Customer Reviews

The Queen & I

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I watched the movie. I did not like the filmmaker approach. In the begining she did not truthfully disclosed her past and her intention of making such a film. At times she was rude and asking irrelevant and unimportant questions.Filmmaker is still living in her childhood fantasy of an ideal world which will never be. Queen Farah once again proved to be an outstanding woman in the history of Iran; despite all the hardship and suffering through these 30 years. I admire her courage, kindness and benevolence. Long live the Queen.

This film is outstanding Nahid Persson Sarvestani was one of the young people who opposed the Shah but quickly became disillusioned by the Clerical regime that replaced him coming face to face with the old system she loathed in her youth and goes through the journey of seeing her history from that point of view. So many myths surround the downfall of the Pahlavi Dynasty in Iran and this documentary puts a human face on it. It was interesting seeing Ms Sarvestani now a middle aged mature woman meeting the Shah's former supporters, the former Crown Prince and seeing the revolution from their point of view.

Loved to watch this documentary. Even though I am not Iranian, my husband is. I have always heard his family talking about Queen Farah and the great life they had in Iran before the Iranian revolution. It is obvious from the most recent revolution attempt in Iran (after the election), that the Iranian people are not happy with the actual government of Iran. I was very moved by Queen Farah life story. Yes, people suffered in Iran during that time from poverty, but poverty happens everywhere in the world. I was in Cuba years ago. The people there suffered a lot. I am from Brazil. Lots of rich and poor people. But this is not only a 3rd world country story. I currently live in the US. There is not one day that goes by that I don't see a homeless person with a card box in his hand begging for money. Is this a reason to have President Obama and his family out of the US to live in exile? If this is the way it should be, no country would have a government. I hope to see Queen Farah and her family back to Iran one day. Hope to see the Mullahs paying for the horrendous crimes they commit.

The "Queen and I" is a former communist and successful documentary filmmaker's attempt to acquaint us with the former Queen of Iran. What I liked about it was it showed the humanity of both the subject and the filmmaker and how they had both survived some awful situations, albeit under quite different circumstances. I also appreciated the overview of recent Iranian history, with particular focus on former Queen Farah and her late husband, the former Shah.

However, this film was not really a substantive documentary about the former Queen Farah. Rather it is a superficial and placating account of a short period spent with Farah in Paris that has the single virtue of perhaps providing the filmmaker closure on her younger brother's senseless death.

The filmmaker has every right to be angry with the former Queen yet she is charmed and touched by the woman behind the title. I had a hard time with this because I really disliked the Queen and found her to be fairly self-absorbed and insensitive. She is so removed from reality and historical accuracy that when the documentary filmmaker movingly recounts how she, the filmmaker, had endured real poverty and suffering as a child - her father had tuberculosis and her mother had to work 15 hour days to support her 8 children - the Queen says, "Your mistake was that you should have written me a letter and I would have helped you" as if the filmmaker, then a child, should have borne the responsibility for such social injustice.

I really liked the filmmaker, or at least that part of her personality we get to know in the film, but I was shocked that she even wanted this project. The filmmaker gives us all a lesson in compassion. Her ability to forgive is quite astonishing.

To me, the Queen comes off as nothing more than a woman who has never lived a real life and due to her limited experience with what challenges regular people face, she remains a protected and spoiled child with her lavish lifestyle in tact. She says she cares deeply about her country and its people yet she spends her time and energy engaged in trivial activities from one of her luxurious homes - usually in her Paris flat - being waited on hand and foot by servants.

Her lack of analysis of the terror inflicted on the populace by her husband is simple denial and it made me very uncomfortable. However, it explains how people can commit atrocities and then walk away, as if the blame always lies elsewhere.

The Queen and I is a real movie which is showing and saying the aspects of the queen about how revolution happened and the results.
The movie is very close to reality,it showed the personality and character of Queen Farah.

This is an absolutely FANTASTIC DVD about her imperial majesty Empress Farah Pahlavi and her life story. It is a very touching and fantastic DVD! I recommend buying this DVD !

The subject of Farah Pahlavi is a difficult one to tackle. Should she be viewed as one associated with the evils of her husband's regime? Or is she a person independent of her husband, to be judged on her own record? The filmmaker begins her journey as one firmly believing in the first question. But soon she fumbles because the Farah that she sees before her is neither the fairy tale Farah of her childhood, nor the evil Farah of the post-Revolutionary propaganda. So after spending some time with Farah, the filmmaker moves towards the second question. I thought the filmmaker captured the ambivalence that most people feel towards Farah very well. At one point in the film she says: "I have become a Farah follower. But I will never be a monarchist." We can dislike the Shah and his regime, and still like Farah the person, even though she is, not surprisingly, a Shah apologist. The movie shows two women of vastly different backgrounds and political leanings become friends, as they sense that they share similar dreams and similar personal tragedies. In the end, they are both just two human beings trying to cope with events far bigger than any one person. I enjoyed the movie because the filmmaker did not stick to her preconceived notions. She allowed the subject of the movie to shape the film as much as she was shaping it. So the title is truly apt, because ultimately, this move was both about and by "the Queen and I."

I rate this a 1 solely for the stupidity and amature execution of this film by the "filmmaker", but, a true 5 for the subject matter of the film. The only good thing about the making of this movie was for the viewers, to yet again, witness the grace and beauty of Queen Farah. I honestly cannot believe that she would grant this so called "filmmaker" the pleasure to be in her presence. I found her to be rude, dishonest, disloyal to IRAN and frankly came off very offensive with her LACK of class, LACK of proper attire in the presence of the Queen, and a true LACK of dignity and respect. She is one of those that assisted in making Iran what it has turned in to. She challenges the times of the Shah? What about now? To lie to the Queen about her past and have impure ulterior motives and to address the Queen as "Farah" after blatantly asking how the Queen would like to be or should be addressed was an utter disgrace and painful to watch.

I have a passing interest in Iranian politics and enjoyed this film. However, as a documentary it leaves much to be desired. The film starts off really slow. The first several interview scenes simply show the queen and the interviewer sitting nervously with each other. I understand the point was to show them building trust, but it just took too long. The context, including a short recounting of the Shah's life and their marriage, comes a bit later, perhaps a bit too late for viewers with little familiarity with Iran. For most of the first hour or so, the film is kind of chatty and follows the Queen in her life in exile. There isn't much to show that she's anything but a rich socialite. Still, this documentary is a valuable look at the queen and has historical value. Overall, 3.5 stars.