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since 1997 | by maryann johanson

Diana trailer: from the director of Downfall (really)

Wed Aug 07 2013, 09:34am | 18 comments

I’ll watch Naomi Watts and Naveen Andrews in anything, though this does look a bit like a TV melodrama. On the other hand, this is from director Oliver Hirschbiegel, who also made the excellent Downfall and Five Minutes of Heaven… except one of those is about Hitler and the other is about an IRA hitman. It’s unlikely we can expect something quite as hard-hitting about one of the most beloved — indeed, almost sainted — people in recent memory.


UK release date: Sep 20 2013
official site | IMDb
  • applekate

    I never got what the big deal about her was. Media infatuation run amok is my guess.

  • She was a pretty and charming commoner who married for love and became a princess. If people are given an opportunity to conform a piece of real life to a Disney narrative, they will grab it and won’t let go.

  • bronxbee

    i do believe diana was not a “commoner” but from a noble family, the Spencers… with a lineage in england going a lot further back than the current royal family’s. as a matter of fact, i understand that the Spencers rather thought diana has married “down.”

  • bronxbee

    and of course, that should be “farther back”…

  • Dr. Rocketscience
  • Dr. Rocketscience

    I am befallen with a profound lack of give a shit

  • Of course – I was describing the media narrative, not the reality of the situation. Reality does tend to be both more complex and more interesting.

  • I’m hoping that maybe the movie will make me understand why so many people gave a shit. I don’t get the royal family or the love for them, either. I mostly feel sorry for them.

  • singlestick

    I don’t know. I didn’t think I would find “The King’s Speech” of any interest, but it turned out to be surprisingly engaging and empathetic.

    On the other hand, I am not sure that this film could be very incisive or probing, because the filmmakers either have to be concerned about causing offense to her children, Prince Charles, and others, or because they risk some public backlash if they are perceived to do anything to sully Diana’s memory.

    One of the many reasons I tend to prefer entirely fictional stories to those “inspired by true events” is that I think that filmmakers can be more creative, and more honest, if they don’t have to be concerned about getting historical facts right or offending or insulting the families of the subject of their work.

  • bronxbee

    didn’t you like The Queen… i guess something that humanizes a person normally considered outside of the normal realm of the commoners.

  • a thinker

    I don’t understand why you didn’t feel it necessary in your comment to capitalize any proper names other than the Spencers’, not only once but twice!

  • Yes, I did! And I’m hoping this movie will be like that one.

  • RogerBW

    I suppose telling the public that she had one lover is a necessary precursor to telling them about the dozens of others. But I bet the Daily Mail readers will complain anyway.

  • obviously @disqus_E1ssQJyYMA:disqus it was auto-correct.

  • “One of the many reasons I tend to prefer entirely fictional stories to
    those “inspired by true events” is that I think that filmmakers can be
    more creative, and more honest, if they don’t have to be concerned about
    getting historical facts right or offending or insulting the families
    of the subject of their work.”

    Exactly! I almost always lose interest when I read “based on a true story” or something similar. Give me fiction any day.

  • Tonio Kruger

    Given the type of news that has come out about Prince Charles and Lady Diana since her death, it is difficult to see what more damage a more truthful version of their story can possibly do.

    And anyway, it was not like British people have been shy about dissing Prince Charles’ current spouse even though she seems to have been the true love of Prince Charles’ life far more than Lady Di ever was.

  • singlestick

    RE: And anyway, it was not like British people have been shy about dissing Prince Charles’ current spouse

    True, but I think that the some of the British people don’t want to see the mother of William and Harry dissed, especially now that William and his wife have a child. It’s not so much about any damage that a portrayal might cause, as simply causing pain to some of Diana’s survivors with a movie that is likely to be more speculation than fact.

  • RogerBW

    To a first approximation, the only people who still have strong feelings about the wretched woman are the Daily Mail readers, and they’re beyond hope. But they’re sadly numerous, and will do whatever they’re told — whether that’s seeing the film or staying away.

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