SHOW OF THE WEEK: The Crown (Nov. 9, Netflix)
in Season 5 of “The Crown.” PHOTO CREDIT: Netflix
This Netflix drama — emphasis on the word “drama” — debuts its fifth season amid criticism from people who should know better that it’s in danger of being confused with historical fact. I’m looking at you, Judi Dench.
Hackles have evidently been raised since the series has now advanced to covering subjects within living memory, particularly the breakdown of the marriage of Prince, now King, Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales.
Here’s the thing: acting is make-believe, even when real people are being portrayed. While I can’t imagine it’s pleasant for members of the Royal Family to have selected bits of their dirty laundry dramatized for other people’s entertainment I also don’t think the series is damaging the monarchy.
Besides, I found Season 5 relatively balanced in its portrayal of Charles’ and Diana’s marriage failure. It includes well-known events — the Andrew Morton biography of Diana, Charles’ and Camilla’s “Tampongate” tape, the 1994 interview in which Charles admitted to being unfaithful, Diana’s incendiary “Panorama” interview — but doesn’t paint either side as wholly villain or victim.
If there’s a criticism to be made it’s that — despite terrific acting, beautiful sets and costumes, and other attention to detail — this season doesn’t live up to Season 4, which was one of the best, if not the best since the show began.
Imelda Staunton, ostensibly the star of the series as wearer of “The Crown,” doesn’t get all that much to do here besides keeping a stiff upper lip through her children’s divorces (Andrew’s and Anne’s marriages also imploded in the ’90s), the fire at Windsor Castle and other tribulations. She does, however, imbue Elizabeth with dignity and a staunch devotion to duty that seems of a piece with the real queen. (Staunton’s best scene is one in which she has a frank talk with Diana, well played by Elizabeth Debicki, just ahead of the airing of the Panorama interview.)
The series’ attention seems scattered this season with diversions that detract from its overall cohesiveness: one entire episode is devoted to Mohamed Al-Fayed, father of Diana’s eventual boyfriend Dodi; another, in large part, to the thawing of relations between Britain and Russia and the fate of royal cousins the Romanovs.
Diana and Charles, played less convincingly by Dominic West, remain much of the focus of the season, although the spotlight is also ceded to Prince Philip, given a sympathetic portrayal by Jonathan Pryce, and Princess Margaret, played by Lesley Manville as a woman coming to terms with life’s disappointments.
In fact, there’s a melancholy throughout the episodes that touches all of the characters. It’s not just the events portrayed — the divorces, the bad publicity, the “annus horribilis,” the queen’s distress over the decommissioning of the royal yacht — it’s that we as viewers know what’s coming next: the death of Diana (producers, mercifully, have said they will not portray the car crash that killed her).
There is also tenderness and love, between Elizabeth and Philip; Elizabeth and Margaret; Elizabeth and Anne (Claudia Harrison); Diana and sons William and Harry; Charles and Camilla (Olivia Williams); even between Charles and Diana in a post-divorce attempt at detente.
The show also posits a fond, respectful relationship between Prime Minister John Major (a nice turn by Jonny Lee Miller) and the queen.
The real John Major has blasted the show for imagining a meeting between him and Charles that he says never took place, in which Charles floats the idea of acceding to the throne sooner than later. But as I said earlier, this is make-believe. TV shows and movies routinely play with facts in the name of storytelling.
And, despite all the criticisms and the shortcomings, I still find “The Crown” worth watching.
In its portrayal of the royals as fallible humans — ones that even immense wealth and privilege cannot spare from heartache and other ordinary emotions — “The Crown” makes me like them more, not less.
Netflix also debuts the soccer doc “FIFA Uncovered” and “The Soccer Football Movie” (Nov. 9); the docs “State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith” (Nov. 10), “Capturing the Killer Nurse” and “Is That Black Enough for You?!?” (Nov. 11); and second seasons of “Warrior Nun” (Nov. 10) and “Down to Earth With Zac Efron” (Nov. 11).
