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The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Keith Peddie

Queen and country?

To see a very intimate film ("The Queen") about the nation that one lived in for more than 40 years is an interesting experience. On one hand, one is a voyeur; on the other, one says, "Ah, yes!" That's how it is.

Since I am a total, absolute fan of Helen Mirren, I knew I would enjoy the film even if she just walked around, silently, for two hours on screen. Of course, she is a consummate actress and, to my untrained eye, did not put a foot or even a face muscle wrong. The film is worth the price of admittance just for her.

But, I often wonder about these films that purport to show us something unknowable. For example, "Amadeus" was just a figment of an imagination, "The Da Vinci Code" the same.

Interesting ideas, good stories, but were they true?

In the same vein, did we hear the verbatim conversation that took place between the characters in the film? I think not. No doubt the queen (Britain's figurehead) could well have been condescending to Tony Blair (the prime minister, the power literally behind the throne), but it surely is one person's guess as to what was said and, more importantly, how.

The film certainly brought out (albeit tangentially) the then-very unusual grief of the Anglo-Saxons, not known for open weeping, short of losing a limb or a family member.

I well remember calling my friends in London a few days after the princess' death. I was told that the whole country was in mourning. One, a good friend for many years, had closed his business, taken to his bed and sobbed inconsolably for three days. Even his family could not understand his response. Paradoxically, he was not in the habit of visiting his widowed mother living only a few miles away and when she became seriously ill did not go at all.

Even as an Englishman, I cannot explain such anomalies. I suppose that eventually psychology will branch out into psychoanalysis of entire nations when such matters will be explained or at least dissected interminably. But until then, do see the film. It will give you a very interesting snapshot of a statue crying.

The writer lives in Greensboro.