Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1994: Helen Mirren in The Madness of King George

Helen Mirren received her first Oscar nomination for her performance as Queen Charlotte in The Madness of King George.

The Madness of King George is a pretty good film that depicts King George III's descent into insanity and his eventual recovery, as well as the political intrigues that happened during that time. I wouldn't necessary call it a truly great movie and I think it takes its time before becoming truly interesting, but overall it's still a rather effective experience with some memorable highlights. I think Interview with the Vampire should have won the Oscar for Best Production Design, but I wouldn't say this movie was unworthy of its win. The supporting cast is uniformly fine, with the standout being Ian Holm who brings the right amount of energy to his role as Dr. Willis. Rupert Everett definitely gives a rather over-the-top performance but I think it works for the character he plays. 

As I expected, Queen Charlotte is not a particularly complex or original role. She embodies the archetype of the suffering but loyal and supportive wife: it's a sort of role that gives an actress the opportunity to show off her dramatic talent as it often gets a good deal of teary-eyed, emotional scenes but it's just as often a rather standard and limited role that is rarely in depth. The writing behind the character of Queen Charlotte is nothing truly remarkable and it suffers a bit from its predictability: Helen Mirren might not truly overcome the limitations of the role but thanks to her undeniable talent she manages to leave an extremely strong impact.

First off, Mirren is just perfectly cast in the role: her innate grace and elegance makes her an ideal choice for the role of a queen (no wonder she was nominated twelve years later for another performance as a member of the royal family) and even when she is doing or saying very little she still quietly impresses because of the calm dignity she brings to the role. She doesn't even share that much screen-time with Nigel Hawthorne (who plays the King) so the relationship between the two characters could have easily fallen flat considering how little time the actors have to develop it. Thankfully, the two actors share together a brilliant chemistry that makes the affection between the King and Queen never in question: on her part, Mirren is particularly excellent in their more intimate moments as she downplays the character's poise and refinement and instead shows a much warmer side of her - their few moments alone stand out because they are purposefully rid of the artifice that is present in their scenes at court and the two actors perfectly realize it, consequently adopting a more subtle acting style. Mirren also does a great job at conveying her character's growing concern over her husband's increasingly more puzzling behavior and she delivers a very convincing portrayal of a woman struggling to mask her worry behind her proper façade. In my opinion the highlight of her performance is the scene in which her husband accuses her of having an affair with their son: Mirren is heartbreaking as she portrays her character's shock and disbelief at the accusation as well as her plight as she witnesses her husband's insanity. She finds another extremely moving moment in the following scene when she begs her son to let her see her husband and he refuses: Mirren perfectly captures on-screen her character's disillusionement as she finally sees her son's callousness and viciousness and she impressively conveys her character's desperation due to her husband's apparent fate.

Her character unfortunately is a bit tossed aside throughout the rest of the movie but Mirren still finds some extremely powerful moments whenever the movie focuses on her. She is very touching at portraying her character's pain and I particularly love the brief moment in which she whispers "Mr. King" as she sees her husband being carried away - simply heartbreaking. But what I appreciate the most about her performance is the quiet strength she brings to Queen Charlotte, who is determined to have her husband back: there is a fire in her performance that makes it compelling and captivating to watch. Her reunion with her husband is another excellent moment in her performance made especially powerful by the excellent chemistry between the two actors - with a few exchanged looks they manage to convey more than many other actors do in over an hour. Towards the end of the movie Mirren is, again, tossed aside but she is still wholly solid in the role and her final scene with Hawthorne is a rather sweet, heartwarming one. 

To sum up, this is not an amazing performance because of the role's heavy limitations, but within those Mirren manages to thrive: she brings a royal elegance to the court scenes and a warm delicacy to the more intimate ones and she brings to life a potentially stock character. It's a nice, moving and remarkable performance from an outstanding actress. 

4/5