An English Rose

Diana is a 2013 english language film detailing the final years of The Princess Of Wales' life, focusing mainly on her relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. The film stars Naomi Watts as Lady Di, and begins with her split from Charles, The Prince of Wales. The film focuses exclusively on Diana, and the royal family is never featured, save for a single shot of the princes, though they are discussed extensively.

The film does have a rather melodramatic tone, which led many reviewers to write the film of as being histrionic melodrama, however given that the film is unabashedly from Diana's point of view, and that we do tend to dramatize events in our life, seeing the film entirely through her eyes, allows some dramatization of events, we believe entirely in her actions, and her actions require no justification. Part of what makes this film so successful is that whilst watching the movie, we never doubt our heroine's actions, and the film never attempts to justify them, it is only upon reflection that we realize how painfully flawed she is.

Naomi Watts is fantastic in the title role, and really is a doppleganger for Lady Di herself, Watts has to carry the entire bulk of the film, and is literally in every scene, she has to be respectful of the beloved princess, whilst also presenting her as a real person. What angered the british public about this film is that it shows the Princess' flaws, which some found tacky, what makes this film a success is conversely that it refuses to place it's lead on a pedestal, and that instead of giving us a cardboard-cutout for a heroine, we are given a real human being. This film does have a lot of flaws, but Watts isn't one of them.

The film doesn't have quite enough storyline for it's two hour running time, the film really could be a half hour shorter. After a while the film does start to feel a little episodic, and Diana and Khan break up so many times that the film does start to feel a little been there, done that. The film does however do a great job of showing the person behind the legend.

Overall Diana, despite not being perfect, is simply not the turkey that many wrote it off as, Watts gives a fantastic and complex performance of a complicated and troubled princess. The film gives us an interesting insight into the life of a woman everyone thought they knew, and who was loved intensely by the British public. The film is an emotional roller-coaster, yet is sometimes painfully flawed, much like the princess herself. Rating: B