'Diana' arrives amid controversy, but director Oliver Hirschbiegel insists it is first and foremost a love story
Drama, starring Naomi Watts, focuses on Diana's relationship with Hasnat Khan, a heart surgeon who has criticized the film
By Joe Neumaier / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Sunday, October 27, 2013, 2:00 AM
Naveen Andrews as Hasnat Khan and Naomi Watts as the Princess of Wales in "Diana," directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel.
“Diana,” opening Friday, is the first time the late Princess of Wales has been fully portrayed in a film. And, as befits its subject, it arrives with controversy, sincerity and conflict.
This is not a look at Buckingham Palace passion and politics. There’s no Prince Charles, and only a glimpse of Princes William and Harry. The woman of the title, played by Naomi Watts, and her emotions rule the day.
Also merely glimpsed is the jet-setting relationship with Dodi Fayed, who perished with Diana in a Paris car crash while being chased by paparazzi the night of Aug. 31, 1997. The film’s crux is Diana’s nearly two-year love affair with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (“Lost’s” Naveen Andrews), who she met in a London hospital in 1995.
Khan has said the film “lies,” despite his family’s involvement and filmmakers using Khan’s testimony to Scotland Yard in its inquiry after Diana’s death.
Then the British press took the film to pieces when it was released there last month. Yet director Oliver Hirschbiegel says the film, adapted from Kate Snell’s book “Diana: Her Last Love,” is first and foremost a love story, one he likens to the classic 1945 British film “Brief Encounter.”
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“Her story was a fairy tale [that became] like a Greek tragedy,” says Hirschbiegel. “Diana and Hasnat loved each other, yet they couldn’t make it work.
“It became clear people recall her for being difficult, helicopters flying over a playboy’s yacht, then the terrible accident. That alone is good reason to tell this story.”
In addition to the inquiry and Snell’s 2000 nonfiction account, screenwriter Stephen Jeffreys and others on the production spoke with Diana’s former secretary Patrick Jephson; her spiritual adviser, Oonagh Toffolo, and her friend Simone Simmons, all of whom are portrayed in the film.
“We talked to people who had even just one encounter with Diana,” says Hirschbiegel.
Buckingham Palace, unsurprisingly, gave no aid to the film, nor has commented since its release.
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Though William and Harry are seen briefly boarding a helicopter, Fayed arrives in the film after Diana and Khan have split up due to Khan’s family’s resistance and his own reservations about her fame.
“She was very isolated at that time,” says Hirschbiegel. “Some accounts say she and Dodi never had sex, though that can’t be proven, of course. Which is why I show what we know: them on his boat, on the phone. We know he had a drug addiction, but I didn’t want to get into that, out of respect.”
More prominent, and new, is Diana’s spiritual side.
This is not a look at Buckingham Palace passion and politics. There’s no Prince Charles, and only a glimpse of Princes William and Harry. The woman of the title, played by Naomi Watts, and her emotions rule the day.
Also merely glimpsed is the jet-setting relationship with Dodi Fayed, who perished with Diana in a Paris car crash while being chased by paparazzi the night of Aug. 31, 1997. The film’s crux is Diana’s nearly two-year love affair with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (“Lost’s” Naveen Andrews), who she met in a London hospital in 1995.
Khan has said the film “lies,” despite his family’s involvement and filmmakers using Khan’s testimony to Scotland Yard in its inquiry after Diana’s death.
Then the British press took the film to pieces when it was released there last month. Yet director Oliver Hirschbiegel says the film, adapted from Kate Snell’s book “Diana: Her Last Love,” is first and foremost a love story, one he likens to the classic 1945 British film “Brief Encounter.”
Naomi Watts stars in "Diana," which centers on the Princess of Wales' relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.
“Her story was a fairy tale [that became] like a Greek tragedy,” says Hirschbiegel. “Diana and Hasnat loved each other, yet they couldn’t make it work.
“It became clear people recall her for being difficult, helicopters flying over a playboy’s yacht, then the terrible accident. That alone is good reason to tell this story.”
In addition to the inquiry and Snell’s 2000 nonfiction account, screenwriter Stephen Jeffreys and others on the production spoke with Diana’s former secretary Patrick Jephson; her spiritual adviser, Oonagh Toffolo, and her friend Simone Simmons, all of whom are portrayed in the film.
Director Oliver Hirschbiegel and Naomi Watts on the set of "Diana." The film opens here on Nov. 1.
RELATED: PRINCESS DIANA BIOPIC PANNED BY BRITISH CRITICS
Though William and Harry are seen briefly boarding a helicopter, Fayed arrives in the film after Diana and Khan have split up due to Khan’s family’s resistance and his own reservations about her fame.
“She was very isolated at that time,” says Hirschbiegel. “Some accounts say she and Dodi never had sex, though that can’t be proven, of course. Which is why I show what we know: them on his boat, on the phone. We know he had a drug addiction, but I didn’t want to get into that, out of respect.”
More prominent, and new, is Diana’s spiritual side.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/movie-diana-arrives-controversy-article-1.1496634#ixzz2j3BEqCQ8
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