It was always going to be incredibly difficult to bring a film about Diana to the big screen; the former Princess of Wales was a momumental figure, a massive influence on the monarchy, whether they liked it or not, a style icon, a chairty worker, a divorced Princess and a mother to two incredibly famous boys who were in line for the throne.
However, the real Diana was an idea that was beyond everyone’s grasp, which is perhaps why she was pursued relentlessly by the press in order to publish photos for an obsessive public. Diana was the People’s Princess, the first Royal to really put a human face to the monarchy, a caring word, someone who displayed a genuine compassion, compared to the rest of the Royal family who were essentially being held back by tradition.
For a life that was so full of interest and intrigue, the production immediately sells Diana short by proclaiming in its tagline that “the legend is never the whole story” and that this film is the “truth behind Diana’s great love”. If you were to make a film about Diana, is there not so much more you would want to bring to the big screen?
Although Diana’s main love interest in the film, Hasnat Khan, did in fact proclaim he had a relationship with Diana during the inquest into her death, he remains very tight-lipped about the entire affair. Given that the facts are few on the actual affair, the film lends itself to speculation rather than truth.
Interestingly, it almost seems as if director Oliver Hirschbiegel, he of Downfall fame, is almost going out of his way to try not to offend those associated with the film. Naomi Watts claimed that she is worried what the Prince’s will think of the film, frankly she doesn’t have much to worry about. The piece merely brushes over the notion of Diana, what we already know, without really creating too much controversy whatsoever, an almost play it safe.
Beginning in Paris in 1997, Diana opens with Watts wandering around a hotel room before the famous trip in the elevator that many are familiar with. The film then rewinds to two years earlier when Diana first encountered Khan in a hospital in London while she was visiting a friends. Diana pursues Khan, inviting him to her house for supper and the relationship becomes serious.
However, their affair is presented against the backdrop of Diana’s constant struggles with the press, her humanitarian work and her relationship with the Palace, which is only touched on briefly. Khan tells Diana that he cannot live without her, but without the approval of his family and the constant media swarm, he begins to question whether he can actually live with her.
The problems begin at the outset, almost suggesting that Diana was being led constantly in her public and private life by her relationship with Khan. Perhaps most insultingly, it pushes the notion that Diana’s humanitarian work was in some way motivated by her relationship with Khan, which is wild conjecture and arguably something that the family will find questionable.
On top of that, the film makes Diana out to be a woman who is constantly guided by her emotions, and alhtough she did in fact claim this herself, the former Princess was also an incredibly smart woman, a shrewd operator who single-handedly changed the face of the British monarchy, while simultaneously managing to keep her personal life as much out of the spotlight as was humanly possible and attempt raising her two sons in a normal family life. When Diana was pushed to the wall, she fought back, less the victim that everyone makes her out to be, something that the film entirely misses.
Watts as Diana is truly awful, excessively put on she most certainly comes off as the fake People’s Princess. Dodi Al-Fayad is almost thrown in as an afterthought, suggesting that Diana knew how to play the media, but in this instance to get Khan’s attention. The film translates as almost a soap opera, dragging on through the apparent two-year relationship with Khan. The script is so cringeworthy, you will be on the verge of vomiting on several occasions. Let’s be frank, it’s just boring.
Although it certainly doesn’t bring anything new to the table, it will certainly re-open the scars for the family while not really being fair to a woman who had a huge impact on the world. There’s almost no point in suggesting to avoid this, as most will be hungry for a new Diana story but do yourself a favour, read her biographies, watch her documentaries. The real Diana was a whole lot more.
