Elizabeth [Blu-ray]

I'll try to make this as succinct as possible, this is a film you will want to watch for the quality of the performances, the camerawork, the elaborate costumes and settings, and the intriguing, overstuffed story. However, if you were a student using this film as a study aid for a test on the initial reign of Elizabeth I, you'd flunk for sure! The truth is stretched so far that if it were a spring it would break and snap back with a loud BOING! What a pity, since the Tudor dynasty is strong enough to stand on the actual facts to spin an enthralling tale dramatically without all the phony embellishments.The story begins in the last years of the reign of the pathetic Queen Mary Tudor (Kathy Burke) of England who is slowly dying of a tumor. Obsessed with her Roman Catholic religion, abandoned by her husband King Phillip of Spain, ill advised by the powerful Duke of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston), and other nobility and clergy she is near breakdown both physically and mentally. She allows herself to be persuaded that her younger half sister the Princess Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett), heir to her crown, yet a Protestant is a possible traitor. Mary has Elizabeth transported and confined to the Tower of London. Although Mary has little love for Elizabeth, she cannot believe her guilty of treason and refuses to have her executed or disinherited. Elizabeth is eventually released to Hatfield one of her country estates where she lives quietly until Mary dies and she assumes the throne. However, her triumph is short lived as the fledgling queen is beset by serious problems, the treasury is empty, England threatened with an unfriendly neighbor, Scotland, the religious question divides the country, and she is pressured to marry and produce an heir. In addition she has to juggle an importunate lover Sir Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes), a secretary of state who seeks to govern her, Sir William Cecil (Sir Richard Attenborough), her enigmatic director of security Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), and the treacherous Duke of Norfolk who continues to be a malign presence.Front and center in this heady swirl of pageantry, sex, intrigue and melodrama is the star making performance of Cate Blanchett as the young Elizabeth. I'd never seen Ms. Blanchett before this film, and I was astounded at just how accomplished she was in developing her portrayal. Elizabeth Tudor was one of the most complex, brilliant women in history, a true Renaissance "Prince" in the Machiavellian sense. She was capricious, a mass of contradictions, formidably intelligent yet neurotic, cool headed but possessed of a fiery temper, charismatic yet kept most people at arms length. In turn she could be lion hearted, petty, shrewd, vain, generous, coquettish, diplomatic, bull headed, charming, devious and ruthless. Ms. Blanchett is able to evoke most of these characteristics as she undergoes Elizabeth's journey from the vulnerable, imperiled princess at the beginning to the iconic, majestic Gloriana at the end, without ever losing the audience's interest or sympathy. One of my favorite scenes is when Elizabeth is preparing to address a session of Parliament on the topic of religious conformity. She makes the queen endearingly human as she nervously rehearses her speech aloud by herself, forgetting pieces, making corrections, getting frustrated and angry the same as any college student preparing for their first lengthy speech in Effective Presentation 101. In terms of her appearance in the coronation scene at Westminster Abbey, clad in an ermine mantle over cloth of gold, jeweled gold crown perched atop her loose, flowing strawberry blonde hair Ms. Blanchett uncannily mirrors a famous portrait of Elizabeth in her coronation regalia. Her compelling, muti faceted portrayal heralded the arrival of an exciting, young actress brimming over with talent. Deservedly her achievement was rewarded with a Best Actress Oscar nomination and wins for both the Golden Globe and the British Film Academy Awards for Best Actress.Just as a fine diamond will sparkle more dazzlingly in the proper setting, an impressive supporting cast adds to the luster of Ms. Blanchett's portrait. Heading this list is another newcomer, Joseph Fiennes, who as Elizabeth's great passion Sir Robert Dudley, greatly resembles a younger version of an actual portrait of Dudley with his brooding, gypsy like looks, and acts with a feverish recklessness. Geoffrey Rush brings a cold blooded pragmatism to Sir Francis Walsingham, while Sir Richard Attenborough ably brings out the self-serving interest of Sir William Cecil. The malevolence of Christopher Eccleston's Norfolk makes him a truly dangerous adversary to Elizabeth. As the foppish, giddy Duke of Anjou, a would be suitor of Elizabeth, Vincent Cassel brings some moments of comic relief to the heavy drama. The hysterical Queen Mary of Kathy Burke, a woman haunted by her failures evokes pity. There is also a glimpse of the future James Bond, as Daniel Craig plays a small but key role as the Jesuit priest Father John Ballard. Finally, in one of his last roles, theatrical great Sir John Gielgud has a quick cameo as the Pope.The settings and costumes are opulent and magnificent, all the splendors of Elizabeth's court, a Renaissance tapestry brought to life, the musical score is effectively used to underscore the events unfolding on the screen. All were rewarded with Oscar nomiinations, a total of seven in all including Best Picture. However the only trophy won was by Jenny Shicore for Best Makeup.Regarding the extras, director Shekhar Kupur does a commentary, an insightful glimpse into the vision of the film, and there are two good featurettes, the better of the two is "The Making of Elizabeth", which is more developed, but the second one "Elizabeth" is also worth a look. Also when this DVD was released, the inferior sequel "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" was soon to open, there is a sneak peak at that as well.Though the film will certainly hold the average person's interest, the danger is that the uninformed viewer will take this very loose dramatic interpretation as the actual history of Elizabeth I and her early reign. So, by all means watch this if for no other reason than the glittering performance of Cate Blanchett, without it I would certainly drop the rating at least by one star. Please remember though to go into this cleared eyed with the definite understanding that this is the writer and director's dramatic interpretation of the Elizabethan Age, and not the way it really was. And, if you want to get a more accurate, balanced glimpse into a fascinating queen, try reading Alison Weir's excellent biography "The Life of Elizabeth I", published in 1998 the same year "Elizabeth" was released.

