Elizabeth

I sometimes have a major 'beef' with movies of this sort; not at all the movie's fault, to be sure -- the tendency on the part of the public, who has not read, and will not bother to read afterward, the history of England during the Tudor period, to see which parts are based on fact, and which parts are dramatic license. From the very start of the film, I knew that this would be largely a fictional dramatisation -- upon the death of Henry VIII, in the credits, Mary assumes the throne. What happened to the poor boy King Edward? We skipped an entire reign! To say nothing of Lady Jane Grey. Of course, she had her own movie (also one of great liberty from the actual historical events)...

The country was torn between Catholic and Protestant sentiments, as the film suggests, but these were not so neatly resolved (and in fact continue to this day to beset the Church of England, now a small minority of religious in England, with problems); Elizabeth, because she would not proclaim allegiance to the Catholic faith unreservedly, had a difficult time finding a bishop to perform the coronation (she had in the end the bishop of Carlisle).

In this film, all of the intrigues that beset Elizabeth are collapsed and promulgated in the character of a few (Spanish, French, and Papist agents) all at the beginning of her reign. In fact, Elizabeth was in the process of securing her throne throughout most of her reign. The love affair with Lord Robert Dudley is most likely true in fact, if not in the form presented here. Walsingham was in fact her trusted ally; the bishops were in fact a problem caste. Sussex, the Lord Chamberlain as the plotter for the throne is an interesting detail -- to this day, the descendants of Sussex continue as Lords Chamberlain, and remain Roman Catholics, and must petition the Pope regularly to continue in their duties (a permission never denied).

Perhaps the best facets of this film are in the mood, or style of the film. Going from uncertainty to certainty, growing in confidence and ability, going from being a girl who would be queen to a formidable woman who reigns, this is presented well in the space of a few hours. The settings, dark and medieval, not yet reflecting the glory of renaissance England which was about to be born under Elizabeth's reign; the costumes elaborate and strangely modern and medieval simultaneously (as is the story!); these things combine to make a great movie of power and intrigue.

The equation of the Virgin Queen with the Virgin Mary is an interesting one, at the conclusion of the film, as Elizabeth becomes wedded to England. In fact, she had many suitors (many of whom lost their heads over her, literally), and the idea of 'virgin' is a rather different one today than during Elizabeth's time. Of course, the Tudors were always a rather randy bunch, and Elizabeth was in many ways, as she proclaimed in her own words, 'my father's daughter'. In the end, Elizabeth remains the only unmarried monarch of marriage-able age since William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror.

The musical score, haunting and suspenseful, meditative and sombre, and finally triumphant, is memorable, but is in fact better experienced apart from the film, where the imagery and dialogue often overpowers the music.

Acting is masterful, astutely played by Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush (who was nominated for the Academy Award for another Elizabethean period movie, Shakespeare in Love), Joseph Fiennes (who played Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love), and Richard Attenborough. John Gielgud has a brief cameo appearance as the pope, but alas is fairly inconsequential in this film.

In the end, 'Elizabeth' is a victorious movie.

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