Diana (2013)

[Trevor]

I liked Princess Diana a lot and still do, but I really don't think I want to see this:

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2345467/Naomis-Princess-Diana-real-deal--teh-exclusive-look-film-want-see.html

Naomi Watts looks more like Camilla Parker Bowles then Diana. 

[tracy]

Hmmm....maybe it's just me but she doesn't have that elegant,slightly innocent look that Diana had. Not good casting,to me at least.
Also,I sincerely hope they don't try and tear her down as so many times happens when celebrities pass. Folks lap up everything they do/say then rally to cut them up afterwards.

[Trevor]

Hmmm....maybe it's just me but she doesn't have that elegant,slightly innocent look that Diana had. Not good casting,to me at least.

Agreed:

Also,I sincerely hope they don't try and tear her down as so many times happens when celebrities pass. Folks lap up everything they do/say then rally to cut them up afterwards.

I wonder what Idris Elba will be like playing Mandela? 

[tracy]

Hmmm....maybe it's just me but she doesn't have that elegant,slightly innocent look that Diana had. Not good casting,to me at least.

Agreed:

Also,I sincerely hope they don't try and tear her down as so many times happens when celebrities pass. Folks lap up everything they do/say then rally to cut them up afterwards.

I wonder what Idris Elba will be like playing Mandela? 

Hopefully good....that is one nice looking man.

[Trevor]

The poster has just been released: nice, but I still don't know if I want to see it:



Oh well, I'll see what the critics think.

[Trevor]

The poster has just been released: nice, but I still don't know if I want to see it:



Oh well, I'll see what the critics think.

It seems they hate it. 

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2413634/Diana-film-review-Squirmingly-embarrassing-atrocious-fabulously-awful.html

Ouch.

[indianasmith]

Sounds like it will fit in with most of our membership, though.

[Newt]

"Fabulously awful" does appeal; and it does tend to make up for a multitude of shortcomings.

...however, with this material it might be more unfortunate than attractive.   

[Trevor]

Sounds like it will fit in with most of our membership, though.

I will attempt to write a review of it for us if I can make it all the way through the thing. 

[Trevor]

"Fabulously awful" does appeal; and it does tend to make up for a multitude of shortcomings.

...however, with this material it might be more unfortunate than attractive.   

Agreed: I liked her, but what I liked the most is not that she was gorgeous but the fact that she gave a damn about people less fortunate than herself, despite her personal issues and that douche bag of a husband she had.

[claws]

My fave quote so far:

despite a peroxide hair-job Noami Watts looks, sounds and acts nothing like the Princess of Wales. Wesley Snipes in a blonde wig would be more convincing.

The trailer already looked awful in my opinion. I like Watts but she's totally miscast. Paging Michelle Williams!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFcY7PEY9bs

[claws]

Not to derail this thread but yeah, the teaser for this new bio actually looks well made and interesting as well. I think Nicole nailed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgY1YMq3eDY

[Archivist]

Let me be the first to admit that I've seen Diana.  The trailer interested me because of the cinematography; I didn't know much about the plot, nor did I know many of the details of Diana's life apart from what was reported in Australia during her time with the Royal Family.  A friend wanted to see it, so I thought it might be a good exercise for cinematic training.  Hopefully.

How do I feel about this film?  It's like 'The Little Girl' by Longfellow: when it was good, it was very, very good.  But when it was bad, it was HORRID.  The music, general editing and cinematography were great.  But the dialogue scenes, particularly depicting the nascent relationship between Diana and Haznat, were execrable.  It's the second time I've wanted to walk out of a movie, the first time being that unforgivable George Clooney movie, The Descendants.  The only things that kept me there were the excellent cinematography and score.

Diana is portrayed as an emotionally overblown publicity hound, although her humanitarian side was also shown.  The relationship between her and Haznat was like some third-rate romantic comedy, minus the comedy, but with all the cliched, cheesy trash that a romcom requires.  Hearing the lines that Watts and Andrews were required to spit out was like having teeth pulled.  I kept wondering if this was supposed to be a  tongue in cheek rendition, or a parody, but the movie had every intention of being drop-dead serious.

Watts as Diana: I'm a fan of Naomi Watts, and I haven't seen much of Diana apart from her Queen of Hearts interview.  That interview made my roll my eyes because of the doe-eyed, 'have pity on me, I only want to be a queen of people's hearts' image that she portrayed.  Well, Naomi Watts seemed to totally nail that version of Diana.  Every head tilt, every clearly studied gaze from limpid eyelids, everything.  Ugh.

Naveen Andrews would have had far less source material to work from, but I honestly feel sorry for someone who has to deliver corkers like, 'you don't perform the operation, the operation performs you' and 'if you can not smell the fragrance, do not enter the garden of love'  I know the latter is a quote from Rumi, but honestly!  Way to pick the most cheesy crap!  But I suppose it could not be any more cheesy than Diana's real life 'queen of hearts' quote, so maybe it's about art imitating life, imitating art.

Set design, cinematography and score were great.  Even though I kept wanting to walk out of the movie when the cheesy dialogue threatened to make me knock myself out, I was kept there by the way things were shot and edited.  Diana's rooms in Kensington looked beautiful, and the use of steadicam created a smooth, flowing feeling.

I've decided that it's a trashy chick flick shot with a big budget.  Taking on such a well-known public figure to portray, one whose private life has been the stuff of rabid tabloid exploitation, and was much loved by a great number of people, is fraught with danger.  Why they went the path of the cheesy chick flick is beyond me.  I feel sorry for Watts and Andrews for having been involved in something that is being panned so heavily.  I saw this in the same week as Rush, which I thought was a magnificent biopic.  Let's say that I'd be over the moon to have shot Rush, and I'd want my name all over it.  I'd be hiding my name if I shot Diana, but secretly proud of my work.

[Trevor]

It seems it bombed in the US too: can't say I'm surprised. 

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2487136/Naomi-Watts-Diana-film-flops-opening-week-US-grossed-just-40-000-box-office.html

Archivist: thanks for the candid views:much appreciated. 

[Trevor]

Well, I bought the DVD on Saturday and I was a little surprised at how good it actually was - not really worth all the $$ I shelled out for it but mostly good, especially the last couple of minutes. I was wondering how they were going to handle Diana's murder (yes, you read right, murder) and they handled it thus:

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER


The last shot you see of Diana is her leaving the elevator in the hotel.
Black screen, a phone rings, Diana's voicemail picks up.
Black screen.
Hasnat Khan wakes up from a nightmare.
Looks at his alarm clock: the time is 04h15.
His mobile rings, then his landline.
As he gets up to answer the phone, all of the lights in the flats around him come on, one by one.
The film ends with Khan and others laying flowers down at Kensington Palace.

All in all, pretty effective indeed.