"Crown". The sixth season, the first part. The death of Princess Diana

The authors are approaching the most told story of the royal family. But the actors are again impeccable

In mid -November, the first episodes of the final season “Crown” - one of the flagship projects of the platform dedicated to the life of the British royal family, were published on Netflix. The events of the new season begin in 1997-the series is dedicated to the novel by Diana and producer Dodi al-Faida, their death in a car accident in Paris (and reactions to this Elizabeth II). That is why these episodes received the lowest grades of critics in the history of the show.

"Crown" ends. The last season of one of the most expensive shows Netflix is ​​divided into two parts: the premiere of the first four episodes was held on November 16, the final series will show a month later. The creators of the telebiography of the British royal family will stop in their story 20 years before the death of the main character - Queen Elizabeth II. The final episodes will tell about the relationship of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Peter Morgan will put the point of Showranner in 2005: “It was a limit to maintain history and not turn it into a journalistic investigation.” At the same time, the director emphasizes that the death of Elizabeth changed the finals of the “crown”: it had to be rewritten so that the authors had the opportunity to say goodbye to their inspirer.

The sixth season begins in 1997-in the first four episodes, Princess Diana is solved. Before us is a summary of the last weeks of her life, decorated, however, with significant artistic assumptions.

A nameless Parisian goes on an evening walk with a dog. He wanders through the city center with a familiar route, occasionally stopping at the request of the dog. During one of these pauses, he witnesses an event that will forever change the history of Great Britain: the Black Mercedes at a speed of 105 kilometers per hour enters the tunnel on the Alma bridge. The rattle of brakes and collision is heard. The hero calls an ambulance. What happened in the tunnel, the viewer will not see.

Peter Morgan assures the journalists that from the very beginning of work on the series he understood that he would not show the consequences of the accident: Dodi al-Faida and the driver who died on the spot, and the bloody Princess Wales, which the doctors tried to save for two more hours. Moreover, Showranner of the “crown” does not concern the theories of the conspiracy that appeared after the strange death of the British favorite-according to one of them, the Mi-6 service was arranged by the order of the royal family. There is not a word about this in the series, the catastrophe is shown dotted as given.

The three other plots are much stronger than the creators of the show. The first is the silence of the royal family. As you know, on that day, August 31, the queen, together with her family, was in her residence in Scotland. While the British filled the streets of London with flowers and cards in memory of Diana, the “queen of hearts”, the family was silent, for which she criticized her for many years. Morgan is trying to propose his version of events taking place in those days in the summer residence in the castle of Balmoral.

The queen (actress Imnid Stonton this season finally fades into the background, in the spotlight - the Elizabeth Debika playing Diana) is annoyed from every step of the former daughter -in -law recorded by tabloids. When she suddenly dies, Elizabeth does not want to go beyond the protocol for the sake of “this girl” (and even talk about her in the upcoming Sunday service in the Church), or secretly envious of her popularity, either mourning the status of the impeccable royal house, which subjugated her life-and with which few people are considered to be at the end of the century.

The second motive is the tribute of Dodi al-Faida, whose death, according to the supervision of the authors, as if it were unnoticed by Lady Diana. He gives him almost as much screen time as the princess. At the same time, the performer of the role, the Egyptian-British actor Khalid Abdalla, said that he had to develop a character according to tiny surviving sources: photographs from surveillance cameras at the Ritz hotel, where Diana and Dodi had dinner for the last time, or on a 17-second record where the voice of his hero is heard.

Dodi Abdullah came out touching, warm and spineless-all four episodes he meekly lends itself to manipulations of his father, Egyptian billionaire Mohammed al-Faida (Salim Dau), who dreams of marrying his son at the main bride of the country. This storyline - supposedly under the pressure of Mohammed Dodi forgets about the former bride, falls in love with Diana and even makes her an awkward proposal in the Ritz - perhaps the most undisguised fantasy of the authors. There is no evidence that the novel of the princess and producer stood a billionaire, as well as the records of their candid private conversations.

The third theme, from which the authors, in general, did not recede in the previous parts, is a painful fixation of media on the private life of the monarchs. In the first seasons, Elizabeth suffered from this, this was also affected by Princess Margaret (in the sixth season, Leslie Manville only a couple of episodes), and Prince Charles. Paparazzi reaches his peak in 1997-according to one version, it was photographers on motorcycles that pursue a pair, provoked an accident in the Paris tunnel (however, the investigation declared the driver of a Mercedes who drunk before the trip-in the series he also sits behind the wheel after a cocktail).

A separate episode of the sixth season is even devoted to photographers-while the star paparazzi Mario Brenna, by order of Al-Faida, photographs Diana and Dodi on a yacht in San Trope, the modest and fanatically adoring Crown Duncan Muir makes the traditional family portraits of Charles and his sons, throwing pebbles into the river (here the “crown” repeats his beloved trick-and in the in Little things are reproduced by really existing pictures ; Brenna sells her photographs to tabloids for space money - and paparazzi around the world announces Diana's hunt. Debiki said that even during the staged filming she experienced terrible stress from constant persecution.

It is too early to evaluate the whole season for the first four episodes. But it is obvious that by the end of their story, the authors lost their usual causticity and the desire to convict the monarchy in hypocrisy. They no longer ask uncomfortable questions, as it was, for example, in the fourth season (as an example, it is enough to recall the series about the cousins ​​of Elizabeth who were the dead).

The sixth part is courteous, even - it seems that for the first time critics are so often accused of the creators of the “crown” of a royalist position (this is also reflected on ratings: on Rotten Tomatoes , the latest episodes have the lowest rating in the entire history of the series; however, the audience still assess the show high).

None of the journalists question the impeccable play of the cast. INEDA STONTON not only literally reproduces mourning speech, nevertheless uttered by Elizabeth a few days later in memory of Diana - she completely repeats her intonationally ( compare it yourself). Elizabeth morons cannot be found in the embodiment of Princess Diana of Authority - there is definitely everything here, every tilt of the head. Dominic West, who again played Prince Charles and, honestly, extremely unlike his hero, remains convincing. Funny bar: in the new series, the actor even abandoned the pads changing the shape of his ears (in the fifth season he wore them, supposedly this was supposed to portrait him closer to the current king). And without these tricks, he plays piercingly - and when he offers Diana “to be brilliant after the divorce”, since it didn’t work out in marriage (“I lost my husband, but I found a friend,” she replies), and when he cries, speaking with the ghost of the deceased ex -wife.

By the way, about ghosts. The most unexpected and controversial moment of the described episodes was the posthumous appearance of Diana and Dodi - the first, in a black dress, comes to Charles and Elizabeth (the princess takes the queen by the hand and thanks for the example), the second, in a black suit, is his father. Perhaps there perhaps there weren’t so frankly melodramatic techniques in the series - and this is another reason for observers to scream the show. Morgan nevertheless does not agree that the heroes see the ghosts - rather, before us the visual embodiment of their internal monologues, words that they did not have time to say to the dead, insists Showranner.

The final creators of the show promise "stunning." So far, it’s hard to believe it, but now it is clear that after the completion of the “crown” we will need a new series with the same powerful acting, where everyone is selflessly enters the forefront, then leaves it.

Sofya Vorobyova