Short Takes
Kings of Coke (Nov. 7, Crave)
Amid the flood of true crime content from the U.S. comes this worthy Canadian entry. The Crave original, directed by former “Fifth Estate” journalist Julian Sher, tells a fascinating story that would be right at home in a film noir. While it’s no secret that Montreal has long had a thriving underworld dominated by bikers and the Mafia, this film tells the story of the West End Gang, a group of Irish Canadian criminals that was once just as powerful as the Hells Angels and the mob. A cast of colourful characters — ex-gang members Melvin Mingo and Jimmy Holt, ex-homicide and holdup squad cop Andre Savard, former crime journalists Dan Burke and D’Arcy O’Connor, on whose book “Montreal’s Irish Mafia” the doc is based, to name just a handful — trace the gang’s rise from highly proficient bank robbers to murderers and drug lords. As the conduit through which cocaine flowed into Montreal’s port and to others parts of North America, the gang had direct connections to Colombian cartels as well as sources in the legal system that helped keep leaders Dunie Ryan, Allan Ross and Gerry Matticks out of jail. All eventually met their downfalls, either at the hands of law enforcement or fellow gang members. With the use of news footage and animation, the film takes us to the scenes of the various shootings and bombings that marked the West End Gang’s increasingly violent path. It also gives us a glimpse of the Montreal of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s when the West End Gang thrived. The gang is gone, felled by greed and hubris and violence, but the doc reminds us that organized crime and the drug trade still flourish in Montreal.
Crave also has “Don’t Worry Darling” (Nov. 7), if you didn’t get enough of Harry Styles last week with the streaming release of “My Policeman,” or you want to parse the film for signs of antipathy between star Florence Pugh and director Olivia Wilde. And Daniel Levy’s latest TV venture, “The Big Brunch,” a made-in-Hollywood food competition — so maybe “Schitt’s Creek” was a Canadian content one-off for him — debuts Nov. 10.
Our War (Nov. 11, 9 p.m., History/StackTV)
On my personal list of regrets is the fact I never asked my grandfathers — one of whom fought in the First World War and one in the Second — about their wartime experiences. It’s entirely possible they wouldn’t have wanted to talk about it, but I still feel a loss of valuable family history nonetheless. This series features Canadians who, likewise, know very little about their relatives’ war service but are able to piece it together with the help of military historians and others, thanks to the show. In the two episodes I watched, the histories uncovered included that of Samuel Watts, a Black World War I soldier who died of wounds suffered in the Battle of Hill 70; Edward Drost, a member of the elite WWII First Special Service Force who survived but was haunted all his life by the fighting in Anzio; famous Indigenous marathon runner Tom Longboat, who took on the dangerous but vital job of dispatch runner in WWI ; and Harry Symes, a WWI vet who survived the Battle of the Somme but came home in ruined health and died not long after. Their family members’ journeys are emotional ones, even in instances where they never met the veteran whose story they’re researching. I suppose people who have no direct connection to the two — and hopefully last — world wars might wonder why shows like this are necessary. I would argue that knowledge of our history is never a bad thing and particularly war history at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise and Vladimir Putin, like Hitler before him, has invaded a sovereign country with complete disregard for international law.
The English (Nov. 11, Prime Video)
I don’t usually include embargoed titles in the Short Takes and, as far as I can tell, I’m not allowed to review this until 3 p.m. on Monday, but since I watched two episodes and found it had merit I’m including it here. It stars Emily Blunt, who also executive produces, as Englishwoman Lady Cornelia Locke, come to America to find the man who killed her son, who crosses paths with Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer), a Pawnee ex-Cavalry scout who just wants to ride north and claim a few acres of land. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Cornelia and Eli will find themselves enmeshed in this western created by Hugo Blick (“The Honourable Woman”).
Prime also has the series “Mammals” (Nov. 11), described as a darkly comic drama about marriage, which was written by Tony-winning playwright Jez Butterworth (“The Ferryman,” “Jerusalem”); and Rihanna’s fashion extravaganza “Savage X Fenty Show” (Nov. 9), which is drawing heat for including Johnny Depp.
Odds and Ends
If you’re in the mood for more Remembrance Day programming, CBC Gem has Season 2 of “My Grandparents’ War” (Nov. 11), in which stars Keira Knightley, Kit Harington, Toby Jones and Emeli Sandé explore their ancestors’ wartime experiences; as well as Season 2 of “Sorry for Your Loss” (Nov. 11), starring Elizabeth Olsen. CBC has the comedy special “Just for Laughs 40” (Nov. 8, 9 p.m.), celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Just for Laughs festival.
If you’re a movie aficionado, Hollywood Suite has a 4K restoration of “Tales From the Gimli Hospital” (Nov. 9), the feature film debut of Winnipeg auteur Guy Maddin.
Disney+ has “Save Our Squad With David Beckham” (Nov. 9), in which the soccer great tries to turn around the fortunes of an underachieving boys’ team in East London.
Apple TV+ has Season 3 of the workplace comedy “Mythic Quest” on Nov. 11.
NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.
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