Movies

I. Introduction
Everyone who is already aware of what was happening in the world was, in one way or another, affected by one of the tragic events that happened in the British royal family in the modern era, and that is the death of Princess Diana. Princess Diana was often the centre of publicity and news and magazine articles because of how she lived her life during and after her marriage with Prince Charles. But besides Prince Charles, there is one individual who is also affected by this crisis, not just because of her emotional attachment (or lack of) to Princess Diana, but because Princess Dianas death was a microcosm of what Queen Elizabeth II described as a possible changing of values and changing of times to which the current royalty may not be well equipped enough to continue to rule with wisdom and authority. This event challenged the Queen and impacted her as hard as it impacted any other individual. The movie The Queen is testament not to how the queen has effectively ruled in the past, but more importantly, how the queen handled and survived this particular crisis that threatened to damage not just their family but the royal crown as well. This is a movie that focused on emotional weaknesses, emotional strengths and how the true leader shows strength in character by being able to choose, at the end of the day, which between the two will be more superior over the other. The movie The Queen is geared at compelling the audience towards a particular set of emotions and to affect their own perspective and thinking regarding and involving Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana, especially during the time of Dianas death. The creators of this film used the combination of the genres of melodrama and docudrama to create its portrait of Queen Elizabeth and Diana, and eventually achieve their goal of affecting or creating a particular attitude or mind set towards these two celebrities. The aspects involved in film production and consistent to the two genres used strengthened and solidified allowed for the goals and the objectives of the film to be achieved by acting as means and instruments for this specified, particular end.

II. Discussion
The creators of the film, including the director and the producers are all looking for a certain impact that the film The Queen will have on the audience particularly an impact on how the people will view Queen and Princess Diana after impacting the feelings, thoughts and ideas of the people regarding these two peoples as a result of the portrait that the film created of the two individuals. The creators believe that this impact will be realized through the combination of two genres - the melodrama and the docudrama. Because of this, analysis is inclined to investigate what melodramas are and how it impacts the audience, the same consideration in the analysis of docudrama, separately.
Through the analysis of these concepts and aspect, the investigation regarding The Queens use of the combination of the melodrama and the docudrama will understand better what the film is trying to achieve, what it achieved, and what is failed to do, in some aspects. The creator used the combination of melodrama and docudrama to create its own version of the portrait of Queen Elizabeth and Diana. The question here is how the combination was made as reflected in the film, what were the reasons for the use of such combinations of genres, and based on the scenes, how the combination of docudrama and melodrama in the end created the portrait of Queen Elizabeth and if the creators intentions, purposes and expectations were realized, achieved or even surpassed, or if the outcome created a whole new different output and how the creators and the audience reacted to it.

The portrait that was created of Queen Elizabeth II base on the film was that of a steadfast matriarch in the beginning. As the movie goes on, this stoicism appeared to be something that is not fake, but rather, just one layer of the multifaceted individual who was also presented as an individual who has the capacity to absorb and embrace change, although in a something obstinate and difficult manner. The queen, as a leader, was a person who holds strongly to tradition, as how she defended her position with Charles and with Tony Blair. But this leader was also an individual of wisdom who knows the merit of change when she sees it. In this story, the process of change was made more compelling because of the fact that change was influenced not just by political situations but personal conditions as well that appealed to the emotions of the monarch.

As a leader, the film created the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as someone who maybe critical of her Prime Minister, but is nonetheless, capable of listening and adhering to the advice, even when the queen hinted in the later part of the movie that it was she who should be advising him (Blair, the PM). As a family member, Queen Elizabeth II was painted as an individual who seeks the counsel of her own family, like how she often talks about the issue with her husband and with her mother. She also displays her grandmotherly love and compassion, not just verbally through her words addressing the public in a televised statement, but also when she acted based on the belief that it was for the good of the two young princes. All of this contributes to the creation of a portrait of an individual (Queen Elizabeth) that is complex and strong-willed, traditional and open to change, a woman who is ready to make sacrifices, whatever it maybe and in however form it may take.

