Diana (2013 film)

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Diana
Diana poster.jpg
UK theatrical release poster
Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Screenplay by Stephen Jeffreys
Based onDiana: Her Last Love
by Kate Snell
Produced byRobert Bernstein
Douglas Rae
Starring Naomi Watts
Naveen Andrews
CinematographyRainer Klausmann
Edited byHans Funck
Music by David Holmes
Keefus Ciancia
Production
companies
Ecosse Films
Le Pacte
Film i Väst
Filmgate Films
Scope Pictures
MP Film
Distributed byMetrodome Distribution (United Kingdom)
Entertainment One (United States and Canada)
Le Pacte (France) [1]
Svensk Filmindustri (Sweden, Finland and Norway) [2]
Cinéart (Belgium) [2]
Release dates
  • 5 September 2013 (2013-09-05)(Premiere)
  • 20 September 2013 (2013-09-20)(United Kingdom)
Running time
113 minutes [3]
CountriesUnited Kingdom
France
Sweden
Belgium
LanguagesEnglish
French
Swedish
Dutch
Budget$15 million [4]
Box office$21.7 million [2]

Diana is a 2013 biographical drama film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, about the last two years of the life of Diana, Princess of Wales. [5] The screenplay is based on Kate Snell's 2001 book, Diana: Her Last Love, and was written by Stephen Jeffreys. British actress Naomi Watts plays the title role of Diana.

Contents

The world premiere of the film was held in London on 5 September 2013. [6] [7] It was released in the UK on 20 September 2013. [8] The film received negative reviews from both British and American critics.

Plot

The film depicts the last two years of the princess's life, beginning with events when Diana (Naomi Watts) divorces Charles, Prince of Wales. She meets and falls in love with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews). The film depicts her tours of Angola in her campaign against the use of land mines. Trips to advance causes in Australia, Pakistan, New York City, Bosnia, Italy, and ultimately, Paris are also shown, with recreations of what she wore in real life. Her relationship with Dr. Khan ends due to his desire for a private life and objections to her celebrity status. The film depicts Diana's affair with Anglo-Egyptian billionaire Dodi Fayed as a calculated attempt to make Dr. Khan jealous, but it ends with the car crash that killed Diana, Fayed, and their driver in the Pont de l'Alma Tunnel in Paris – however, there is no re-enactment of the crash scene.

Cast

Production

The screenplay, which is based on Kate Snell's 2001 book, Diana: Her Last Love, [10] was written by Stephen Jeffreys. Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae produced the movie for Ecosse Films. [11]

Key scenes involving Diana and Dodi Fayed on his family yacht, Jonikal, were filmed on the 45m luxury charter yacht Princess Iolanthe. [12] The opening and closing scenes at the Paris Ritz Imperial Suite were filmed at Fetcham Park House in Fetcham, Surrey. [13]

Reception

The film has received overwhelmingly negative reviews. [7] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , it has an 8% approval rating based on reviews from 97 critics and an average score of 3.5/10. The consensus states: "Naomi Watts tries hard in the title role, but Diana buries her efforts under a shoddy script and clumsy direction." [14] On Metacritic, the film has a 35 (out of 100), based on 28 reviews. [15]

David Edwards from The Mirror said it was a "cheap and cheerless effort that looks like a Channel 5 mid-week matinee" and that "Wesley Snipes in a blonde wig would be more convincing", awarding the film one star out of five. [16] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also awarded it one star out of five and called the film "car crash cinema". [17]

Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York called Watts's performance "extraordinary" and gave the film 3 stars out of 5, calling it "a restrained biopic that affords its subject the romantic privacy that life denied her." [18] Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times said that "once again Watts supplies the wattage" but that her performance is "frighteningly isolated... the compensating passion in a torpid drama." [19] Jim Schembri of 3AW praised Watts' "impressive performance" but remarked that the film "could actually have done with another half-hour putting more meat onto the bones of these underdeveloped chapters of her story. " [20] Dominic Corry of flicks.co.nz called the film "bad in the blandest way possible" and lamented that "Watts is let down by the Mills & Boon-level script". [21] Fionnuala Halligan of Screen Daily also criticised the writing, saying that Watts' "brave performance should not be under-estimated given the poverty of the dialogue and the pressure of the part." [22]

Naomi Watts received a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress for her work in both this film and Movie 43 , where she lost to Tyler Perry for his performance in drag in A Madea Christmas .

Soundtrack

Diana (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Diana soundtrack.jpg
Soundtrack album by
Released23 September 2013 (2013-09-23)
Genre Soundtrack
Length36:15
Label Canderblinks
David Holmes soundtrack chronology
The Motel Life
(2012)
Diana (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
(2013)
Light of My Eyes
(2014)
Keefus Ciancia soundtrack chronology
Nashville
(2013)
Diana (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
(2013)
The Fall Season
(2013)
No.TitleLength
1."Culture of Duty"2:00
2."Lone Runner"1:23
3."Hospital"2:36
4."Lonely Souls"3:18
5."The Kiss"4:00
6."Missed You So Much"1:28
7."To the Edge of The..."1:58
8."Stranded"1:54
9."Underwater"1:15
10."Caught in Flight"1:40
11."New York City"2:25
12."It's Over"1:07
13."Kings Cross"1:22
14."Some Mother's Son"1:02
15."Call"1:04
16."Paparazzi"1:44
17."Alone"1:57
18."Gone"3:54
Total length:36:15

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