Spencer

Eine Prinzessin am Rande des Nervenzusammenbruchs: In einer Mischung aus Legende und Wahrheit imaginiert Larraín drei Tage Weihnachten bei den britischen Royals. Diana hat gerade von Prinz Charles’ Affäre mit Camilla erfahren. Es fällt ihr schwer, beim präzis durchgeplanten Protokoll der Mahlzeiten, Empfänge und Unternehmungen so mitzuhalten, wie man es von ihr erwartet. Gleichsam in Auflösung begriffen, interagiert sie nur noch mit wenigen, ausgesuchten Angestellten, die ihr zugetan sind. Während die Kamera sich ganz auf die Prinzessin – und ihre Garderobe – konzentriert, verschwimmt der Rest der königlichen Familie zu bloßem Hintergrund. (Barbara Schweizerhof)

Lady Diana Spencer likes to be late. In Larraín’s film about a woman pressured by the media and British royalty alike, this is the clearest sign of her reluctance to play along with protocol. SPENCER is a film about resistance to a public role; Diana rebels with an almost youthful obstinacy against an image that belongs to everyone but herself. Casting the role with Kristen Stewart was a wise decision: she also fought against her star image and later reinvented herself as a serious actress. Stewart deliberately emphasizes Diana’s mannerisms. Now all that’s left to do is put on the wrong dress or resist gaining weight over Christmas. Diana’s punk attitude is an aesthetic. Not pulling the curtain is an act of iconoclasm. 
In JACKIE, Larraín already had an exposed woman compete with her own spectacle as First Lady. Like the first name back then, Diana’s maiden name Spencer now stands for lost freedom. Larrain stages SPENCER almost like a one-off piece in matt 1980s colors, and you can still hear the echo of a gaslighting film – everyone in the house is listening. But the members of the royal family are only accessories. Diana’s rebellion is not directed against a person, but rather a system – as a royal, as the Queen says in her only direct encounter with Diana, you are a face on a coin, a “currency”. (Dominik Kamalzadeh)

Pablo Larraín: FUGA (2006), TONY MANERO (2008), POST MORTEM (2010), NO (2012), VENICE 70: FUTURE RELOADED (2013, K, Ko-Regie), PRÓFUGOS (seit 2011, TV-Serie), EL CLUB (2015), NERUDA (2016), JACKIE (2016), EMA (2019), LISEY’S STORY (2021, TV-Serie)