More importantly, this portrait allows the people to understand and see Queen Elizabeth II as a woman who is also vulnerable to the emotional struggle that any other individual can experience - being locked in a tug of war between two powerful emotional forces, or being cast as a villain for acting upon traditions, etc. In the end, Mirren and Frears excellent job in acting and filmmaking allowed the people to see Queen Elizabeth II in a somewhat different light and in a different angle. Like Mirrens portrait of Elizabeth I, this film reveals the human side of Elizabeth II and probably did more for the queens public image than any public relations wizard (Ford, Mitchell, 2009, p. 297).
The movie also painted the image of Princess Diana that many people are familiar with (and it could have been this reason why this was the image the movie painted and not a deviation from popular image of the Princess of Wales). Through the real life footages featuring Diana, the viewers, before tackling the change in personality that Queen Elizabeth II will display midway and at the end of the movie, first needs to be reminded about the good qualities of Princess Diana, as a tribute to her kindness, as being faithful to what is true, and also as a contrast that will be used as background so that the characteristics of the Queen Elizabeth is strongly manifested, magnified and enhanced. In the movie, Diana was portrayed as the good girl who deserves the honour and respect people want to bestow on her upon her death. She had many appealing qualities including an instinctive capacity to sense suffering and pain and a vocation to reach out towards the victim (Bousfield, Toffoli, 2002, p. 179).

Many historians wrote about Dianas emotional conflict and problems rather lightly. For Lady Diana, living in the royal goldfish bowl is a new and at times exasperating experience (Fryer, Bousfield, Toffoli, 1983, p. 74). But in the end, as the movie reflects, it was not as light as that. The emotional problems were not as simple as something that is merely exasperating at times because as Dianas life shows (and as the movie reveals). These emotional problems have been central in her late mature life, during and after her failed marriage with Prince Charles. While the death was an accident, it was the mounting pressure coming from emotional problems that pushed Diana to consistently run away - away from the spotlight, away from criticisms, away from traditional practices she is expected to obey and follow, away from what the society is dictating her, away from a life that seemed to be getting more and more burdensome and less and less happy and fulfilling for her.

A. Melodrama and docudrama
The Queen is a movie that is loaded with drama. Melodrama and docudrama are two genres that influenced the creation of this movie. The analysis of how the characters of Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II is analysed and discussed in consideration to how melodrama and docudrama affected the presentation and creation of the movie and how it affected the creation and presentation of the character portrait of these two women.

i. The mix of docudrama and melodrama - It was a seamless combination of docudrama and melodrama that both were indistinct and unnoticeable as a separate genre since both effectively complimented one another which resulted to the creation of a movie well done and portrayal of female roles (Diana and Queen Elizabeth II) that are evocative, compelling and powerful. The movie took the best of melodrama and the best of docudrama and put the two things together. The manner by which the fusion was undertaken is testament to the excellent standard, taste, artistry and mastery of the director who successfully constructed the movie from these two basic parts (melodrama and docudrama). From the docudrama, what it took was the...while from melodrama what it took was...The combination of the two is reflected in how the realistic footages strengthened the emotional feelings being addressed in a movie that was strongly defended as a work of fiction despite being closely similar and possible an event that happened involving the queen and her family immediately after Dianas death.

a. Melodrama and the portrayal of the Queen Elizabeth II and Dianas portraits as individuals - Melodrama has characteristics that are evident in the movie The Queen. However, to be able to understand that, it is important to understand the essence of melodrama first. As the name indicates, melodrama is affected by melodies or music that affects the audience side by side the drama that the audience sees. In the movie The Queen, melodrama aspects and characteristics are noticeable particularly in scenes wherein the actions being seen and witnessed by the audience is enhanced by the use of music. Another important characteristic of the melodrama is the tackling of intense emotional themes. These emotional themes help shape the character of the actor or actress. For example, the death of Princess Diana is a strong emotional theme that can be used for a melodrama, considering how strongly the people were affected emotionally because of this event (Lebecht, 2001, p. 424). Dianas death had opened a floodgate of emotions (Lebecht, 2001, p. 424).