a great turning point in history when freethinking people over through the vile Catholic Church that had a death grip on Europe. If it were not for Elizabeth, the world probably would still be in a dark age today or would have been conquered by the Muslims or the Chinese.

Stunning, a never tiresome in historical rule, The Golden Age, so young and yet, Elizabeth the first, Was indeed, her fathers' daughter.This was the oscar performance, truly the one and only. Blanchet and all her great accomplished actors, costumes, setting truly a work of art and performance.Each time I watch, I see so much more!! Enjoy,

This was easily the best cast film of 1998, perhaps of the decade. Blanchett's Elizabeth is every bit as complex and, in the end, interestingly enigmatic, and a bit tragic, as was the historic Elizabeth I.Those who complain that this movie is filled with historic inaccuracies miss the CLEAR intension of the movie to be a pastiche, a tableaux, an impressionistic look at Elizabeth I's rise to power. (Notice how the open credits suggest tableaux, and the rather hard edits between scenes lend the movie, slighly, a quality of a collection of scenes, not necessarily meant to be tightly woven together. Also, for those who know their Church history, the opening scene sets the impressionistic interpreation the movie follows by dressing the Roman bishops in ALL black, even their mitres. No such liturgical vestment has ever existed, even for Requiem Masses...the Roman Church, in this movie, is The Bad Guy, and its representatives are costumed accordingly. This is not an historical mistake, it is an ARTISTIC CHOICE, and it works.)Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of the historical Lord, advisor, and protector of Elizabeth I is subtle and utterly amazing. And the writing helps developes the character well, too. Lord Wallsingham's homosexuality was rather an open, albeit quiet, secret w/in Elizabeth's court. It was also why he was trusted until the very end...Elizabeth knew his heart would always be unclouded by the various matrimonial schemes surrounding her and drawing in many of her other advisors. Thus the movie's clever and subtle consistency in first showing Rush's character in the company of a young man (in a bedroom), then showing him w/ another young, attractive man who works w/ him as an apprentice spy, and finally sending him off to engage with Mary of Scots in a way one could hypothesize a heterosexual man might be less able to. (I am vague in order to not give away too many surprises.)This movie is a feast for the eyes. It is dark, to be sure--black costumes, torch-lit corridors, and scenes at night abound--but, again, these are good impressionistic choices that set off the BRIGHT moments in the movie during which Elizabeth's early innocence and later power are communicated. I don't give this movie a full 5 stars only because of what were, I feel, some very poor decisions regarding the soundtrack (Mozart's Requium and Elgar w/in the same crucial scene! ) and a handful of spots where the pacing could have been picked up. All in all, however, this is a GREAT movie and a MUST HAVE.

