Diana and me

In this fish-out-of-water comedy Toni Collette plays Diana Spencer, a down-to-earth rural girl who shares a birthday with her namesake, Princess Diana. After entering a competition in “Woman’s Day”, Spencer is overjoyed to win a five day trip to London for two and meet the Princess in person. Diana’s chance of a lifetime, however, is botched when a paparazzi photographer, scrambling for position, has them both evicted from the soiree. Thus begins a journey of self-discovery and identity for Spencer who not only falls for the photographer but also starts to question the worth of her life back in Australia and relationship with her working class fiancee. Filmed just prior to Princess Diana’ death, some scenes seem eerily prophetic such as the paparazzi stalking the Princess in a dangerous car chase. “Diana and me” proffers an exploration of the media machine that feeds off rumour and innuendo, and our culture’s fixation with the lives of celebrities; ultimately though the film is a romance, and timing of the subject matter aside, it is a fairly drab one at that, which draws on cultural stereotypes to lay the foundation for conflict (cultural and romantic) and its subsequent resolution.