It have little passion for or interest in the Royal Family and their drama. And I struggle to work up much sympathy for powerful rich people who are victims of their own privilege. Yes Spencer is a gorgeous movie with a strong performance at its centre, but as it plays out it feels drawn out overly simple in its explorations. It ends on a note that feels neither earned nor revelatory, just expected.
We are used to seeing Diana Spencer played in popular media (from The Crown to numerous film takes on her life) as the poor little rich girl who got devoured by fame and fortune, power and prestige. We are also used to seeing the ruling House of Windsor as villains who used her for their own purposes and spat her out when she was no longer meeting their needs. I get it and think it's likely not far from the truth. But it just feels done before.
Spencer's take on the tale is to follow the poor princess through (basically) one day, in this case Christmas Day, to get a glimpse behind the palace and just how painful all that service must have been. Diana is losing her mind, not sure of what's real, seeing visions, being tormented by the family she married into and the servants there to serve her. She has one friend who adores her and her children enjoy every moments with her, well except for one where her mental health issues are clearly causing her son some trauma. We see how lovely she treats the servants so we know she's the good one.
The film is brilliant in the way it runs us through the routines of the royal household, the schedules, the militaristic discipline. It is the royal life itself that is destroying her. Even the Queen admits she realizes that she herself is just "currency." We watch as armies of uniforms go through the motions of making everyday life for these people, preparing the meals, dressing them, managing every details. The film's point is well made here as this drones on and on.
And this all happens within a beautifully shot film. Director Larrain knows how to make beautiful movies and here he not only has the sets and dresses which make every scene gorgeous, he has Kristin Stewart looking as lovely and princess-like as the real Diana. He focuses on her almost entirely, and she delivers a wonderful performance of a woman on the edge yet always held back by that noble British stiff upper lip.
But as the film reaches one sort of climax, Diana rips the humungous pearls off from around her neck which dramatically fall down the stairs to symbolize her breaking her chains the whole things feels just so on the nose. I kept waiting for there to be something to make me realize something I hadn't before or to feel something more than I had before. I never got there. The film just expects us to assume such a thing and for me that just wasn't enough.
So as the film which just showed us how regimented her life was ends with her just driving off with the child who will be the future King of England in the passenger seat so she can take him through the KFC drivethru and then sit, unprotected along the Thames looking out at the Tower Bridge while they eat their fried chicken, I had to ask myself what was the point? This is a beautiful film with a great turn by Stewart that doesn't offer a lot under the surface.
Spencer
Starring: Kristin Stewart, Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, Sean Harris, Jack Nielson, Freddy Spry, Jack Farthing, Stella Gonet, Amy Manson
Director: Pablo Larrain
Writer: Steven Knight
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