Great movie Kate Blanchett is Elizabeth

This was bought for my husband but the whole family enjoyed this fascinating insight into early Elizabethan times. Cate Blanchet does not disappoint as the Virgin Queen. Her portrayal during both this first film & the sequel impresses this monarch’s determination to take care of her people, showcasing her intelligence & intuition whilst remaining feminine & beguiling when dealing with her advisors alongside their own machinations & ambitions. The sequel is equally fabulous. Both films show the more human & sometimes vulnerable side of Good Queen Bess & her complex & sometimes tempestuous relationships with advisors such as Frances Walsingham. Geoffrey Rush is fabulous as the brilliant spymaster & pioneer of historic politics who is relentless & brutal in his protection of Queen Elizabeth & his country. The films also pinpoint the religious tensions between Spain & Tudor England & the burden of crippling responsibility & power held by this bastion of a monarch. If you love Tudor history & sumptuous costumes & political intrigue, this one’s for you. NB: Try Wolf Hall for even more in depth political intrigue between Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn & her father’s brilliant advisor, Thomas Cromwell - Mark Rylance provides a very intelligent portrayal of Cromwell in this wonderful adaption of Hilary Mantells book & Claire Foy is superb as his ally / nemesis - Anne Boleyn.

We Brits have a fine time criticising the Americans for messing up our history when they make films, but clearly we are more than happy to play fast and loose with the truth when it suits us. One can forgive the odd anachronism - "We have no standing army" (a bit like everyone else, then, and by the way, what is a standing army?) - but implicating poor old Dudley in Norfolk's plot and retiring Cecil about thirty-five years before he gave up the ghost! (Not to mention having him played by an actor about thirty years too old.) The cross-dressing Duke of Anjou is brought in for a bit of colour (though the suitor was his brother and it happened twenty years later, but what the hell)The look of the thing is superb. Joseph Fiennes looks handsome enough to actually capture the heart of the Queen (which Daniel Massey did not look like when he played the role in "Mary, Queen of Scots", nor Robert Hardy in Elizabeth R) and Christopher Ecclestone swaggers like, well, a man who can really swagger.My criticism is that the story of Elizabeth is remarkable enough without messing about with it. Witness the David Starkey programme and, if you ever get them, the Elizabeth R videos with Glenda Jackson. (Though, to my mind, Cate Blanchett looks far more the part than Glenda.)

Im a major fan of of well made historical based movies, and this one is no acception.It follows Elizabeth (Cate) on how she went from girl to women and not only this in the era she was born in, but also having to face being Queen at such a young age.I feel Cate shows Elizabeth as a character amazingly, and if you like this movie you will certainly enjoy the follow up.

I love the Tudor dynasty & this film really captured the way Elizabeth must have acted when facing death from all corners. The only part I don't like is the fact that they make Mary I seem like an evil monster & the fact every time we see her she is in a very dark room, maybe for effect, but I don't like it. The rest of the film is excellent and is highly recommended for any Tudor fan.

SAFE READING - NO SPOILERS (If you don't know the story!)Thoroughly enjoyable, well-filmed and, generally, historically accurate, it is a film worth spending time on. Cate Blanchett is a very convincing Elizabeth. Although it could not capture the scale of the cinema, the DVD is of a high quality.Recommended