Summary
A season one step below the fourth, with less domestic and international politics and more emphasis on family dynamics (which is also a matter of State), with the relationship between Prince Charles and Lady Diana taking center stage and a growing rivalry between the Prince of Wales and his mother (where the personal and the political are mixed) and what this means from today for an heir who had to wait another 30 years to access the throne.
Review
The fifth season of The Crown covers part of the 90s and has had to renew the staff of its cast, with the blow that this entails in some cases.
Undoubtedly, the recent death of Elizabeth II gives renewed interest to the series, which reveals that the internships between the queen and the heir Charles were already long-standing and that the wait for the Prince of Wales to access the throne should be prolonged no less. Than 30 more years. The mixture between the personal and the political in that conflict is developed in a very successful way.
The season is more focused on family dynamics, with the rivalry between Carlos and his mother (with an heir apparently interested in renewing the monarchy) and with several chapters dedicated to the crisis and dissolution of the prince's marriage to Lady Diana Spencer. There is less politics and less international politics - perhaps as a reflection of the declining importance of the United Kingdom on the world stage - and a more visible presence of the press and its operations around the royal family. One chapter (perhaps the most flowery) takes an unexpected leap back in time recounting a historical event with unexpected consequences in the present of the action.
As for the cast, the great Olivia Colman must give up the position to an Imelda Staunton who makes up an almost seventy-year-old queen firmly clinging to the throne and her privileges and those of the royal family and to continue managing the married and emotional life of her sons and daughters. As a matter of State, although sometimes she resembles a kind granny; on more than one occasion she affirms that the crown is a "lifetime commitment". Dominic West assumes a Prince Charles with concerns and ambitions and on a permanent waiting list; this time Princess Margaret falls on an exquisite Lesley Manville (who stars in one of the best chapters), Jonathan Pryce is a Prince Philip who is active in making some political decisions (the dynamics of the royal couple are always interesting and revealing) and Olivia Williams assumes the role of Camila Parker Bowles, the eternal lover of the crown prince. It is worth noting the very good composition that Elizabeth Debicki makes of a seductive, resolute and melancholic Lady Di, whose role as a relegated wife in the series The Night Manager was surely taken into account for her election. This part of the reign of Elizabeth II corresponds to the term of the Conservative John Major (Jonny Lee Miller) as Prime Minister.
In short, a season perhaps one step below Season 4, although with its usual acting excellence, tight dialogues, the expected private and official interviews where the queen exercises her power and the well-known production display. Put to choose between the chapters of this season, I prefer the Manville (Annus Horribilis), the titled Gunpowder and the last one.
A season one step below the fourth, with less domestic and international politics and more emphasis on family dynamics (which is also a matter of State), with the relationship between Prince Charles and Lady Diana taking center stage and a growing rivalry between the Prince of Wales and his mother (where the personal and the political are mixed) and what this means from today for an heir who had to wait another 30 years to access the throne.
Review
The fifth season of The Crown covers part of the 90s and has had to renew the staff of its cast, with the blow that this entails in some cases.
Undoubtedly, the recent death of Elizabeth II gives renewed interest to the series, which reveals that the internships between the queen and the heir Charles were already long-standing and that the wait for the Prince of Wales to access the throne should be prolonged no less. Than 30 more years. The mixture between the personal and the political in that conflict is developed in a very successful way.
The season is more focused on family dynamics, with the rivalry between Carlos and his mother (with an heir apparently interested in renewing the monarchy) and with several chapters dedicated to the crisis and dissolution of the prince's marriage to Lady Diana Spencer. There is less politics and less international politics - perhaps as a reflection of the declining importance of the United Kingdom on the world stage - and a more visible presence of the press and its operations around the royal family. One chapter (perhaps the most flowery) takes an unexpected leap back in time recounting a historical event with unexpected consequences in the present of the action.
As for the cast, the great Olivia Colman must give up the position to an Imelda Staunton who makes up an almost seventy-year-old queen firmly clinging to the throne and her privileges and those of the royal family and to continue managing the married and emotional life of her sons and daughters. As a matter of State, although sometimes she resembles a kind granny; on more than one occasion she affirms that the crown is a "lifetime commitment". Dominic West assumes a Prince Charles with concerns and ambitions and on a permanent waiting list; this time Princess Margaret falls on an exquisite Lesley Manville (who stars in one of the best chapters), Jonathan Pryce is a Prince Philip who is active in making some political decisions (the dynamics of the royal couple are always interesting and revealing) and Olivia Williams assumes the role of Camila Parker Bowles, the eternal lover of the crown prince. It is worth noting the very good composition that Elizabeth Debicki makes of a seductive, resolute and melancholic Lady Di, whose role as a relegated wife in the series The Night Manager was surely taken into account for her election. This part of the reign of Elizabeth II corresponds to the term of the Conservative John Major (Jonny Lee Miller) as Prime Minister.
In short, a season perhaps one step below Season 4, although with its usual acting excellence, tight dialogues, the expected private and official interviews where the queen exercises her power and the well-known production display. Put to choose between the chapters of this season, I prefer the Manville (Annus Horribilis), the titled Gunpowder and the last one.