MovieChat Forums > The Queen (2006) Discussion > The Stag scene........

The Stag scene........

posted 12 years ago by sambuddha-ghosh26
8 replies | jump to latest

I don't know whether it has been already discussed, but I would like to say that it is one of the most powerful scenes in the movie, and highly symbolic. The stag suddenly comes to the queen as a mirror, bring to light her own loneliness and weaknesses, wrapped by her own stubbornness and uptightness, while the stalkers ( in her case, the public and the media) are in hot pursuit together , "baying for her blood" (in Blair's words in the movie...). She was, therefore, suddenly sympathetic towards it and wanted it to escape from their hands. Anyone agree?

[–] joyfarrah 12 years ago

I think it is just confusing. I originally thought that the stag was meant to symbolise Diana - that she was the beautiful creature who was hunted to death, in the compay of a nouveau riche man. ANd when the queen tried to shoo the stag away to safety, she was having a moment of sympathy for Di, realising how scary her life had been.. but it seems that the writers have said that the stag DIDNT symbolise Di at all but the monarchy. Which just makes the moment seem selfish.. she's feeling pressured and hunted and wants to escape....

[–] whitespirit26 12 years ago

I think it's both: she and Diana were both hunted, and I think she related to her then. Plus, just because the stag represents to monarchy itself, old and hunted by people hawking for change, doesn't mean the moment was all about the queen alone. Diana was hunted because she was popular royalty.

[–] joyfarrah 12 years ago

But its not the same. Di was hunted becuase people wanted pictures of her and wanted to make money off her because she was beautiful charismatic and vulnerable. And eventaully she was hunted to her death...
The queen isn't being "hunted".. She IS suffering just then from being criticised by people who are fed up of the monarchy or disapprove of her behaviour and are "baying for change". So it does not seem to me to gel very well. When the queen sees the deer and tries to shoo it away from the hunters, to me that only makes sense if she sees it as a beautiful creature like Diana who was vulnerable and chased by people.. then when she sees it dead, later, she sees the identification with Diana even more, that she was hunted to death, taht she was "killed clumsily", and the deer was shot on some nouveau riche's estate, implying that Diana was in company with a nouveau riche man like Fayed when she died.
I dont thnink that the queen in RL saw any identification between herself and Diana. I think taht she saw Di as foolishly playing up to the press which got her a lot of attention but which then turned her into a hunted being..whereas she (Queen) has always avoided publicity as much as possible.

[–] whitespirit26 12 years ago

I highly doubt that the queen felt no compassion for Diana, and you're correct that that would have been a perfect scene to depict it.

[–] jjsjjs 12 years ago

Yes, I agree. That was where I began to cry. She was still following the same protocol but it seemed the rules had been changed without notifying her.

As for Diana, she knew what the rules were or apt to be, when she joined the club. If her goal was a cottage, picket fence and privacy she should have looked in another direction.

[–] whitespirit26 12 years ago

What she didn't know was that she'd be so immensely more popular than any other Royal, or expected to turn her head at her husband's affair.

[–] joyfarrah 12 years ago

True. She was very young when she married and I dont think she had any serious thoughts at that age. She expected some press attention but I dont think that ANYONE realised how massive it would be. And her unhappiness in her marriage led her then to court the press to put forward her point of view and to seek public affection to make up for the lack of it at home...and she was able to do that very successfully for a time. However she had created a monster in that you can't really use the press when it suits you and then say "No pictures" when you are tired of it or dont want it..

[–] spookyrat1 12 years ago

I think it is the most telling scene in a powerful movie. Whether the stag is seen as her or Diana or a combination of both is really immaterial. Of greater significance is the sympathy, compassion and humanity she reveals when weeping for the lost and the hunted and her urgings for the stag to escape the stalkers (the public and media as you've identified). It's quite wonderful!