A Queen Is Crowned (1953)

It's hard to imagine anyone but Sir Laurence Olivier providing the commentary for this frankly spectacular documentary that presents in glorious technicolour the epitome of pageantry and circumstance that was the Coronation of Elizabeth II. Bedecked in all of it's golden finery, Westminster Abbey provides a fitting - and reasonably well lit - setting for this astonishingly comprehensive coverage of a ceremony that had never before been covered for television. The narration is, as you might expect, suitably theatrical but it's never fawning. The use of poetry and history effortlessly and potently mixed together by a man who does really appear to be as steeped in the event as those inside this ancient church. It's also quite impressive how rousing and emotional a choir can be when in full flow within a building with such almost perfect acoustics. There are long periods without commen. The images and music doing the heavy lifting before the new Sovereign heads back to Buckingham Palace, in the rain, to throngs of people cheering, and with a few of her senior officers less adept on an horse than they might have wished! . Watching this, you realise quite quickly that though it symbolises a new, post-war, age of optimism and colour; it also sends a signal that the days of empire are finished. There are way more "guests" here whom her father might have considered "subjects" - and the whole thing leaves you with a sense, however anachronistic, that this ain't broke, so doesn't need fixing. That these colour images exist in such a complete fashion is remarkable, and regardless of any political views that might exist about the rights and wrongs of moncarhy, this is as close to a photographic work of art as I've seen.