Review 623: Spencer

 

Spencer is a lavishly crafted, haunting, historical, psychological drama and a riveting character study fueled by a bravura performance by Kristen Stewart. 

In December 1991, the marriage of Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart) and Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) has long since grown cold. Though rumors of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at the Queen's Sandringham Estate. There's eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. But this year, things will be profoundly different. Spencer is an imagining of what might have happened during those few fateful days.

At its core, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer is a fable from a true tragedy. It is very much a companion piece to Jackie from around 5 years ago. Spencer, like Jackie, is a film about an iconic powerful woman surviving in very difficult circumstances  Jackie works as an introspective look at the titular first lady while Spencer works better as a      Spencer's beautiful screenplay by Steven Knight, humanises Diana in very  It creates empathy for her plight and this pedastal that she was placed upon. 

Pheasents are a prominant motif throughout the film, with a one lying in the middle of the road as the Royals arrive, passed over by a convoy of trucks, with Larraín holding on this grim image, milking it for the suspense he can to create a sense of unease and dread as we fear for the poor creatures life. It feels as if 

A prominent theme in the film seems to be the Weaponisation of food; 

Another central theme of the film is What you need is love: Throughout the fiilm, we get the sense that Diana would rather not be put on this pedistal at all and that she'd be much happier

Female repression and empowerment is another strong theme in the film:

Director Pablo Larraín’s direction is flawless; Scenes are constructed from wide shots and steady pans, lending to great sense of pacing and world building. Through a series of establishing shots, he conveys Sandringham House as a lifeless prison with the nameless Royal guards being the first people we see.  The score by Jonny Greenwood is lovely and haunting and sounds like a string corset going to hell to quote Mark Kermode. The cinematography is beautiful and captures the elegance of the English countryside at Christmas 1991. The production design is exquisite, the costumes are lavish and the effect of the closing sequence is exhilerating.

Kristen Stewart delivers a tortured, mesmirising performance as Princess Diana. Brilliantly conveying her as a multifaceted and complicated woman. She’s been put in a position where her agency and her identity have been taken from her. Diana, like the pheasents the royal family enjoy hunting for sport, has been beaten down for a decade by these people, even after all of her concessions  they haven't eased off on her. She thinks of herself as one of the people - the peoples princess and isn't comfortable being riddled with attension. During her stay at the Sandringham Estate, she initially puts on a brave face but slowly  Stewart beautifully captures the many dimensions to her, the loving mother, the manipulated princess and even 

Jack Fathering  playing Prince Charles. Diana and Charles' marriage is a temultuous one.

Sean Harris  playing Chef Darren McGrady

Timothy Spall is fantastic playing Alistair Gregory, the Queen Mother's enquirey. Alistair sees and hears all, 

Sally Hawkins

4.5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.