Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts (2022)
A Documentary- My Rating 7/10
This Scrapbook documentary depicts the long life and times of an extraordinary 20th and 21st Century monarch Queen Elizabeth 11 who is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee this year as well her 96th birthday . It's a Cinematic tribute to an extraordinary woman who is history's longest serving head of state.
I found it a nostalgic and very creative trip down memory lane as I was born a year after the Queens first born son Charles who one day is destined to be King . The world has changed so much in those 73 years but The Queen has been a constant and stable influence during her ten decades on the planet.
Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts is Directed by Roger Michell who sadly died last year so this is his last film . His 2nd last feature film The Duke is also currently showing in Cinemas but it's a comedy and nothing to do with the Late Duke of Edinburg who of course features in this documentary.
Some of Roger Michell's other great contributions to movies are Notting Hill (1999) Tea With the Dames (2018) ,Hyde Park on Hudson(2012) and Venus (2006) .
He obviously loves the Cinema and I enjoyed the expertly cut clips of famous movies like Cleopatra and Roman Holiday that he uses very effectively to parallel the also expertly cut clips from Queen Elizabeth's long reign . There's also a lot of contemporary music and pop songs used in the soundtrack which add to the nostalgia. My favourite was when the Queen is visiting a machinery factory in the 1960's with Gracie Fields song "I'm the girl who makes the thing ."as background.
The original music for the film is by George Fenton (who composed the soundtrack to The Duke and many other fine movie scores.
I particularly enjoyed the random scrap book like chapter titles used in the documentary like "Let Me Entertain You, Ma'am, Heroes, Britannia, Horribilis, In the Saddle and Our House.
The only narrative used really is the original used in the clips and we get to see the sensitivity and great humour of The Queen with some very personal material that covers the Queen's life as a child through to the present day.
There are those who will possibly take issue with this film because of their republican principles but as Her Majesty has said, "Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us have a monopoly on wisdom."
I'm not one of them even though if a decent model for an Australian Republic was presented I would vote Yes for a Republic but I have deep affection and admiration for the Queen.
This documentary may be streamed later on television but it's worth seeing on a Cinema screen if you can.
