Why watch the movie "Spencer" about Princess Diana

On December 9, the biographical drama "Spencer" is released in Russia - in our box office, the laconic title acquired an inappropriate addition "The Secret of Princess Diana". The Princess of Wales was played by the radically transformed Kristen Stewart, and the film was directed by Chilean director Pablo Larrain.

His last works ("Lizzie's story"," Jackie "," Ema: Dance of Passion ") are in one way or another devoted to women - their internal problems, self-determination, relationships with people around them.

With the title "This is a fairy tale about a real tragedy," the director seems to warn the audience that the film will not be about the real Diana Spencer. Cinema is more about a collective image that everyone looking at can easily try on.

An unusually deep image of a princess and a sincere game of Stewart

The plot covers just a few days in the life of the Princess of Wales. The royal family decides to spend Christmas at a mansion in Norfolk, Diana's home county. Meanwhile, the princess's marriage to her husband Charles is bursting at the seams. The prince almost openly cheats on his wife with Camilla Parker-Bowles, and the relatives prefer not to notice the suffering of the young woman.

Against the background of what is happening, Diana begins to slowly go crazy with paranoia and loneliness. But these days at the estate will become a turning point in her short and vivid biography.

The image of Lady Dee has been reproduced on the screen many times, including during her lifetime. Recently, Netflix has been the catalyst for new discussions about her: the fourth season of the series "Crown" has affected the marriage of Diana and Charles. Moreover, the authors showed the couple's personal life so frankly that the British Minister of Culture even called on streaming to warn people about the fiction in the show.

The role of the Princess of Wales in the series was beautifully performed by British actress Emma Corrin. But Kristen Stewart doesn't want to compare with her. After all, the former star "Dusk”As if he did not aim to create a biographically accurate portrait. However, at the same time, Diana's features are unmistakably recognizable in her: a characteristic tilt of the head, broken postures and even a voice.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of the general public, Kristen Stewart is often associated with a "wooden" style of play - one who still thinks so, be sure to watch the dramas with the actress "Personal Shopper" and "Still Alice". Only now she has long outgrown "Twilight", like her co-star Robert Pattison. Probably, this is one of the reasons why Stewart managed so well to get used to the image of an informal heroine who does not fit into the surrounding reality.

An honest story about depression and toxic relatives

In her biggest BBC interview, Diana toldPrincess Diana & Martin Bashir Panorama Full Interview / YouTubehow I fought bulimia and depression for many years. She resorted to self-harm: the most famous case of this selfharma there was a deliberate fall from the stairs, and in the film there is even a hint of this incident. In addition, some of her biographers have suggested that the princess was sufferingD. Cohen. Diana: Death of a Goddess from borderline personality disorder.

Be that as it may, Larrain managed to perfectly convey Lady Dee's shaky state of mind. The poor princess drowns in despair and suffers from hallucinations, complains about the life of a pheasant and talks to the ghost of Anne Boleyn.

But with all this, the heroine does not seem crazy at all. And rare episodes of communication with her husband and royal family explain her behavior: after all, from such passive aggression anyone will start acting weird.

Even the faded visual gamut and lack of clear focus accentuate a subjective sense of sadness and detachment. Sometimes you can physically feel how cold it is for Diana in a gilded mansion blown through by drafts. The moments when the heroine spends time with her sons William and Harry are the only islands of comfort in this kingdom of stuffiness and deception.

The final touch to this ominous atmosphere was brought by Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead - the author of the soundtrack. He combined the motives of jazz and classical music in it. And such an eclectic cocktail perfectly conveys Diana's confusion.

Dark Symbolism and Body Horror Aesthetics

Pablo Larrain tells Diana's story in a universal language that every viewer can understand. For example, the princess's pearl necklace serves as an allegory of unfreedom and for a reason resembles a collar. Sewn up curtains take on the same meaning.

"Will they kill me?" - at the very beginning of the film, the princess jokingly asks, meaning whether she will get it for being late for dinner. But for the viewer, this phrase sounds both prophetic and menacing: how can you not recall the popular conspiracy theory that the death of Diana was allegedly set up by the royal family.

Intentionally or not, but in moments of self-torture, the tape enters the territory body horror. While watching Diana forcefully eat the pearls that have fallen into the soup, one would like to recall the extravagant thriller "Swallow", the heroine of which ate inedible objects. The episode, in which Diana wounds herself with wire cutters, will shock the audience expecting to see a regular biopic.

Spencer is a controversial yet undeniably talented film that evokes a sea of ​​emotions. Everyone who is interested in the story of the life and death of Lady Dee should definitely watch it. But cinema also works superbly as a psychological drama about loneliness and will captivate lovers of truly deep films that defy the senses.

Linda Zhuravleva