328 - Spencer

Eavesdropping at the Movies · Nov 27, 2021 · 36m

As he did with 2016's Jackie, director Pablo Larraín explores the life, image, and legacy of a woman publicly struck by tragedy in Spencer, a fabulistic biopic that imagines a Christmas holiday spent with the royal family at Sandringham, during which Princess Diana struggles with the knowledge of her husband's affair and the watchful eyes of both the royals and the paparazzi. We discuss our own relationships to both Larraín and Diana, and consider how the film draws on various aspects of the princess's public image in painting a portrait of a woman losing her mind. The film is set squarely…