Elizabeth

Rating:
Summary: Elizabeth Reborn
Review: Nothing compares with Cate Blanchett's performance of one of England's favorite monarchs. Although the film, like many other period movies such as Braveheart, is not completely accurate, the experience of this film is overwhelming. One is introduced to the climate of the Tudor Age, the issues, and the main cast of characters. I consider this portrayal of Elizabeth I's reign to be one of if not the most powerful ever made. This film has remade Elizabeth into a more believable and understandable person for the 20th Century. It is an absolute must for those who have an appreciation for period films and a passion for England's glorious past.

Rating:
Summary: Gloriana
Review: This movie is one of the closest recounts to the actual life of Elizabeth I. I have watched this movie many times and am delighted everytime I watch it. There are some discrepencies in the relationships that Elizabeth had during her early years as Queen of England, but overall it is truly a delight to watch. The star stacked cast as well as Cate Blanchett's wonderful portrayal of Elizabeth I make this movie a must see for any fanatic of the Enlgish Royals! If you enjoyed this movie you must see A & E's recount of Queen Victoria's life with Prince Albert in Victoria & Albert.

Rating:
Summary: CAPTIVATING!
Review: I saw this movie in the theater by myself because who else is interested in Tudor History, right? Well, it was their loss. This film pulls you in from beginning to end. Cate Blanchett at Elizabeth I is simply ingenius casting. Elizabeth has been portrayed in so many other films by marvelous actresses in their later years that we seem to have a picture of a rather stiff and cartoonish type monarch when we think of Elizabeth. Cate dispels this image from the start. The story begins prior to Elizabeth's accession to the throne and the harsh treatment she bore from her sister Mary. As Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, caused the banishment of Mary and her mother Catherine of Aragon, it is easy to see why Mary feels threatened by this young girl. Elizabeth barely makes it through the later years of Mary's reign with her head.

Joseph Fiennes does a marvelous job of playing Robert Dudley. The Queen's Master of the Horse, and as many historians believe, her lover. The love story is entertainingly expanded upon as well as the various plots against Elizabeth's life by catholic followers. Elizabeth's flirting way of holding her privy counsel at bay on the issue of marriage are in excellent evidence here. She bravely proclaims "There will be one Mistress here and NO Master!" The fifth star is only withheld here for historical innaccuracy, but it in no way hampers the flow or entertainment value of this lavish and lovely film. Cate deserved the Academy Award for this. Her performance far surpasses Gwyneth Paltrow's in Shakespeare in Love, which is who she lost to that year. Her performance, in a role that has been played by some of the greats, is both fearless and vulnerable all at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!
Review: I love this movie! Cate Blanchett did the BEST portrayal of Elizabeth I ever! She is an amazing actress and it was a crime that she didn't win the Oscar for this movie. Gwenyth Paltrow didn't even come close to Cate Blanchett's flawless performance. This movie is a MUST SEE!!

Rating:
Summary: Edutainment
Review: All historical innaccuracies aside (can you say 'Braveheart' anyone?), this is an immensely enjoyable film, and I can say that in all honesty, I generally can't stand watching period pieces.

Special mention in this film has to go obviously to Cate Blanchett, who deserved her Oscar nomination and then some. But Richard Attenbourough and Geoffrey Rush are equally good, and the costume and set design is nothing short of phenomenal. Watch this film on a big screen and you'll feel like you're a wall in the castle. It's that real.

I loved this film for the same reason I love "I, Claudius". The actors are all on their marks, and they're never found wanting for conviction. A must-own for fans of historical drama, and a damn good popcorn film for those who're waiting for the next Michael Bay film.

Rating:
Summary: What more can be said?
Review: Brilliant Acting! Exquisite cinematography! Great historical tale about a truly inspiring (morbid though she may be) character! Sex. Violence. Love. Obsession. This picture has everything in it that a good film should have. Highly reccomended!

