Spencer is directed by Pablo Larrain who also directed Jackie in 2016 which starred Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy and this time Kristen Stewart plays Princess Diana in what the film calls a fable from a true tragedy as the Princess must spend 3 days with the royal family at one of the housing estates during Christmas 1991 which is only some months before Diana would separate from Prince Charles in 1992.
I have had very uneasy feeling about this movie before I got to see it for while I had heard good things about this movie as well as Stewart’s performance as Princess Di I am of an age who remembers her when she was still alive, how she was in every aspect the People’s Princess and remembers where I was when the sad news of her passing broke 25 years ago and also so many of the dramatizations of Diana have mainly focused on the last few years of her life regarding her divorce, the intense media scrutiny and her passing which still leaves a huge hole in her sons lives to this day.
So could this movie overcome that unease and win me over or justify all the more that Diana deserves to be left alone to rest in peace and her sons carry on her legacy in her place.
Well it’s a little bit of both dear reader for I am very divided on this movie.
Firstly this is a well made film, Claire Mathon does a beautiful job with the cinematography in this movie using this postcard film type look that is beautiful to behold on a big cinema screen plus there is a fantastic music score by Jonny Greenwood which at times feels like your watching a horror film with these cues of doom and despair seeping in plus there are many great performances.
Firstly Timothy Spall is very good as the overseer of the grounds and he watches them like a hawk who knows every inch of the manor and gardens he oversees, Sally Hawkins has a small role but it feels so pivotal to the film and its emotional core, Jack Farthing who plays Prince Charles is extremely good and nails what a cold, pretentious and up himself little Smeghead Charles can be while Sean Harris who was in the last 2 Mission Impossible movies is good as the royal chef who becomes a confidant to Diana throughout the course of the film.
Now as for Kristen Stewart herself she is good don’t get me wrong but at times I felt that she either talked too fast for her to be understood or she whispered a lot of her lines and Diana had a soft voice for sure but she certainly didn’t whisper or talk fast from what I’ve been told.
Now that unease I referred to in my intro well it is why I feel so divided on this movie despite liking a lot about it, again this feels like another film that delves into the tragedy of Diana rather than letting me celebrate her and her legacy as the People’s Princess and there are those moments where she has that love in this movie firstly her scenes with the young boys who play William and Harry (what must be going through their heads seeing this movie come out I do myself wondering) and the scenes between Stewart and Hawkins are great the former in particular are wonderful as it nails just how close she was to her sons and how much she loved them with all her heart and why her death has left such a huge hole in their hearts that they’ve tried to fill with their own families.
And I wish someone would come along and give me either a film or a series or a documentary that had more of that feeling, more of that love between her and her sons and more of that love the world had for her even if the Royal Family who’s image went down after her death and never really recovered until William and Kate’s engagement in 2010 didn’t really show it as much as they could and should have in the 90s after the divorce as I think that would go down really well with the broader audience much like how Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018 let people celebrate Freddie Mercury and his legacy and their love for him many years after his death.
And so that was Spencer and I had a lot to say on this one and it’s a divided response for me now do not get me wrong this is well made film with great performances, craftsmanship and moments but my unease about this movie and movies about Diana in general wasn’t really extinguished and because of that I have to give this movie a 2 and a half out of 5.
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