This is very important in the movie The Queen. In the movie, there are intense emotional problems that both Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth have to address. In the end, having to face these emotional problems helped define the character that they have become and help explain why they were who they have become at the storys end. Examples of the intense emotional problems and conflicts that they have to face include the central conflict in the story, the death of Princess Diana and how Queen Elizabeth II was torn between emotion and tradition that caused her earlier lack of direction on how to react to the situation, both as a queen and as a human being. Queen Elizabeth IIs life and her transformation (Morency, 2009, p. 25), was portrayed in the story as a life that is emotionally charged because of the things that she has to bear and be responsible for. Her relationship with her family, her priorities, her political responsibilities are all part of the very emotional time in her life captured by the movie.

As for Princess Diana, what was presented in the movie is the aspect of her life which is as emotionally charged - her life outside of the royal family, her own personal emotional conflicts, how she has to deal with the pressure that went with her social status, etc. These provided the elements of high emotional intensity that is the characteristic of melodramatic genre. Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth IIs lives were central in the film. The film focused, in particular, on the emotional struggle that both women have to face. This emotional struggle was a result of the pressure created by the social status that they were in, as a queen and as a princess.

This was the perfect formula for melodrama. The manner by which it was executed reflects the ability of the director to apply just enough subtle and sublime melodrama to make the story emotional inside the context of the lives of the two lead women characters, but at the same time, not hard sell the concept of drama and not make the problems affecting the lives of the people in the story pass and predictable. Melodrama also is not just about the emotions of the characters in the story. It is also about the emotions of the audience, emotions that are there and was something that the director wants to tap into, or emotions that would be created as a result of the viewing experience. Melodrama is about appealing to the heightened emotions that the creators of the film believe the audience possess or have inside them.

Years after the death of Princess Diana and how Queen Elizabeth II reacted to it (especially in the first couple of days), it was evident that this was a social historical event that has impacted the public emotionally. Creating a film such as this and reminding the people how Princess Diana was before she died, how the queen would have thought and reacted to all of the issues surrounding Diana and her relationship with the Royal Family is an emotionally charged topic that can rouse intense emotions from viewers, characterizing melodrama. Melodrama is about tackling a particular crisis that focuses on emotional impact and emotional reactions to such crisis, both by the characters and by the audience. The story is real life and not just made up since in fictional stories the emotional impact may not be as high since the audience have to related in a vague way, unlike in real life stories wherein real people are involved and it is easier to sympathize, as was the case of mourners in the death of any popular celebrity from John Lennon to Michael Jackson.

This is another important aspect of melodrama. In melodrama, characters presented in the movie normally follow the hero or heroine role from beginning to the end of the story and sticks with it. Vis--vis, the villain role is retained by the character from beginning to end. In the movie The Queen, it appears that Princess Diana managed to follow this pattern, appearing as the pressured victim of the social system and condition she is bound and trapped until her death, but the character Queen Elizabeth II did not, since there is a noticeable shift in tone. In the beginning, the queen appeared to be cold, stoic and uncaring, the perfect character for the villain to put against Princess Diana. But it is noticeable that at the end and as Princess Dianas character was slowly removed from the picture because of her death, Queen Elizabeth became the focus and the people noticed the transformation, which contributes to how Queen Elizabeth II is perceived by some people after watching the movie, especially those whose opinion about her changed in lieu of how they were emotionally affected by a melodrama film like The Queen.

Offhand, the term melodrama is often associated with movies with too much drama in it that it is not realistic anymore. The effort to appeal to the emotions start to appear crude, hard sell and plain cheap at some extent that it becomes stupid and hilarious instead of being seriously dramatic usually because of the failure of the director, the writers and the actors. The Queen, a multi awarded movie commended because of the excellent acting of Helen Mirren and because of the excellent directing job by Steven Frears, fits the traditional idea of melodrama. It applies just enough effort to stimulate emotional drama. Queen Elizabeth II hardly ever cried. When she did for a short time while stranded by the river with a broken jeep, she cried looking away, the camera shooting from behind her, focusing the extreme side and back of her head. This was the only indication she was crying was the slight bobbing of her head to indicate she was sobbing. Other aspects of melodrama that is present in The Queen include character development and the interaction of characters. All of these things contribute to the melodrama aspect of the story, meshed effectively with the use of parts and aspects of docudrama.

