By Clare Driscoll, ’19
This November, Netflix released a new mini series “The Crown.” It tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and her transition from a princess to one of the most powerful monarchs England has seen.
The Crown is based on Peter Morgan’s play “The Audience” which deals with The Queen’s relationships with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Prince Phillip. The new show goes into detail, not just interactions with those two men, but with many influential people of the time such as Princess Margaret, King George VI and Lord Louis Mountbatten.
The show has been highly anticipated by many since it was released that Netflix planned to spend more on this show than it has spent before. After all, production was over 100 million pounds (about 123 million U.S. dollars), used for everything from location filming in the UK and South Africa, costumes and paying the cast which is full of big names such as Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth II), Matt Smith (Prince Phillip) and John Lithgow (Winston Churchill).
The show does attempt to instill a sense of excitement in the plot, but the dry acting from Claire Foy and Matt Smith makes the show hard to watch and creates a constant melancholy theme.
It can also be hard to understand the plot of “The Crown” without a background knowledge of the royal family. Before watching this show, it could be helpful to watch “The King’s Speech”, which is a movie that introduces all of the characters in “The Crown”.
Instead of portraying these historic figures in the heroic way they are taught to us in school, the royals in “The Crown” are shown as real people with real faults. Throughout the show, many of these people are seen struggling with day-to-day issues.
Though the actual show is nothing to get excited about, each scene is picturesque. Whether it’s a scenic view of a castle or the Queen meeting with Winston Churchill, the whole show looks like a slideshow with each scene including the elements of a high-quality picture.
When all is said and done, “The Crown” is a good show for someone passionate about the royal family, but confusing and dry for those who are just looking for a new show to binge-watch. There are definitely better ways that Netflix could have spent 123 million dollars.