The Queen

Frances is in town and we went to an Asian restaurant and had good food and good conversation. I really like talking with her because her mannerisms are very sweet. She has a habit (at least with females) to lightly put her hand on your arm when she wants to emphasize a certain point. It’s like a gestural punctuation mark. I think it’s amusing. Since I’m a bit more reserved and unless I have to, I usually prefer to touch people with a meter stick, I guess it’s also refreshing.

Last night we went to watch The Queen, starring Helen Mirren. Who would have thought that a cast of people who are 40+ would be so engaging to watch? In our youth obsessed culture, it’s important to see the gems in people who are not necessary brimming with youth and vitality, but nonetheless simmer with strength and depth. Helen Mirren, who is quite a beauty for her age, brings to the role the proper dignity and royal bearing that the character required.

The movie works because it was a restrained film, the tension runs subtly and builds up both externally to the character as well as internally within the character. You truly see how difficult it is to be a monarch, every small move you make, every decision you carry out has ramifications beyond your control. You are ruler of your subjects but you are also just as much, ruled by your subjects. There is a mixture of heavy resignation as well as graceful acquiescence in the queen, as she confronts and shoulders her burdens.