Damien Dempsey in the uplifting Love Yourself Today
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Kristen Stewart is superb as Diana Spencer
Áine O'Connor
Spencer Four stars In cinemas now; Cert 12A
The word most commonly used to describe Diana Spencer’s 1981 wedding to Prince Charles, was “fairytale”. The word that best describes Pablo Larraín’s film version of three days within that marriage, is “horror”. It is a movie with much to recommend, but is far from being a simple biopic.
As a child growing up in Chile, the director of Jackie Kennedy biopic Jackie and the Pinochet referendum drama No, was very aware of his mother’s fascination with an English princess. He remained curious as to why a woman in such remote circumstances – a beautiful creature living a life of enormous wealth and privilege on the other side of the world– could inspire such universal interest.
Spencer attempts to work out the complexities of Diana and such a unique situation, and the manner in which it does so won’t appeal to everyone.
The action takes place over three days of Christmas in 1991 and opens with Diana (Kristen Stewart) driving a Porsche with the top down. But this freedom of open-air driving is in sharp contrast to where she is headed, the gilded cage of Sandringham.
Within minutes we are shown everything the film will explore. Diana is lost, literally on the road to Sandringham, but metaphorically in most other ways. She breaks rules and she does so knowingly and repeatedly. Her marriage is unhappy, her relationship with the royal family is tense and she has an eating disorder.
All of this is well-documented: Larraín is more interested in presenting a psychological truth than strict biographical detail. Many of the events in Spencer are fiction. What he was aiming for instead was to “capture the essence” of the person and to “create an illusion that works on a more emotional level and an intellectual level”, he told Backstage magazine.
In this the film is successful. The over-arching feeling is one of being trapped, and of having been trapped for so long that a breaking point is coming. It is told from the point of view of a mentally ill woman, Diana, and the overall effect is of a gothic horror.
Stewart is excellent. Her speech and mannerisms are uncanny at times. In life, there was the sense that Diana was performing a version of herself that became more contrived than natural. Seeing Stewart replicate her habits so well, added to that feeling of a character for whom, and in whom, reality was blurry.
Sandringham is heavy with history and obligation. Larraín and writer Steven Knight then funnel all the things we know about Diana’s life and marriage into the stately home, layering up the sense of claustrophobia.
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In the film version, Diana also has the special attention of a new courtier, Major Gregory (Timothy Spall), who watches her every move.
Tradition, unquestioned and inescapable, adds another layer of claustrophobia. The first thing that Diana, like all Sandringham Christmas guests, must do, is get weighed. One is not deemed to have enjoyed oneself unless one gains three pounds before departing. It’s Napalm for anyone with an eating disorder.
The film is unflinching in its depiction of Diana’s bulimia, showing both the almost repugnant opulence of the food and Diana vomiting.
As her sense of physical entrapment grows, her mind wanders. She finds a soulmate of sorts in Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s beheaded wife, and the audience shares a lack of clarity regarding what is real and what is not. Jonny ‘Radiohead’ Greenwood’s score heightens the feeling of losing control.
The senior royals, with their silent hostility, are an almost ghostly presence in the film. Diana’s only allies are staff (Sean Harris and Sally Hawkins) but how real can a dynamic like that be? Her only real happiness is with her sons William (Jack Nielen) and Harry (Freddie Spry), but the impact of her suffering on her children is also clear.
The Diana of the film is a frustrating character, who, with all her charm, is also portrayed as damaged, manipulative and immature. And a deeply unhappy woman is never an easy watch.
Damien Dempsey in the uplifting Love Yourself Today
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Damien Dempsey in the uplifting Love Yourself Today
Also on release
Love Yourself Today Four stars In cinemas now; Cert 12A
Based around Dublin singer and musician Damien Dempsey and his faithful tribe of followers, Ross Killeen’s documentary is actually about bravery, honesty and kindness. It could equally be called Love Yourself and Others Today.
For almost two decades Dempsey’s December shows, modelled on the formative singsongs of his childhood, have been a ritual for many of his fans. Killeen opens his film at one of the 2019 performances, focusing on Dempsey and some of the fans whose stories go on to form the heart of the film.
Nadia is a recovering addict, Packy has faced mental health issues and Jonathan endured childhood trauma. Like the singer they adore, they discuss their struggles with substance abuse and mental health and the ways they have found to cope and heal.
The film is shot in black and white and cinematographer Narayan Van Maele creates some beautiful images of Dublin to match the beautiful honesty.
With plenty of concert footage, the film is a must for Dempsey fans. In fact, even if you’ve never heard one of his songs, the generous sharing of hard-earned wisdom makes for an uplifting watch.
Eternals Two stars In cinemas now; Cert 12A
Chloé Zhao’s take on the Marvel Universe is a far cry from her last film, Nomadland. While Eternals has its moments, it is not one of the Marvel greats.
The main problem is that it has too much going on; I would even advise explaining the premise to children before going. The Eternals are immortals with superpowers who were created by the Celestials to protect humans from giant lizardy things called Deviants. They completed that mission 7,000 years ago, but remained on Earth. Just as well, for the Deviants are back.
The Eternals (who include Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan and Kumail Nanjiani) are a welcomely diverse group in terms of gender, age, orientation, ability and nationality – Barry Keoghan’s Druig shows up with a Dublin accent, which is enjoyable.
This large bunch of characters is an additional busyness to a complex enough story which is set in many locations and contains references to many points in history.
There are moral conundrums and love stories thrown in with the CGI and battles. But the film runs to 156 minutes and feels overlong and, as ever with a Marvel movie, there are surprises after the (long) credits.
Red Notice Three stars In cinemas now and Netflix on November 12; Cert 12A
Netflix’s latest comedy-action film has so much going on that it demands compound adjectives. Star-powered, big-budget, high-octane, wise-cracking... I could go on.
How much you enjoy the film will largely depend on your fondness for, or tolerance of, its male stars’ schtick, however.
The film opens in Rome where FBI profiler John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) and Interpol agent Das (Ritu Arya) are seeking arch art thief Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds). The forces are acting on a tip from equally arch art thief, The Bishop (Gal Gadot).
The plot then twists and turns from one glamorous location to the next. Written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, there is some ropey pop-psychology but mostly it’s silly fun with Johnson playing his deadpan giant card and Reynolds his smart-ass joker. Gadot mostly just hatches plans and thumps people.
The humour is child-friendly, although there is some violence and swearing which arguably confuses the age rating. A classic of either the heist or action-comedy genre it is not, but, it works as a forgettable, unchallenging watch.
