Diana

It's the last 2 years in the life of Princess Diana (Naomi Watts). She's separated and meets Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews). They fall in love in a secret affair. She would finalize the divorce. The open secret of the love affair would be front page news and he would break up with her. They would get back together but it would not last.

The romance doesn't come off right away. It's supposed to be love at first sight. However it's a weak start. Naveen is playing very cold and the relationship has very little heat. It does build up to a more reasonable romance but this is more of a tragedy. And it doesn't rise up to be a good tragedy. It's more of a beautifully shoot Lifetime movie. It doesn't help that there are some cheesy lines thrown in. I don't like to argue over accuracy about this movie. I doubt it's important enough to warrant the absolute truth. Naomi Watts gallantly tries to keep this from being a complete waste of time.

Fatigued dramatization of Princess Diana's complicated love life in the final years before her untimely death in a Paris car accident in 1997. Stephen Jeffreys' screenplay (inspired by Kate Snell's book, "Diana: Her Last Love"), asserts that Diana was on the rebound from a broken love affair with a Pakistani heart surgeon when she died, and was using Dodi Fayed (who was killed alongside her) to stir up publicity and perhaps a bit of jealousy. As seen from a distance playing the piano, or filmed from behind getting out of cars or walking down corridors, Naomi Watts bears a passing resemblance to Diana (her coif is the only thing which will evoke memories of the ill-fated Princess, and even this isn't very convincing when seen in close-up). It isn't necessarily Watts' fault--she gives the part a noble try--but no modern actress should be expected to walk in Diana's shoes and pull off a feat of magic (even the real Princess of Wales found the role difficult to play!). Perhaps it's too soon to reenact this sad bit of history. In any case, the attempt is both crass and pointless, with the jet-setting locales and elaborate camera set-ups only adding to the discomforting feeling of wasted money, effort and time. ** from ****

DIANA was almost universally panned on its release in September, and continues to attract negative comments from users. In truth it is not as bad as it was made out to be, even though some of the details seem implausible (would Diana (Naomi Watts) be able to leave Kensington Palace on her nocturnal visits to Hasnat (Naveen Andrews) so easily, without being discovered or hounded by reporters?) Nonetheless Oliver Hirschbiegel's film does a competent job of portraying the sheer loneliness of Diana's existence in Kensington Palace, surrounded by servants but with no one to love her. Although tremendously popular with people and the media alike, she cannot get close to anyone; and when she does, her love-affair is doomed. Watts does not resemble Diana facially, but she does a good job of conveying both the good and not-so- good sides of her character; her desire to help people, her feeling of alienation from all families, and her tendency to manipulate the media to suit her purposes. The film suggests, perhaps controversially, that Diana brought much of the press harassment on herself, especially when she asks a trusted photographer to take snaps of herself and Dodi Fayed (Cas Anvar), with the sole purpose of making Hasnat jealous, and thereby encouraging him to call her again after a long interval. She certainly knows how to portray herself on screen - as seen, for instance, in her celebrated interview with the BBC's Martin Bashir (Prasanna Puwanrajah), where she deliberately adopts a pose for the camera so as to obtain maximum sympathy from viewers. Nonetheless the film does suggest that she was more sinned against than sinning - a victim, perhaps, of the contemporary obsession with fame and celebrity.

This film took me by surprise due to all the negativity surrounding it. It actually turned out to be a decent film that I enjoyed. I've always loved Naomi Watts and she pulls of a great performance. So she doesn't look exactly like Diana - what actress does? Diana was very unique looking and Naomi is definitely the right person for the role.

Naveeen Andrews also pulled a strong performance and the film had good pacing and never got dull. The film was respectable to Diana and I liked how they ended the film.

Please do not judge the film before seeing it. The British press were never going to praise this film. Well done Naomi.. you should be proud of this film.

The last few years of Diana's tragic life post separation and divorce is depicted in this biopic. It is fascinating, voyeuristic and quite moving.

Good points: Naomi Watts acts well. She has a satisfactory Diana accent and good imitations of her facial expressions. She captured Diana's essence despite being much more petite in build and having more delicate facial features than Diana. Good effort to recreate famous photographic moments and wardrobe and clothes. Physical resemblance isn't a must. After all Helen Mirren doesn't look like the Queen but she still won an Oscar. So Naomi's portrayal should be nominated at least.

The story highlights Diana's efforts in the campaign against land mines. And it gives her life a meaningful legacy. The hounding of the press and photographers, and her intimate daily life are fascinating to watch. Also the tragedy of her personal isolation and quest for happiness are very moving.

There are some faults. The balance of the screenplay was off when it came to her romantic life. Other TV biopics have shown the disintegration of her marriage but not so much the later relationships. However in this movie too much was spent on the affair with Dr Hasnat Khan. Naveen Andrews wasn't dignified enough for the role of a specialist doctor. He seemed crude and coarse. Quite disturbing to see her in his squalid flat. More screen time on the relationship with Dodi Al Fayed would have helped show contrast and give a more complete picture about her last months. The scenes on the yacht and Ritz Hotel are nicely done and should have been longer.

Overall worth a watch for the perennially fascinating subject matter.