‘Elizabeth: A Portrait In Parts’: Visions du Reel Review

Dir: Roger Michell. UK. 2021. 89 mins.

Is there anything left to say on the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II? British television is awash with usual suspects, talking heads documentaries on every branch of the Windsor family tree. The Crown (2016- ) has lifted the veil on the private face of an implacable public institution. The likes of The Queen (2006) and Spencer (2021) have filled in some of the remaining blanks. The late Roger Michell attempts to find a fresh angle on a well-trodden path in Elizabeth: A Portrait In Part (s). Couched in fondness and gentle irreverence, his impressionistic archive footage documentary offers whimsical reflections on a lifetime of duty and service.

It is wide-ranging and affectionate without being entirely uncritical. 

Following its premiere at Visions du Réel, Elizabeth is scheduled for a UK theatrical release via Signature on May 27th with streaming to follow on June 1st. Aiming to capitalise on the UK’s holiday weekend Platinum Jubilee celebrations, it should find a ready audience among nostalgic Royal watchers especially in the comfort of their own homes. 

Roger Michell and editor Joanna Crickmay (who also edited Michell’s Tea With The Dames, 2018) must have viewed a mountain of material to arrive at a compact final film. Unfolding under headings like The Queen’s Speech, In the saddle, Mummy and Horribilis, the film flits from subject to subject like a bee in search of pollen. At the same time, it presents a wistful remembrance of seven decades of Prime Ministers and parades, parties and premieres, portraits painted, garden parties attended, plaques unveiled and trees planted. There are state functions and small talk, endless pomp and protocol. (Her Majesty on first encounter and Ma’am thereafter is the proper form of address if ever required). You can’t help but admire the stamina of a woman who has endured a never-ending merry-go-round of repetitive obligations. 

Michell is drawn to the notion of monarchy as a performance. Early scenes of preparations for a Royal banquet are like dressing a stage or setting a scene. We see film premieres where the line-up may include Marilyn Monroe, Peter O’Toole or Sophia Loren but the Queen always remains the star attraction. Michell sees the Queen as a figure somewhere between an iconic movie star and a fairy tale creation. Images of Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn in the 1950s invite comparisons with Elizabeth, especially costume tests for Roman Holiday in which Hepburn played a princess. The Mona Lisa, Star Trek, Cleopatra (1963) and The Charge Of The Light Brigade (1968) are among the many points of reference that provide juxtapositions to amuse and provoke. Michell has created a film that balances theatricality with informality. The Queen never seems more relaxed or spontaneous than when she is enjoying a day at the races, cheering on her own horse.

Elizabeth is also a portrait of a lost Britain marked by street parties and unquestioning deference. The whole country stops as a mark of respect for King George VI’s funeral and the Silver Jubilee is a cause for community celebrations and bonfires across the land. It is hard to imagine the Platinum Jubilee being so wholeheartedly embraced. 

Elizabeth is threaded through with an eclectic musical soundtrack that stretches from Robbie Williams to George Formby, Stormzy to Gracie Fields and Lennon and McCartney’s brief composition Her Majesty. We hear snippets of remarks made by Tony Blair and Harold Wilson. It is wide-ranging and affectionate without being entirely uncritical. There are passing mentions of Diana’s death, Prince Andrew’s car crash BBC interview, the fire at Windsor Castle, a tearful farewell to Royal yacht Britannia, the transition from Empire to Commonwealth, the many misjudgements and setbacks. Although the Queen is always said to have never granted an interview or publicly shared an opinion, the film does seem to include as much of her own words as have ever been heard before.

The lasting impression from Elizabeth is of a woman who has weathered all storms, remaining a figure of stability as Prime Ministers have come and gone, the world has changed beyond recognition, children have presented their distinctive travails and loyal loved ones have died. In the end, no matter what, the show must go on.