Every time I sit down to watch The Crown, I enjoy it in two seemingly opposite but perfectly connected dimensions. The first as luxurious audiovisual fiction. Without a doubt, we can already call it one of the most brilliant series of our time. Even more so later, as it was considered the best image campaign for a secular institution in the 21st century.
Both exist naturally in a symbiosis of seemingly different logics with proven effects. That’s where The Crown makes a difference, it opens up a direction that not everyone is qualified for. Attempting something similar without the talent of its patrons can be anywhere between ridiculous and deadly. The proof that it has worked so far has been the global sadness and mourning we saw with the death of Elizabeth II. The noise on a global scale would not have reached such proportions if it were not for the Crown, this masterful artifact, both for television in modern times and for propaganda operations.
At the point raised in the last season, another element had to be added that fascinated film lovers. Peter Morgan, creator and ideologist – here both terms coexist without fanfare – of the series, was also the screenwriter of “The Queen”, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Hollywood Oscar winner Helen Mirren. Then both addressed the same dilemma: how Diana’s death evolved from a tragedy for the British royal family into an opportunity to revitalize a damaged institution. I’m sorry for the harshness, but that’s how it happened.
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The Queen transformed a hugely popular topic of lament and drama, which was crowd-pleasing and morbid, into something very serious. It has successfully delved to the core of the nature of the power pact between the monarchy and the ruling class that has balanced the United Kingdom from the execution of Charles I in 1649 to the present day. By the mid-17th century, both spaces were demarcated in this country, thanks in part to Oliver Cromwell. The monarchy could not stand above the sovereignty of the people, their aspirations and, if possible, their emotions without risking turning heads.
They had to live together if they wanted to stay in society. This ability to understand and repair oneself without breaking anything is recounted by the Queen as the royal family shows signs of being unable to accommodate the feelings of their people at the end of the 20th century, trapped in a funnel the distance and cold. In addition, the country, which is a benchmark for democratic stability and has several – not all – well-marked paths in contemporary history, is currently in a palpable crisis of decadence, having experienced collective suicide with Brexit, series like The Crown has committed to some extent return the fascination with its forms, its celebrations and its weaknesses.
In the film that marks the series’ precedent, Morgan described how a woman unable to understand the popular sympathies and complicities that the character of her daughter-in-law evokes has the instinct and intelligence to overcome her change your mind about it. He stops seeing his way of winning people over as resentment and painfully allies himself with his virtues. Maybe not out of conviction, but out of convenience. Also, in this case, the ability of a Prime Minister like Tony Blair to see what he could not guess about Iraq and act accordingly.
The monarchy and the government then make a pact through which they remove the dark clouds that have destroyed and threatened the survival of the ancient institution. From this new attitude, born of the tragedy, and with the advantage that they know how to exploit, they paradoxically revive the monarchy. Isabel II thus experiences an end to her reign that is much more complicit, more compassionate towards her citizens. And this is where The Crown comes in to complete this feeling of admiration and good harmony.
Dominic West, in another moment from “The Crown.” Netflix
With this monumental fiction covering virtually all decades of her reign, Peter Morgan shows us the flesh, the difficulties and the personal, familial, but never political weaknesses of an Elizabeth II, who are difficult to empathize with in her avatars as a monarch. and as a person at a crossroads. From this path that began after Diana’s death, this new phase of good harmony with her people, the sympathy that arouses in this new phase, becomes something more. In television films, the crown crowns Elizabeth II not only as a queen, but also as a legend at the height of her time.
With the series ending and Isabel now buried alive, another challenge remains. This one is much more difficult: Carlos. Although they will not succeed in elevating him to the same category as his mother, at least an attempt will be made to honor the heir. That’s why in this final, Morgan decided to put everything on the card of the current king. This is in the spirit of a campaign. But to embellish it, there is nothing better than a good fiction in which other characters dominate. Look, Carlos is redeemed by Diana in The Crown – or at least he was in these first four preview chapters of the finale.
It’s true that the Princess of Wales hasn’t fared particularly well in the previous two seasons. If we add to this the brilliance with which Elisabeth Debicki played her in the last part and the new part, the matter becomes even more serious. Her acting skills make her a sensitive, fragile and charming creature in the media spotlight, which simultaneously attracts and corners her. But at the same time someone who is astonishingly frivolous, unpredictable, clumsy and repulsive.
Last season continues with the same trend. The obsession with looking for problems from which one can completely escape and entering the wolf’s den without rest paints a profile of astonishment in the face of this simplicity. On the other hand, the focus that the scripts place on Carlos – who was also lucky enough to be played by the wonderful Dominic West – underlines his humane and pious virtues. This underlines his regret over what happened, his helplessness, but also his steadfastness in the face of a father immersed in protocol and a mother who can evade it in order to ensure everyone’s survival more flexibly.
How they do it is not a question of narrative here: watch it and enjoy a series that is absolutely masterful as fiction and admirable in its fascinating and precise teaching as the most deft and ambitious modern pictorial operation of our time.
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