Rating:
Summary: Elizabeth from princess to icon: One mistress and no master.
Review: Among Great Britain's monarchs, two queens stand out in particular: Elizabeth I. and Queen Victoria. Both came to power at extremely young ages, and at times of political instability which would have set the odds of survival against any new ruler, but particularly so, against a woman. Both beat those odds in ways few people would have foreseen: They not only persevered but ruled for a nearly unparalleled long time, and during their reign achieved to both strengthen England's economy and international stance and give new direction to its society. We have long come to identify their reign as "the Victorian Age" and "the Elizabethan Age," respectively. Yet, while "Victorian England" is an expression often used synonymously with moral conservativism, Elizabeth I. fostered not only the development of science but also the theater and arts; providing fertile ground for the works of Shakespeare, Marlowe and many others. (Influenced by her husband, Queen Victoria supported the exploration of new scientific developments, but the dominant force of her formative years as a ruler was conservative prime minister Lord Melbourne, who once advised her not to read Dickens because his books were "full of unpleasant subjects.") And while Queen Victoria derived strength from her long, stable marriage to German-born Prince Albert, Elizabeth I. resisted the pressure to marry at all and became known as "the Virgin Queen."

Looking back at Elizabeth's reign, we see less a woman than an icon; the symbol of what her rule has come to stand for. Shekhar Kapur's 1998 movie explores, as the director explains in the DVD's "Making of" feature, the making of that icon; the formative processes, influences and personalities surrounding the young princess's ascent to the throne and her first years in power - and of course, at the center of it all, Elizabeth herself, magnificently portrayed by Cate Blanchett (who should have won the Academy Award for her performance). The princess, as this movie sees her, certainly knew her insecurities about her role in life and in English politics, her people's expectations, and the intrigues of her own court. But she was also, as Kapur has her affirm to her protector and spymaster Walsingham, "[her] father's daughter" - the proud, headstrong daughter of Henry VIII., who quickly learned from her mistakes and assumed true leadership early on. Having inherited a country deeply torn in religious conflict, and having barely survived the machinations of the court of her Catholic half sister and predecessor, "Bloody" Mary I., to find her, the "heretic," guilty of treason and execute her, one of Elizabeth's first acts in power was to have parliament pass the Act of Uniformity, reestablishing the Church of England formed by her father. And while she respected her Secretary of State Sir William Cecil, she eventually came to realize that his advice was overly guided by the hope that she marry and produce an heir to secure her kingdom, and she reluctantly retired him into his status as Lord Burghley.

Indeed, there was not one single man who dominated Elizabeth's life but several, and Kapur was able to secure an extraordinary cast to surround then-newcomer Blanchett. Richard Attenborough plays Sir William Cecil with a humility and quiet dignity that few besides him could have brought to the screen. Christopher Eccleston bristles as the powerful, ambitious Catholic Duke of Norfolk, that key player from the inner circle of Mary's court who retained his position after her death and became the one member of Elizabeth's council most dangerous to her reign. Joseph Fiennes reprises his role as a burning-eyed, handsome lover from the almost simultaneously released "Shakespeare in Love" (which, while a splendid movie in its own rights, eclipsed much of the limelight that "Elizabeth" would so richly have deserved), playing the man most closely romantically linked to Elizabeth, "Sweet" Lord Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, whose love for her - at least, as this movie would have it - is ultimately his own undoing. "You're still my Elizabeth," the erstwhile princess's lover insists at a ball some time after her coronation. "I am no man's Elizabeth," the queen retorts, and affirms for all the court to hear: "I will have one mistress here, and no master!"

Most impressive of all the queen's men is Geoffrey Rush's portrayal as her protector, secret advisor and supreme spymaster Francis Walsingham, the creator of what much later became Britain's MI-5, whose role Rush approached, inspired by the description Kapur had given him, much like the Hindu god Krishna, as "a very wise man who can kill people ... while smiling," as he explains in the DVD's "Making of" featurette - an ability which his young, unfaithful companion in exile learns to know as much as powerful Marie de Guise (Fanny Ardant), aunt to Elizabeth's would-be suitor Henri d'Anjou and mother of her later rival Mary of Scots; who had refused Henry VIII.'s suit remarking "I may be big in person, but my neck is small," only to find herself terminally surrendering to Walsingham's unmatched cunning.