The movie The Queen is created not just for the consumption of British audience since non-British individuals were also affected by the death of Princess Diana and were also affected by how Queen Elizabeth acted during this crisis and was therefore curious and deserving to know what could have possibly happened outside the consciousness or knowledge of the people that could have contributed to how the idea towards the queen was changed and re-shaped had this information was made known. Because of that, the melodrama genre is a usable and practical approach. As professionals noted, using the style of melodrama allows the creator to make the film something that can be appreciated by anyone from different countries and cultures, considering the idea that melodrama is becoming a formula with universal appeal. Melodrama in the late twentieth century increasingly revealed its potential for universality (Hesmondhalgh, 2007, p. 223). With this, the film was not restricted by the limitations other genres would have imposed to the film and allowed the film to be enjoyed by other people, as well who are just as interested to know and have insider glimpse on what really happened inside Buckingham Palace to explain why things turned out as they did during and after the death of Princess Diana.

b. Docudrama and the portrayal of the Queen Elizabeth II and Dianas portraits as individuals - Docudrama is something that refers to a particular style of presentation of a movie and television show and program. In this particular genre and style, the noticeable characteristic is that the story is actually lifted from a historical event. An essential characteristic of the docudrama is the removal of the own interpretation, idea and commentary of the creator in the final output, in a sense telling the story as it happened although with artistic creativity to the process of storytelling. An essential part of the docudrama storytelling is that when available, real actual footages are used to give the television show or movie a closer connectivity to the historical or real life event that it is trying to re-tell.
In the movie The Queen, the aspect of docudrama is very prevalent, particularly in the retelling of the story of Princess Diana with focus on the details of her mature, post-divorce life, just before she died in a horrible car crash. It was noticeable that the movie did not actually have an actress re-enact Princess Dianas life (besides the one time when Diana was leaving a hotel and entering a car, and the actress face was not seen), and Frears actually opted to use footages of Princess Diana. Through this, what was presented was Princess Dianas actual emotions, and the opinion and feelings of the audience after watching the movie is affected by images of the real Princess Diana. Docudrama is a style that has become successful through the years because people or audience appreciates the idea that what they are seeing is something real, something that happened to real people and not just a mere imagination of a writer and director. This allows them to sympathize and giving them the feeling that their feeling of sympathy is legitimized by the fact that what they are sympathizing to is something real and something that really happened to real people.

The director of the movie tried to create a portrait of Princess Diana through the use of aspects of docudrama to give it the feeling of being real and for the movie to exude genuine feelings and emotions with regards to the life of Princess Diana. Without a doubt, the docudrama style of using actual footages to depict the life of Princess Diana has a profound effect in how the movie is perceived and how Princess Diana as a character in the movie is perceived and embraced by the audience. As for the portrayal of Queen Elizabeth IIs life particularly during the time of Princess Dianas death, the genre of docudrama is hardly evident in that aspect, considering the fact that the director and writer merely imagined how the queen would and have reacted, although how the writer and the director assumed the actions are based on information regarding what really happened during that time and in consideration to information provided by credible sources that contributed to the building of the pieces regarding the queens actions.

The creator of the movie is looking at impacting the perspectives and beliefs of the people, and resorting to adding aspects of docudrama to the approach guarantees not just success but the ability of the film to attract as many viewers. The film wants to reach as many people in the hope that many people will get the chance to revisit the scenes and events surrounding the death of Princess Diana, particularly how the Queen reacted to it. The emotional turmoil that the queen was put under and something that the public may not know in the past and has impacted and affected their perspective about the queen in lieu with how she reacted to Princess Dianas death, making the film important and making the move towards using aspects of docudrama important in the success when it comes to achieving the goals and objectives of the film (Rosenthal, 1999, p. 6). Docudramas that are based on sensational headlines...deliver huge audience (Rosenthal, 1999, p. 6).

