Reviews

Films

Queen of the Damned

Directed by Michael Rymer, starring Stuart Townsend, Aaliyah

In the early 2000s, nu metal - an ungodly amalgam of heavy metal and rap - was hot in the West. So hot, it seems that it managed to infiltrate not only MTV and the suburban homes of many a white teenage boy, but also adaptations of vampire literature. Queen of the Damned, based on the book by Anne Rice, is an inferior film to Interview With the Vampire, the Tom Cruise-led bloodbath that the author heavily criticized. If she didn't like that, I can't see her applauding its sequel, which tries to be both a serious horror movie and an exercise in silly posturing.

As with Interview, Queen's protagonist is Lestat, this time played by Stuart Townsend. Awoken from his century-long slumber, Lestat hears a nu metal band rehearse and becomes excited. Assuming the lead singer role, the band becomes famous largely on the back of his proclamation of being a vampire. But announcing to all and sundry that you are a Nosferatu is a big no-no apparently and all the world's vampires are rather upset with him. All except Akasha (Aaliyah), the evil vampire Queen who wants Lestat to be her new killing partner.

Perhaps it's fitting that a musical genre, so goofy yet so navel-gazing, should feature prominently in this mess. Townsend's turn sees him sneer, deliver laughable dialogue and prance around on stage unaware that he looks more Freddy Mercury than Iggy Pop. But it's poor Aaliyah who suffers the worst, which is unfortunate because this was her last on-screen appearance before she died in a plane crash. In Queen's most hilarious moment she tries to cajole Lestat by telling him "you're bold like your music". A backhanded compliment if I've ever heard one.

Ben Davey

The Queen

Directed by Stephen Frears, starring Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen

There are intriguing questions raised in director Stephen Frear's The Queen, such as, when (if at all) is it right for a politician or monarch to bend to popular opinion? Is it a requirement for leaders to acknowledge something that technically they don't have to? And if the populist route is taken, is it a form of compromise or cynical manipulation? In the fallout after Princess Diana's death, these were the issues facing Elizabeth II and this portrait of a royal having to face her own looming insignificance makes for fantastic cinema.

Based on real events with a few fictional adjustments (because the writers have no real idea of what was said behind palace walls) The Queen opens with a meeting between the new British PM and the national figurehead. The difference is obvious: Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) is a man who takes opinion polls seriously while Her Majesty represents a group that answers only to God. But after that car crash in Paris, the UK goes into mourning and becomes increasingly resentful of what it sees as a cold and perhaps irrelevant institution. Blair on the other hand, seizes the moment.

Driven by a wonderful performance by Helen Mirren, The Queen elevates material that could have degenerated into behind-the-scenes tabloid fodder into a study of a historical figure met by a cultural shift. In scenes where Elizabeth II comes to realize that she is no longer above the rules that other public figures must abide by, Mirren's control is remarkable. Frears wisely steers clear of judging the actions of these real life characters; however some, such as Princes Phillip and Charles and Blair's propaganda man Alastair Campbell, come across as either slimy or pure scoundrels.

BD

(China Daily 11/02/2007 page20)