Key to any great historical movie is the authenticity of its production design, and "Elizabeth" overflows with the rich and luxurious colors of the queen's renaissance court and its balls, gowns and pageants. But there are also the vast, high stone halls of the palace and the royal cathedral, symbolizing the perpetuity of the monarchy reestablished by Elizabeth I. At last, when contemplating a statute of the Virgin Mary, Elizabeth wonders whether, to perpetuate her reign, she must be "made of stone;" and it is again Walsingham who answers: "Aye, Madam, to reign supreme, [because] all men ... must be able to touch the divine here on earth" and as yet, "they have found nothing to replace [Mary]." And so, this movie tells us, the icon we all know was created - and like a nun married to God, a dehumanized Elizabeth reenters her council and holds out her hand to her old Secretary of State: "Observe, Lord Burghley: I am married to England!"

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Blanchett in an Awful Movie
Review: Cate Blanchett was absolutely brilliant in this movie. But the movie itself was a series of gratuitous, gruesome, violent scenes with not much plot or focus in between them. I rented it and turned it off about 2/3 of the way through because it just wasn't worth my time, despite Blanchett's great performance.

Rating:
Summary: A LUSH MEDIEVAL TAPESTRY...
Review: This is a magnificent film with a stellar cast giving award calibre performances. Cate Blanchett deservedly won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama. She is truly the heir apparent to Bette Davis and Glenda Jackson, both having portrayed Elizabeth I in memorable performances. Cate Blanchett now joins their ranks with her own incredible performance in that role.

The movie begins in 1554, in an England that is bitterly divided on the issue of religion. Ruled by Mary Tudor, Henry the VIII's oldest daughter and a devout catholic, protestants are being burned at the stake as heretics, giving rise to Mary's popular name, "Bloody Mary". Reviled by her Spanish husband and in poor health, Mary is badgered by her advisors to do away with Elizabeth, her considerably younger, bastard half-sister. This Mary will not do, no matter how pressed. Still, Elizabeth lives her life with the sword of Damocles hanging over her head at all times.

When Mary dies, Elizabeth takes the throne, no more than a mere slip of a girl wearing the crown of England. Her advisors look to guide her, and she follows their lead, until she determinedly takes control of the reins of power, and follows her own counsel with the help of her most trusted advisor, Francis Walsingham, played to cunning perfection by Geoffrey Rush. With his help, she is able to fend off the ever present threats to her hold on the throne of England, not just from her own courtiers, but from Marie de Guise, Queen of Scotland, deliciously played by Fanny Ardent.

In the film one sees the transformation of Elizabeth take place. She goes from being a young woman, really no more than a girl, who is in love with Robert Dudley, the Duke of Leicester, dashingly played by Joseph Fiennes, to the commanding woman history would ultimately come to know as the Virgin Queen. Confronted cruelly with the politics of intrigue and betrayal, she learns that to stay in power and effectively lead her people, she must rule with her head and not with her heart. She succeeded brilliantly, leaving a rich legacy that would be remembered as the Elizabethan era.

This film is an absolute masterpiece. While not quite historically accurate, the film is a broad overview of what happened when Elizabeth first took the reins of power. It also attempts to explain why Elizabeth I would be known as the Virgin Queen. This film is a lush and lavishly costumed medieval tapestry that is woven with great care. It is, without a doubt, a magnificent movie that will hold the viewer in its thrall. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: To be a virgin to marry one's country
Review: This film is a masterpiece about a great queen of England, Elisabeth I. She became queen nearly by accident after a brother who tried to eradicate catholicism after Henry VIII in the most austere vision ever thought by anyone, then a sister who tried to eradicate protestantism in blood and fire. She understood that the better interest of the country was to stand on its own legs and to defy any alliance with Spain, France or the Pope. She decided that England was above everything, every personal and particular interest. She got rid of all those who were plotting either on the French side or the Spanish side and she declared herself married once and for all with England itself and no other person at all. She became the Virgin Queen in the blood of the plotters and she managed to make the interest of England the only objective of her reign and of all those who wanted some peace at home and abroad. She built a kingdom and a monarchy that became the strongest in the world and on the oceans, a monarchy that was strong enough to survive the terrible seventeenth century, the Stuarts and the Puritan Revolution. Her self-sacrifice was the cement that made this country what it still is. She is probably the real founder of England as we know it : proud, strong and inspired with a world vision that goes beyond imperialism and contemplates the virtues of freedom, justice and human rights, even if she used some tools and methods that were not always perfectly clean : she only hit at the head of all the plots and prevented any civil war, hence protecting the people and their welfare.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan