Greg Han The Queen Analysis

2009: Analyse the ways history and memory generate compelling and unexpected insights The study of the past, in the present, and how it shapes our future is what history is defined as. Through collective and individual memory, one can perceive a greater insight. In developing such texts, composers utilize filmic and textual forms to achieve their specific point of view. The Queen (2006) by Stephen Frears, is a biopic which combines representations of the queens both as the regal monarch, and as the head of a family to connote the value of personal memory intertwining with recorded history, constructing powerful yet unknown responses from the audience. Similarly, the Biggest Hit (2012) is Good Weekend Feature Article (SMH, JULY) which combines
the sentimental perspective of the iconic Australian song, Down Under with the factual court documentations to create the narrative of Greg Ham. Thus, through analysis of the way in which authors have interconnected history and memory that create strong and unforeseen visions, a connection between memory and history is seen.
When fact and memory combine, history becomes more authentic When history and memory are represented in duality, a insightful truth emerges

The director Stephen Frears represents a vision of Elizabeth II as both the head of her state, a distant, regal and traditional figure as well as the head of a fragile family under public scrutiny. He achieves this through the juxtaposition of two filmic techniques - the use of edited sequences of media footage deriding the queen as insensitive, and the custodian of an impossible tradition that has fallen out of relevance with the modern audience. The factuality of the media reports surrounding Dianaʼs death is represented through cross cutting and super cuts of negative news coverage that portray a nation disillusioned with the queenʼs distance from her people. “I am hated by one out of four people.” Queen Elizabeth notes, as a barrage of news footage used by Frears implying the decline of the royal family as representing the English mindset. However, Fears also utilizes a MIS-en-scene in which the queen appears only in a quarter screen and the majordomo towers over her with his meek request of, “charities...actors...fashion designers...other celebrities,” to attend the funeral in place of “soldiers...dignitaries...heads of state...” portraying an utterly defeated Elizabeth II. She appears no longer stoic, but frail and uncomfortable, creating a strong sense of sympathy from the audience. Hence, through a combination of this cutting between a queen publicly seen as cold, and a queen personally seen as frail, the audience perceives the relation of personal memory and fact in establishing the unprecedented and interesting perception of a Queen. Like Stephen Frears, the editor David Leser through the article The Biggest Hit employs a combination of the collective memory of Down Under as an iconic Australian classic with deep sentimental values with court documentation and details of the plagiarism trial. This is attained through the incorporation of techniques in two key paragraphs - the use of dialogue from legal documents damaging the authenticity of the piece, and the evident admiration for culture, falling away for the money. The historical information of the song regards it as stolen because of specific representations of desiccation of musicology as proven through the Australian Copyright Act (1968) through the use of euphemism. “The “objective similarity” between the two work, as well as “casual connection” is what mattered most,” is what Leser uses to suggest the unanticipated

outcome of Greg Ham.
Nevertheless, Leser continues the article with the added details of the sentimental love for the song from Australians, the song as a reverence. “[Gregʼs flute line] was a salute to another iconic part of Australian musical history. His motivation wasnʼt to steal, it was to pay homage.” The emotive language and serious tone, inflicts an interested response from the readers creating a sympathetic stance towards the song and Greg Ham. Thus, through examining the way in which the memory of Greg Ham and the song has combined with the tragedy resulting from the trial, audiences perceive a resolute yet unforeseen circumstance that continues to enshrine Down Under as an iconic Australian song. The most salient act of representation which interplays both personal memory and public perception is Frearsʼ usage of the extended metaphor and anthropomorphic image of the Monarch of the Glen. In this scene, Elizabeth II drives into the wilderness and encounters a majestic 14 pointer stag, and in a deliberate MIS-en-scene, a far shot frames the stag in the same manner as the painting by Edward Lanseer “Monarch of the Glen.” The stag motif represents the Queenʼs position as the monarch of her nation, an untouchable and distant figure which represents the dignity and cultural heritage of her nation. The monarch, the stag, is alone, it does not have companions, metaphorically standing firm in the captured scene. However, a latter scene reveals that the stag was shot. Metaphorically, Frears utilizes this idea of the hunted to illustrate the vulnerability of the Queen as a human being who can be hurt. This is further metaphorically shown in an over the shoulder shot where the queen notes, “Oh, it was wounded.” Her sentiment reveals to the audience that even the Queen is only human. Together, history and memory, Frears again demonstrates that the connection of history and memory produces a required and unpredicted appreciation for the film. As such, in studying the
Queen (2006) and The Biggest Hit (2012), audience perceive the deliberate act of representation by authors to convey a perspective on events and history. They achieve this through collective and individual memory as well as factual and historical representations. Together, composers utilize filmic and textual forms to generate compelling and unexpected insights.