I have been rather off the British Royal Family for some years now. Even before Lady Diana was hastily removed from the scene. There is so much pomp and circumstance that I tend to look the other way. The tantrums that various members of the British Royal Family may be up to - or down to - do not appeal to me overly. By which you must not understand that I am anti-monarchy or pro-republican. Neither is the case. The aloofness of such highnesses does not impress me.
However, this telefilm by Stephen Poliakoff from the BBC is not only an impressive production but an enthralling piece of biographical film-making of the first order. From the outset to the closing credits this film enthralled me. Firstly because of some magnificent performances, even from the children, secondly because of the magnificent mise en scène, superb Victorian and Edwardian furnishings and beautiful c1910 automobiles, as well as the excellent threading of the events between 1908 and 1919.
Young Prince John (1905-1919) suffers from epilepsy, and thus is hidden away from public eye, largely ignored by British subjects, or simply unknown to them. The story is told more or less from his viewpoint, such that at times their is a feel of autobiography to this excellent dramatisation. The background is the looming World War I, but without forgetting the family tie-ups with Greece, France, Germany and Russia, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. True blue blood runs thickly among European royalty. Poliakoff did not forget the massacre of the Romanev family, the Tsar of Russia, until overthrown in 1917.
Magnificent interpretations mark this TV film, as is to be expected in British productions, even by the children playing the parts of the brothers John and George. The photography is also superb, bringing us excellent scenes of rural England, especially in Norfolkshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and what I think was the Bluebell Railway, south east of London in Kent.
Worthy of mention is Miranda Richardson's interpretation of Queen Mary (of Teck) whose exceptional reading of the remote and aloof mother does not merely serve for dramatization in the film itself, but also so as to understand the British Throne's attitude, especially the present incumbent, Queen Elizabeth II, to the death of a rather uncomfortable princess called Lady Diana. I imagine the present queen, on seeing this film (which hopefully she has), as her grandmother Victoria, `was not amused'. But also, hopefully, the future British Royalty will take stock and do something about their ineffectual pageantry, their aloof protocol, and descend into the realms of the real world down here doing their shopping in East Grinstead High Street.
If not, this film will, sadly, have missed its possibilities. Excellent, Mr. Poliakoff: I am in no hurry for your next production. Please take your time over it. I shall be waiting.
However, this telefilm by Stephen Poliakoff from the BBC is not only an impressive production but an enthralling piece of biographical film-making of the first order. From the outset to the closing credits this film enthralled me. Firstly because of some magnificent performances, even from the children, secondly because of the magnificent mise en scène, superb Victorian and Edwardian furnishings and beautiful c1910 automobiles, as well as the excellent threading of the events between 1908 and 1919.
Young Prince John (1905-1919) suffers from epilepsy, and thus is hidden away from public eye, largely ignored by British subjects, or simply unknown to them. The story is told more or less from his viewpoint, such that at times their is a feel of autobiography to this excellent dramatisation. The background is the looming World War I, but without forgetting the family tie-ups with Greece, France, Germany and Russia, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. True blue blood runs thickly among European royalty. Poliakoff did not forget the massacre of the Romanev family, the Tsar of Russia, until overthrown in 1917.
Magnificent interpretations mark this TV film, as is to be expected in British productions, even by the children playing the parts of the brothers John and George. The photography is also superb, bringing us excellent scenes of rural England, especially in Norfolkshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and what I think was the Bluebell Railway, south east of London in Kent.
Worthy of mention is Miranda Richardson's interpretation of Queen Mary (of Teck) whose exceptional reading of the remote and aloof mother does not merely serve for dramatization in the film itself, but also so as to understand the British Throne's attitude, especially the present incumbent, Queen Elizabeth II, to the death of a rather uncomfortable princess called Lady Diana. I imagine the present queen, on seeing this film (which hopefully she has), as her grandmother Victoria, `was not amused'. But also, hopefully, the future British Royalty will take stock and do something about their ineffectual pageantry, their aloof protocol, and descend into the realms of the real world down here doing their shopping in East Grinstead High Street.
If not, this film will, sadly, have missed its possibilities. Excellent, Mr. Poliakoff: I am in no hurry for your next production. Please take your time over it. I shall be waiting.