determined not to curtsy, but when Her Majesty arrived at her place in the queue of the great and good, she was so overwhelmed she automatically genuflected deeply. She also reveals how everyone seems to robotically burst out laughing in the Queen’s presence, regardless of what the monarch has said. More seriously, Lee Kuan Yew, who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, sums up Her Royal Highness’ role succinctly when he says she is so good at her job because she is adept at maintaining “continuity and adapting to change”. When the Queen herself states that you either “enjoy the fiction or you don’t,” you start to tune in to her own rather endearing sense of humour.
Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts uses a lot of contemporary music and one poignant section is set to a version of David Bowie’s Heroes, performed by Moby and Mindy Jones. Tissue alert! In addition to the pop songs and other pre-recorded music, a score by George Fenton (who composed the soundtrack to The Duke) adds texture to the work. Coincidentally, both Michell’s final films are on release here in Australia: his last dramatic feature The Duke and, now, his ultimate documentary Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts, leave a wonderful legacy to the acclaimed filmmaker (he died in September last year). There are those who will undoubtedly take issue with this film because of their republican principles but, as Her Majesty has said, “Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us have a monopoly on wisdom.”
Principal cast:
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Tony Blair
Lee Kuan Yew
Dawn French
Country: UK
Classification: M
Runtime: 89 mins.
Australian release date: 21 April 2022.
Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts, directed by Roger Michell, is a documentary depicting the life of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee in this the year of her 96th birthday and who is history’s longest serving female head of state. Michell has selected rare footage from the Royal Archives plus material from broadcasters around the world and compiled it under loose, some would say random, chapter headings such as Let Me Entertain You, Ma’am, Heroes, Britannia, Horribilis, In the Saddle and Our House. We are privy to some very personal material that covers the Queen’s life as a child through to the present day. The editor, Joanna Crickmay (who also worked with Michell on Tea with the Dames), has done a splendid job of cutting these comprehensive moving images (including some hilarious ones involving HRH’s stand-ins) into a fast-paced distillation of the Queen’s long years of duty to her people, all without narration or any contemporary interviews.
Naturally, there are many famous faces included and some footage will be familiar, but most of it comes across as new, accompanied by lots of funny remarks. For example, when Dawn French explains on a talk-show that when she met the Queen she was determined not to curtsy, but when Her Majesty arrived at her place in the queue of the great and good, she was so overwhelmed she automatically genuflected deeply. She also reveals how everyone seems to robotically burst out laughing in the Queen’s presence, regardless of what the monarch has said. More seriously, Lee Kuan Yew, who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, sums up Her Royal Highness’ role succinctly when he says she is so good at her job because she is adept at maintaining “continuity and adapting to change”. When the Queen herself states that you either “enjoy the fiction or you don’t,” you start to tune in to her own rather endearing sense of humour.
Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts uses a lot of contemporary music and one poignant section is set to a version of David Bowie’s Heroes, performed by Moby and Mindy Jones. Tissue alert! In addition to the pop songs and other pre-recorded music, a score by George Fenton (who composed the soundtrack to The Duke) adds texture to the work. Coincidentally, both Michell’s final films are on release here in Australia: his last dramatic feature The Duke and, now, his ultimate documentary Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts, leave a wonderful legacy to the acclaimed filmmaker (he died in September last year). There are those who will undoubtedly take issue with this film because of their republican principles but, as Her Majesty has said, “Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us have a monopoly on wisdom.”