While the creators of the move The Queen admitted that the work was, at best, an assumption of what happened regarding the reaction of Queen Elizabeth II and the death of Princess Diana, there are scenes and parts in the movie that ring true to what actually happened in real life. For example, it was well documented, written and talked about inside and outside Britain about how the initial reaction of Queen Elizabeth II and the monarchy to Dianas death was frowned upon. This particular truth was used as an important foothold that allowed the story to move in the direction that it was going for, with regards to developing and exposing the personality of Queen Elizabeth and the factors that shaped this personality particularly during the time of Dianas death. The reaction of the monarchy to Dianas death certainly brought criticism of their behaviour, though the depth of the crisis should not be overstated (Ward, 2004, p. 35). This hold in aspects of truth strengthens the facet of the film being partly docudrama because the dramatic aspects of the story are strongly supported by real life events such as this.

B. Analysis and interpretation of the relevant meaning-making elements
The meaning-making elements found in the film assist the observer in being able to understand through analysis and interpretation what the film is trying to convey, what sets of emotion it is trying to share or impart to the audience and how it attempts to impact the audience through the visual cues present in the film, including the analysis of cinematography, costume and lighting as well as website design and advertising photography.

i. Cinematography - The cinematography was executed with impeccable style and taste. It focused on various transitions - transition from inside offices to the wilderness, from the small nooks of the residence of the queen where she ponders in private with her emotions, to the vast, open space areas crowded with people who came to mourn for the dead princess. Shooting and framing styles adhered to traditional ways and no innovative or new style in shooting and framing was seen. This focused on simplicity that made the film look more poignant and allowed the people to more easily absorb the emotional struggle and turmoil that was unfolding inside it from the beginning. The director played with tight close ups, mid shots, panning and wide shots to give the image of the queen different aspects of how big and how small she is in relation to what surrounds her, not just physically but emotionally as well.

ii. Costume - Costume design plays an important role in character development and is indicative of character and personality and how this shifts as the story progresses. This case is particularly true with the presentation of Queen Elizabeth II, but not so much in the case of Princess Diana. This is because in the case of Princess Diana, the director has opted to make do with what is available from news footages, limiting the control over costume and costume design. For Queen Elizabeth II, costume design was utilized in such a way that it played an important role in telling the audience the character, mood and personality of the queen in every particular scene. It is noticeable how the queen acts more like a mother or grandmother when inside the privacy of her room and wearing her sleeping robes. The queen is also bereft of her royal status when she is clad in her typical outdoor outfit when going for a trip in the woods. This outfit also allows the character to act like an ordinary individual, playing with her dogs. This gives the audience a glimpse of her past as a mechanic, and even allowing herself to cry because of the feeling of sadness over what happened to Diana.
When she is wearing her office attire, she looks powerful, dominant and in control, as the queen should be. What is most noticeable is the time wherein after the queen have accepted the request of Tony Blair for the Royal Family to pay their respects to Princess Diana, the queen that is often dressed in attired of different colours arrived wearing black, which strengthened the visual cue for the audience and allowed the audience, even without words, to feel that the queen has indeed shared the mourning for the death of the princess. All of these are proof of how costume and costume design contributes to the shaping of the character and personality of Queen Elizabeth II in the movie.

iii. Lighting - Lighting was subdued all throughout the movie. This may have something to do with either the impending mood in the end or simply because of the British weather, which is often grey and damp and very seldom sunny. Add to the fact that many of the scenes were shot inside offices, which subdued bright colours even more. The subdued lighting enhanced the personality and character of Queen Elizabeth, as if to mean that she is always standing inside a particular shadow and does not fully show her true self to the public. This was consistent to the tradition and beliefs that Queen Elizabeth II believed in. The lighting enhanced the feeling of inner turmoil, sadness and emotional struggle that the characters have to bear throughout the story.

