One of the enduring differences between film and television is that while broadcasters are all but shutting down over the Christmas break, consigning their audiences to the worst selection of re-runs (I think they call them ‘encore performances’ these days), the cinemas are rolling out some of the best titles of the year. The Queen rules over even these holiday block-busters, ranking as arguably the finest film of 2006.

Helen Mirren presents a thoroughly believable and absorbing Queen Elizabeth waiting to receive Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) as the next Prime Minister of England. She is dry and witty, and fundamentally the school mistress who will instruct Mr Blair in the realities of political life. She reflects to a portrait artist how disappointing it is that she cannot vote. “You may not be allowed to vote,” he responds, “but it is your government.” “Yes,” she replies. “That is some consolation.” Blair may have won a popular election, but she is after all, the queen.

Few people realize just how much of our recent world history Queen Elizabeth II has presided over – I certainly didn’t. Who knew that Elisabeth Windsor, the head of state to ten prime ministers beginning with Winston Churchill, was also a mechanic during World War II? But director Stephen Frears presents the British monarch as a surprisingly vulnerable character who interprets her duties in terms of respect and relationship for the people of the nation she presides over. She is primarily a mother – whether it be to the people, her family or the politicians of the day. Her role, she tells Blair, is “…to advise and warn the government of the day,” in the same way a parent might overlook the activities of the children in her care.

Set in the year Princess Diana died, this film is a testimony to the hidden sufferings that can fill a life. The queen and the royal family belong to an age hardened by the years of the World Wars. In the context of so much grief, a generation learnt to bear their sorrows with stoicism and knuckle down to the jobs at hand. When Diana dies, the queen’s response is to treat the matter as a private one, and her primary concern is for the children who will now have to live without their mother. The government urges for a state occasion, but she responds, “This is a family funeral not a fairground attraction. The children must be looked after.” What then unfolds is a fundamental misreading of the public mood. The queen cannot quite believe that she is so out of touch with the public’s sentiments and expects the populace to ‘return to their senses’ at any moment. But as the outpouring of grief over Diana’s death increases, she has to come to terms with the fact that the world she inhabited has changed forever. There is a touching moment when Elizabeth is alone, driving a Landrover determinedly across a river. She pits her will against the forces of nature, but the vehicle bogs and she is marooned, completing the metaphor.

However the real impact of the film is not to be found in the queen’s inability to read the signs of the time. The close quarter and highly researched examination of the royal family at this difficult time shows a queen who was also fundamentally misunderstood by her people. What was interpreted as coldness and a lack of charity towards Diana were actually concern for her grandchildren a desire to preserve the character of a nation. Elizabeth is deeply wounded by a people that seem to consider her a failure as a mother, while all the while lauding the achievements of a woman who allegedly abandoned her family and her responsibilities for affairs of the heart. This is the dichotomy at the heart of the film – a privately warm woman with an icy public image buffeted by a ‘people’s princess’ with a hollow home life. But in the end we are left with a queen who loves her children and wants to be loved, but is not best equipped to wear her heart on her sleeve as the times seem to require.

The Queen is surprisingly touching and my ‘must see’ film of the year. It demonstrates that what we know of people, particularly public figures, may not be a fair representation of their character. Rather, the film underscores the truth that it is impossible to separate the public and private spheres of life, because what a person is in private they remain in public, despite all the trimmings. But what are we to do when the public perception of our behaviour has become so warped that the resulting image seems to bear no relation to our real character? In The Queen, Elizabeth reminds herself of the vow she took when she ascended the throne. “I declare that my whole life will be devoted to service – a vow I made to God as well as the people.” And it is only to their Creator that a person can truly trust themselves to in the end.  Though all the world may mock you, the comfort is that God knows a person’s heart be they maid or monarch.