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It is very common to hear someone be called the “Queen of England.” This expression, although with the appearance of a compliment, is filled with a negative meaning, since it refers to someone who has a title but does not exercise any real power. It is also common to hear comments underestimating the work of the British monarch (and her whole family) on the grounds that she does not work and leads a perfect life.
However, I am rather skeptical in this regard and have difficulties accepting that Queen Elizabeth II has a life without problems or responsibilities. Yes, her problems and duties are very different from ours, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. One can simply follow the news to see that she travels often, even at the age of 90, and has more public appearances than any member of the royal family.
I have never believed that this was the life she truly wanted for herself and I have always admired her, since she is an extremely strong woman whose reign started over 60 years ago, when the world was much more sexist than it is today. For these reasons, I was counting the days to watch The Crown. I saw all the episodes in a week, but it took longer for the text to be written because I kept thinking about what I had seen.
The Crown is the most expensive series produced by Netflix so far and you don’t need to watch all episodes to understand why. From the dazzling costumes to the big sets, the great soundtrack and the large number of actors in the cast, you can see that all the money was very well spent.
I can understand why some people consider it “slow” or “dull”, since each episode is an hour long and doesn’t rush into the narrative. On the contrary: it breaks every event down very accurately. And maybe that’s just why I loved it.
The screenplay by Peter Morgan (also responsible for the screenplay for The Queen) is impeccable, not only by the dialogues, but also by the choices of what to show the viewer and what to leave in our imagination. For example, we don’t hear the then Princess Elizabeth’s reaction when she receives the news of her father’s death: we are actually cast aside and we see the scene from afar, without being able to listen to the dialogue, just like the other subjects present in the scene. This technique is repeated other times, and the time that struck me most was during a discussion between the Queen (Claire Foy) and Prince Philip (Matt Smith) in the car in the final episode.
Another highlight is the way the Queen reacts to situations. Credit due, again, to the screenwriter, but also to Claire Foy, who is able to interpret an extremely complex character, in eternal internal conflict. In the same scene we can see how the person (Elizabeth) and the entity (Queen) debate tirelessly through Claire Foy’s discreet and contained expressions. The decision to deny her sister Margaret’s (Vanessa Kirby) marriage to officer Peter Townsend (Ben Miles), for example, is carefully reflected and debated by the Queen and the moment she announces it to her sister is one of the best scenes of the season: The Queen is not exalted, much less elevates the tone of her voice. A similar situation occurred when she was forced to reprimand then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) to find out that he had concealed his true health condition.
The most important moment for me, however, was a conversation between the Queen and her grandmother, Queen Mary (Eileen Atkins), in which she complains that she doesn’t have de facto powers and is reminded by her grandmother that, indeed, “doing nothing” is as difficult as having to take any action whatsoever. This is because a smile or a inappropriate nod may indicate that the Queen is taking some political stand, which would violate the Constitution.
It’s impossible not to reflect on the greatness and importance of this conversation: just imagine if we couldn’t comment on any aspect of our country! Brazil had a dictatorship in which there was censorship, but many people, including yours truly, born in the late 1980s, do not know what it is like not to be able to give an opinion. And the Queen has been forbidden to do it for more than six decades! She must smile and be cordial with a myriad of heads of state and government, regardless of whether she likes them or not (we will never know for sure who she likes or dislikes). This scene, by itself, would already make The Crown a special show for me. But, of course, there is much more.
If I could, I would mention the whole cast and discuss each character, because everyone fascinated me, each in his/her own way. I mention only the Duke of York (Alex Jennings), King George VI’s (Jared Harris) brother who resigned the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Warfield (Lia Williams). As she was divorced, the relationship of the then monarch was forbidden by the Church he himself headed. Elizabeth’s coronation episode is conducive to seeing how he claims not to have regretted his decision and how, in fact, he feels as he watches his niece take the place that was once his.
The soundtrack also plays an important role because it gives the correct tone to the scenes. The theme song was composed by Hans Zimmer (always responsible for stronger tunes such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, Inception, the latest Batman trilogy, among many others) and he also produced the soundtrack for the episodes. The score was composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams, whose most recent work was the soundtrack of Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson.
A final element that could not be forgotten is the impeccable costumes, which is the responsibility of Michele Clapton, who also designs the costumes for Games of Thrones.
The Crown is, therefore, a perfect show for anyone who wants to feel inside Buckingham Palace and follow the trajectory of one of the most important women in recent history. No wonder Netflix plans to make five more seasons, each representing a decade of Elizabeth II’s reign. And I’m already looking forward to the next one.
