True Stories 50: 20s—Spencer

Famous people are the life blood of many true stories that make it to the screen. And you can understand why. There’s a built-in recognition factor if I write a film about the life of Richard Nixon, but if I write the story of a housewife who changes her town’s school system… well, most people won’t know that woman. And sure, my goal in writing it might be to wake them up to who she is and what she did in that town—but it will be very much an uphill climb to get people onto the movie seats [or tuning in to a streaming channel] to watch this film about an unknown person.

So we’re pretty much stuck with famous people and well known incidents when it comes to putting those kinds of true stories up onto the screen. And you can’t get more famous than the late Princess Diana. Her life was the stuff fairy tales are made of—until it wasn’t.

Spencer [2021], by Steven Knight, is a film that falls into the genre of speculative fiction. But, as it’s about real people—people we know—it’s speculative reality fiction, isn’t it? Because we know Diana, Charles, her kids, the whole family she’s thrust into as the wife of the future king. And we know the trajectory—and tragedy on multiple levels—of her story. But is there any hope of really knowing her? And that’s where this film shines—at least, in its particular interpretation of who Diana is.

Take a look at the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WllZh9aekDg

We see the pomp and circumstance she has to live with, and we see her attempting to distance herself from all of it. And, as this is a story we all know the end to, the attraction of the film is in seeing how she comes to the conclusion to leave, and what led her to that decision.

If you’re thinking about portraying someone’s life on the screen who is incredibly well known, perhaps this speculative fiction approach isn’t a bad one. Because you can’t know what happened behind closed doors, can you? All you can do is try to understand the situation, the people involved, and imagine how it all went down. You speculate that your take is the right one.

But it’s a big risk. If people don’t agree with your interpretation, they either will bad mouth the movie or just won’t come at all. And as a writer trying to break in, you have no track record to convince a studio or producer to take a chance on making film about people/events that you say probably happened this way!

So while I admire this film—I think it did quite a good job of capturing what might have been—I doubt I’ll ever write a speculative film about a famous person. It’s a tough one.

Next week another film that, despite the title, is not about royalty: King Richard.

Copyright © Diane Lake

28May23

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com