Spencer (2021)
“Don’t behave how they want you to behave.” – Maggie.
Spencer (2021)
Directed by: Pablo Larrain
Written by: Steven Knight
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Jack Farthing
With Kristen Stewart at her best (to be fair, her ‘best’ before this wasn’t very special), the gorgeous Spencer is a surprisingly fair character study of a divisive public figure.
As I’m sure you know, Princess Diana was viewed in one of two ways. One camp viewed her as a self-centred attention seeker whose anti-traditionalist views was destroying the purity of the monarchy. However, the most prevalent camp saw her as a symbol against monarchical oppression and expectation, an everywoman who become renowned for her charity work and philanthropy.
Therefore as Diana has been canonised by many in the aftermath of her death, I was expecting this to be a puff-piece, celebrating Diana’s memory while ignoring any of the negatives. Instead, Larrain presents a balanced look at her behaviour, with the film an expose´ on both victim-blaming and the delusions of a sometimes self-centred woman.
This isn’t to say she’s painted as an awful person – quite the opposite – Larrain paints the picture of a tortured woman who is made to feel unwelcome and unworthy of the family she has joined. The paradox of public scrutiny decrees that Diana must behave how others think she should, denying her any semblance of personality or freedom.
However, the film also presents how detached from reality Diana became and how this impacted those around her. At the end of the day, she was still born into nobility, and scenes of her projecting first-world troubles onto her children and undermining the lowly servants help remind the audience of her privilege.
Again, this isn’t me undermining her achievements - clearly a privileged individual can still make a positive impact on society – it’s just refreshing that Larrain and writer Steven Knight were able to humanise someone now considered a flawless demi-god.
Flaws make us human, and Stewart’s performance embraces this fully. Good but not great, come for Stewart, stay for the cinematography, and be thankful you’re not a royal servant.
Rating: 7/10