Elizabeth

It's a man's world...

It is 1554 in England and the devoutly Catholic monarch, Queen Mary (Kathy Burke) is determined to prosecute with vigour any expressions of the Protestant faith. However, her half sister, Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett), is a practising Protestant and the Queen's advisors, particularly the Earl of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston) urge her to arrest and try her sibling for treason. Mary has Elizabeth arrested and summons her to the palace. Since she is ill, she begs Elizabeth to stay true to the Catholic faith after her [Mary's] death. Elizabeth demurs. Upon Mary's death, she assumes power.

As a princess, Elizabeth had led a carefree existence with her ladies-in-waiting and her lover, Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes). As Queen, she is faced with numerous threats and dangers. Since she is a Protestant, the Catholic noblemen (including Norfolk) and abetted by the Pope (John Gielgud) regard her as a heretic (as well as an illegitimate usurper). Both Spain and France are plotting against her, and their ambassadors at her court (James Frain and Eric Cantona, respectively) are constantly attempting to gain advantage over each other. And, of course, Elizabeth is a woman, surrounded by strong-willed men; noblemen, bishops, soldiers who share the same dim view of a woman's abilities.

The French have an army in Scotland and Elizabeth , under pressure from Norfolk and other advisors such as William Cecil (Richard Attenborough), orders a disastrous attack against them. It is easily repelled by the French under the command of Mary de Guise (Fanny Ardent) who poses a threat to Elizabeth.

Her transformation from a princess, acting from the heart, to a queen (ruling with her head) is ably assisted by the utterly loyal Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), who ruthlessly weeds out any opposition to his queen, and constantly reminds her of her duties when she must make unpalatable decisions (which usually involves the removal of heads).

Shekhar Kapur's follow-up to Bandit Queen (1994) is a dramatic affair, as befits an account of the turbulent and violent beginning to Elizabeth the First's reign, and like his earlier film, is centred on the struggle of a determined woman to assert her independence. Like his previous film, the performance of the eponymous heroine is central to the story, and Cate Blanchett gives a splendid portrayal of the young queen, torn between her duty to her country and her own desires. Likewise, Geoffrey Rush is splendid as the shadowy Walsingham. (Rush and Fiennes also appear in Shakespeare in Love, but in Elizabeth, their roles are reversed; Rush plays the serious role while Fiennes has the frivolous role).

This period in Britain's history has produced a large number of movies over the years, most notably A Man for all Seasons (1966), The Virgin Queen (1955), Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) as well as the excellent BBC television series, Elizabeth R (starring Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth). However, Elizabeth seems to be inspired most by the French film, La Reine Margot (1994) which starred Isabelle Adjani , Daniel Auteuil and Vincent Perez. Like Elizabeth, the film featured the power struggle between the Catholics and Protestants noble families (albeit with a much higher body count), and the doomed affair between a Queen and a nobleman (Adjani and Perez). In fact, both films share the same historical character (the frivolous French prince Anjou). However, while La Reine Margot was an unashamedly big budget epic, Elizabeth plays more like a filmed Shakespearean play (and not one of the happy plays, at that). There is a lot of skulking and plotting in shadows which is not terribly dramatic (in a cinematic sense), and the tone remains grim throughout. The cast do their best, and the performances are generally very good throughout, particularly Rush and Eccleston as the strong-willed Norfolk. Eric Cantona, the former footballer, is well out of his depth, and though he doesn't bump into the furniture, he will be remembered for his football, on the strength of this performance.

However, Blanchett dominates this film and her performance is superb throughout. The best scenes are not the romantic encounters with Fiennes but the political plotting with Rush, and the film is at its most powerful when they share the screen.

Kapur's direction is restrained (especially when compared to the wholesale slaughter depicted in La Reine Margot), though he seems to have a predilection for overhead shots, and he seems to light every interior scene as if it were a tribute to Caravaggio. He also shamelessly lifts a scene from the Godfather (when Elizabeth orders the arrest/demise of a number of her enemies) but he's not the first director to do that.

The movie is not much use as a history lesson (if my encyclopaedia is to be believed), but the screenplay's changes to historical facts do not improve the plotting or pace of the movie. In fact, Elizabeth portrayal as a religious moderate in the film makes her enemies motive for removing her harder to understand, and in general, the political machinations become a little tedious at times. In addition, Walsingham's advancement from courtier to loyal lieutenant is never satisfactorily explained. Another plot element, which is never satisfactorily explored, is the relationship between the homosexual Walsingham and the 'virgin' Queen. It is an intriguing thought that the closeness of their bond is due to the fact that he will never desire Elizabeth in a way that would subjugate her, rather than purely on Walsingham's unswerving loyalty to the Crown. The film is more convincing and engrossing when focussed on Elizabeth's transformation, both as woman and queen. This is a tribute to Blanchett's ability as an actress, and her performance certainly deserves the Oscar nomination she has received.

Directed by Shekhar Kapur.

.Back to the top

.

.

© 1999 Stockholm Film Review. All Rights Reserved.