iv. Website design and Advertising photography - The website design and advertising photography was done in excellent classic fashion. True to the goal of focusing on how Queen Elizabeth II reacted and changed during a particular life crisis, the design and photography used to market the film was regal as it was simple, with focus on one side of the face of Queen Elizabeth, as if to connote that the public is only aware of one facet of the queen, or to suggest that the movie is set to unmask and reveal the other part of the queen to the public previously unknown to the people, or maybe the goal is both. Photography and design are crisp, clear, and minimal, with very little loud colors and utilizing intensely the impact of white and gray broken by the redness of the lips and the crystal blue eyes, denoting power in the face of the character. The photography and design offered no pretensions or promise of suspense, and was just simple and direct, including the typography and text style for the marketing collaterals.

v. Music - Music has a significant role in creating and strengthening impact and effect of visual cues and embedding messages to the consciousness of the individual. In the early part of the film, it is noticeable how the films use of music is minimal. The significant part assisted by the use of music is when the time music provided the sound during the collage of the many different footages featuring Diana and Dianas life as she was being hounded by paparazzi at the height of her affair with Dodi Al Fayed, during the time she was consistently reminding the people of how she is already detached with the Royal Family, and near and during the time of her death. The significance of music and use of music appeared close to the end, when an operatic music was used to enhance the mood during burial of Princess Diana.

vi. Framing Control and capture - The framing of the scenes of the movie was all about capture and control of emotions, character and personality. The framing often features close up or mid shot of the queen, denoting power and importance especially during tight shots featuring the queen from the waist up, occupying nearly half of the frame. Framing was also responsible for indicating the concept of privacy among the royalties. When the time the queen was sobbing and crying, it was shot from behind the queen, only showing the back of her head and the only indication she was crying was when her shoulders shook a bit. The framing techniques applied by the director allowed the movie to display the many different emotions of the queen. She was, at one point in the story, happy, sad angry, pondering and uncertain, harbouring the feeling of indignation and being upset, focused and in control, and a queen, a mother and a human being.

The tight close up shots made her to appear as if she was always looking at her image in the mirror, always trying to ponder something, weigh something that is on her mind, quietly share a part of her soul with the audience that is looking inside her, cuing to the emotional stock without words, which is more powerful and more compelling. Framing was about focusing in on capturing human emotions, particularly the human emotions of Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth. The footages selected for the film has already done that for the movie, while for Queen Elizabeth, the director used framing techniques to send this message across. For Princess Diana, there are images involving wide landscape shot to evoke isolation, the big world around her and how some of this big world is something that she is escaping from, and how the concept of grandness is tied to these shots. There are also tight shots focused on capturing strong human emotion from the individual, similar to that of Queen Elizabeth. Overall, framing is about human emotion, adding or building up what the film wants the audience to thinkfeel of the two individuals and the personal characteristics that they both possess (i.e. ability to love, to be hurt, to be sad, to be stoic or the inability for such action, etc).
vii. Symbolic mise-en-scene - There are several symbolic mise-en-scene. However, there are selected few that evokes strong power, emotional turmoil and suggests the transition towards change as was anticipated or hoped for by the audience. One of the powerful and symbolic mise-en-scene in the film was found during the time the queen was sitting atop her broken jeep. This scene was loaded with symbolisms from different aspects and parts of the scene. The broken jeep represented old royalty tradition and protocol to which she was riding all along and that at some point it will experience difficulty. A former mechanic, the queen knew how to fix it but resorted to asking for assistance instead, because it was protocol. The same was the case for her current dilemma because she was already aware of the problem and what needs to be done, but at that time she still continues to let tradition and protocol dictate the outcome of events even when she knows that it does not seem right and fitting anymore. Being stuck in the problem eventually left her isolated and alone, like how she was alone atop that jeep by the river.

