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| Kristen Stewart in "Spencer" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
The first few minutes of director Pablo Larraín’s new drama, “Spencer,” unfold with very little dialogue. A group of military personnel arrives at Queen Elizabeth’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk and do a safety inspection. Upon finding that all’s clear, the servants and cooks enter the property with a similar military precision. This establishes a portrait of how everything must go according to plan as the Royal Family begins their arrival. However, one person is late: Princess Diana.
Not much later, there’s an overhead shot as her car pulls into the front courtyard, skirting around a section that looks like the crosshairs of a rifle. What she anticipates is that she’ll be in just about everyone’s crosshairs for the next few days as she spends time with the rest of the Royal Family. What happens during all of this results in a tense, emotional, visceral, and psychological view of what we imagine might have occurred during this brief period in Diana’s life.
The story follows a fictionalized account of Christmas weekend in 1991 as Diana (Kristen Stewart) tries to make it through three days of criticisms and deep-rooted traditions.
Stewart gives an astounding performance that hooks you into her character’s anguish. Throughout the film, Stewart displays Diana’s feeling of being an outcast within her family, always looking like she’s in pain as she tries to hold herself up to their standards, but also wanting to free herself from the constraints that such a life imposes on her. The inner pain that Stewart exhibits when playing Diana is to such a degree that we feel it while watching Diana traverse the hallways and watchful eyes of its inhabitants. However, it’s not all despair and uncertainty that Stewart shows in her work. While those moments are powerful, just as powerful are the moments where Diana feels like herself. Between Diana’s interactions with her sons and the castle staff, Stewart shows how comfortable Diana is with people who aren’t judging her actions within the scope of what the rest of the royal family deems suitable. Stewart makes us experience the relief that Diana feels when she can spend time with someone who isn’t explicitly or implicitly judging her, offering a reprieve from the suffocating nervousness that Diana feels. This is a performance that must be seen, one where the performer sinks so far into the roll that they disappear.
With Stewart being an American actress amongst an all-European cast, this helps heighten the sense of disconnect that her character has with others. Whether this was part of the casting decision or not, it works as an extra bit of genius behind the casting.
Among Stewart is a supporting cast where each person plays their part beside her with tremendous success. There’s Jack Farthing as Prince Charles, who exhibits a palpable coldness towards Diana that chills the screen; Sally Hawkins as Maggie, the Royal Dresser who’s a comforting presence as Diana’s confidante; Sean Harris as Darren, the Royal Head Chef who offers a sympathetic ear to Diana when Maggie’s not around; and Timothy Spall as Equerry Major Alistair Gregory, who provides a haunting presence as he watches over the halls of the castle, but soon becomes an ally to Diana and offers her words of support.
The screenplay by Steven Knight offers a haunting view into what those three days in Diana’s life might have been like. Even though most of the story is fictional, everything that happens feels like it could have taken place, such is the attention to detail that Knight provides his characters and setting. With the dialogue between Diana, her family, and the castle staff, Knight provides a deep, psychological study of Diana. Diana is pretty much in every scene, and Knight’s intense focus on her allows the audience to understand what she’s going through and how it’s impacting her mentality.
The cinematography by Claire Mathon offers intense closeups of Diana, giving us the experience of what it feels for her to be under the scrutiny of others. The study of Diana’s character makes closeups like this essential so that we can see everything that passes through her face and eyes. We don’t miss a thing, and neither does the camera.
Another standout factor of Mathon’s lensing is how she captures the interiors of the castle. We have Kubrickian tracking shots between the palatial rooms and throughout the long hallways, and given the nature of what Diana’s experiencing, the way these settings are shown make them feel every bit as claustrophobic as they are spacious.
Part of what makes the apprehension in the film so tremendous is the music. Jonny Greenwood creates one of the most intense scores of the year, one that helps build an unnerving atmosphere. This is especially the case in the Christmas Eve dinner scene, where Diana feels as though she’s being suffocated by the silent criticism of others at the table as Greenwood’s score increases in volume through the duration of the sequence.
Just like what Larraín accomplished in 2016 with “Jackie,” he provides the audience with a chance to look at an iconic figure in a new, dreamlike way. There’s an ethereal nature to how Larraín carries us through the film, setting a tone where reality feels a little distorted, which helps make this movie a unique view of a well-known individual. From the performances to the imagery to the music, we become swept up in what may be the most distinct moviegoing experience that you’ll have this year.
Even though much of this movie is fiction, you’ll still walk out of “Spencer” feeling like you’ve been given a layered view into the mind beneath her crown.
Grade: A
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