Princess in a Tower
Its no secret, I love Kristen Stewart. Being a fan of her’s for quite some time would make it quite obvious that I’d be excited for her latest effort playing Princess Diana in the Pablo Larraín film Spencer (2021), which tells a fictionalized version of her three days surrounding Christmas with the Royal Family in 1991.
Larraín, like with his 2016 film Jackie, chronicles a highly privileged woman in the media spotlight trying to navigate her own personal issues while maintaining an appropriate façade. With Spencer, Princess Diana buckles beneath the impossible pressures put upon her by tradition. She is treated like a doll by the Royal Family, expected to be dressed up the way they want her to be with a plasticine smile. This bristling, while very public in the tabloids at the time, is depicted here in anxiety inducing close-ups, overwhelming music, and the stern disapproving glances. Stewart, an actor familiar with playing characters trying to stifle their inner turmoil (see the excellent 2016 film Personal Shopper where she plays a spirit medium in grieving for more of that), mostly plays this tension not in outbursts, but in balled up fists, squirming, and darting eyes. This pent up energy has to be released at some point and, when the Royal Family sees the results of their control, they look down on her even more.
When Diana rebels against this, she begins to see visions including ones of Anne Boleyn1, who was executed by King Henry VIII for adultery while he too was guilty. This is one of my favorite elements of the film. Spencer often uses its visuals to tell not what is literally happening in the scene, but how the characters are feeling. Diana has these visions not because she’s gone mad, but because it is an articulate way to demonstrate the complex feelings she’s having. Those feelings of feeling like she’s trapped in a fate that she did not choose. She fears that if she stays she’ll be eliminated like Boleyn for her indiscretions, but if she rebels she’ll be executed anyway. The audience’s knowledge of what would become of her only makes this cerebral film that much more grim and borderline a psychological horror film, but it offers a glimmer of hope in her children, Harry and William, who bring the most smiles and joyful moments in the picture. Ultimately she has to take into account that the choices she can make are not only important to her own well being but to her boys as well.
Spencer is in select theaters now.
Stray Observations
Upon suggestion by a close friend of I Liked It! I watched the horror film The Empty Man (2020) on HBO Max and, man, that was an intense movie. It follows a retired detective investigating the disappearance of some teenagers in a small town in connection to an urban legend only for things to spiral into the strange and supernatural. It has a dark tone and slow pace that really lend to the film’s cynical premise, you have no control and you can not escape the horrible fate laid out to you. It touches on the nature of folk tales and cosmic horror while also giving a vibe similar to staying up too late reading scary stories on the internet. I highly recommend horror fans to watch it.
Since last writing, I have watched Dune (2021) three more times. I am still struck by the scale of it, even upon rewatch. Characters talk in great empty halls and frequently the camera will cut to wide shots to show just how small the humans are in this universe. Even the machinations by larger forces loom over these small players. I think, however, what keeps making me return to the film is the poetic dialogue. “The slow blade pierces the shield” is not only a line to describe how the personal force fields many of the characters have operates, but also sounds proverbial. The film is riddled with these kinds of lines and I live for it.
Woah! Finding a bit of a theme with the Spencer article and these previous two bullet points. Although these three film depict inescapable fates, I personally feel that people tend to have a lot more control over their lives than they think.
This is a particularly short issue this week. I just started a new job at MAISA, the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators, as an Administrative Assistant and that, along with seasonal allergies, have caused me to shuffle things around a bit. We’ll be back to our usual length of issue soon!
Recently, Anne Boleyn has come up in other pop culture spheres, specifically in the photograph work of Anna Marie Tendler. Following her divorce with comedian John Mulaney, Tendler began releasing photographic art pieces on her Instagram that were immediately dissected by fans. One TikTok user, @ottilie.edu, broke it down through several pieces depicting Boleyn and pieces by Tendler in this great TikTok.