When she stopped to looked around, she appreciated the beauty she saw, and that was symbolic of how she seemed to have failed to see the beautiful things around her that can make her happy. This realization, all the more, made her sad. Another symbolic mise-en-scene was found during the beginning. The Queen was clad in her royal attire. Despite every trapping that symbolized her being a queen, she remains distant and uninvolved in the process of choosing the next prime minister for the country. Despite her queenly authority and power, there are things that her power cannot reach. There are many other symbolic mise-en-scene in the movie, strengthened and enforced by how the different aspects (costume, lighting, props, actors, etc) are placed in a particular scene to achieve that effect.
viii. Point of view - The movie featured a third person point of view, wherein the omniscient observer was able to tell and share to the audience what the different characters feel about the issue, allowing the audience to be able to see what the individual does not allow other fellow characters in the story to see for particular reasons, and thus, enabling the audience to have an unbiased opinion of the situation after being presented by information and perspectives coming from different sides and sources.

Queen Elizabeth has her own opinion regarding the crisis, and so does Tony Blair and Prince Charles, and even Queen Elizabeth IIs mother. The point of view is important because it is important to tell the audience that the story was not told from a particular vantage point- not through the perspectives of the royals, not through the perspective of an outside observer with limited access to insights, and not through the perspective of a mere servant, but through an omniscient point of view that allows the entire story to be seen independently and presented without bias or favour to one party or individual. This is common in melodrama although not the case often in docudrama. In docudrama, the case often is that one of the individuals who are important to the event provides the details and narrates what happened and how it happened based on his memory of that particular event. In this story, no one who was involved in the story was allowed to tell the story based on their own perspective and was all relegated to mere participants of a third person omniscient perspective film.

III. Conclusion
What is the importance of bringing back such a painful experience and reliving it all over again For those who witnessed the death of Princess Diana, it was such a painful and emotional experience. Sometimes, events like this should be presented again to the audience for an important reason, and that is to allow the audience to be able to look at the story with less emotion and more objectivity, especially if they think that they have judged the entire event emotionally and not with rational objectivity. The story allows the audience to take another look at the individual whom many people believe is the main antagonist during the Princess Diana crisis. Through the movie, the audience is allowed to rectify particular beliefs which may not be correct beliefs that are severely affected by emotions alone considering how emotionally charged Princess Dianas death was.

This was one of the goals of the movie. With its success, it appears that it outdid itself. Observers believe that more than revisiting the feelings for the Queen especially how the queen acted during Princess Dianas death, this film was also important in reviving the interest of the people in looking back at important historical aspects of UKs storied history. Steven Frears film The Queen, which features an Oscar-winning performance from Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, has re-awakened interest in recent British history (Helen Websters Quotations, 2008, p. 25). What the paper reflects is that the creator was trying to convey a particular message to the audience. It may be a political or emotional message or both. The director noticeably approached filmmaking in this project by exploring the possibilities that melodrama and docudrama combined can offer, especially since there are aspects in melodrama and in docudrama separately that can be key in the success of the film. For example, the value and impact of real life drama is important why viewers patronize docudramas and why docudramas become popular, which makes this genre and ideal style to use if the goal is to reach many people and appeal to as many people as much as possible. Considering the breadth and depth of the story of Princess Dianas death and how the queen and the monarchy reacted to such matter was emotionally charged that it made for good film material especially when approached using certain strong aspects of docudrama. Films based on real life events, such as...the impact on Queen Elizabeth II of Princess Dianas death in The Queen capitalize on or exploit the feelings and excitement the original event aroused in order to attract large audience (Campbell, Huxman, 2008, p. 82).

In the end, both Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana are both heroines because of what they were able to do despite the restrictions of tradition and pressure from the social practices. For Queen Elizabeth, her yielding to the request to formally mourn the death of a princess was an act that was not just simply an act of humility but more importantly a moment that can drastically re-shape how the people view her, especially after doing what she did in the movie (and in real life), which is considered as an act that humanizes her in the eyes of her people and the world (Santas, 2008, p. 126). As for Princess Diana, she was a royal nonetheless because of how she worked for those who are in need, earning the approval and sympathy of the people. In the end both were victors rising from a traditional system that can be choking if the individual does not have the strength in character, and that was what Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II showed in the film.