Diana – Last Days Of A Princess (Docudrama)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: B-
Richard
Dale’s Diana – Last Days Of A Princess
(2007) is a clever presentation about the life of Diana Spencer and that fatal
final cart chase in which the stalkarazzi and possibly the British Secret
Service (not even implied or addressed here) literally drove her into her
death. It does not as if there was
racism involved as there are many who would not want Diana being involved with,
having a child with or marrying a non-white, even if he was from big
money. Or politics, with her very bright
spotlight on what was wrong from land mine campaigns to poverty to class
separation as a weapon. That sad night
in August 1997 (a decade ago already!) is not simply recreated or dwelled on.
Instead,
it is the distant bookending to a tale about her life and rise to popularity,
told through a combination of actual news footage, interviews with people who
really knew her and reenactments of what did and might have transpired before
the fatal crash. Instead of the
now-formulaic Unsolved Mysteries approach, it is cut together more like a high
quality TV movie in the best way.
Patrick Baladi is Dodi Fayed and Genevieve O’Reilly is uncanny as Diana
without being a Diana look-alike.
Yes, they
use some make-up, but she still has room (along with Dale) to interpret the
lady in interesting ways that makes this all the more compelling to watch. Unlike the often opportunistic, shallow and
over-sensationalized coverage of the story all these years and many before,
this is a smart, mature, nicely paced work that is one of the few that even
begins to have credibility. Though not
perfect, don’t let “Diana press coverage phobia”: get in the way of you seeing
this solid work.
The letterboxed
1.78 X 1 image was shot in digital High Definition, but this disc sadly does
not take full advantage of that. Color,
definition and detail are still not bad and the semi-documentary nature of the
piece with mixed footage also holds back a uniform consistency, but it is
watchable. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
is also good and though it has no real surrounds of any kind, is well
recorded. Extras include interview
snippets with Dale & O’Reilly and three featurettes.
- Nicholas Sheffo
