Elizabeth
[2.5/4.0]
Being a monarch during times of prosperity and stability is safe and easy, but when there is discord and dissatisfaction then it can be treacherous. This is the story of the ascent to the throne by Henry VIII's daughter, Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett). Although Henry had broken with the Catholic Church, his daughter, Mary, who followed him reestablished Catholicism as the official faith. She earned the nickname "Bloody Mary" for her relentless persecution of Protestants, usually having them denounced as heretics and burned at the stake. Mary's half sister, Elizabeth, is next in line for the crown, but she is a Protestant and thus a potential threat, so Mary has her imprisoned in the Tower of London, and Elizabeth's survival is placed in doubt. Ultimately Mary's health fails and an almost unprepared Elizabeth becomes the ruling monarch. However, her reign is anything but certain. The country is bankrupt, the military is weak, foreign powers are threatening, and there is internal dissension.
Being a novice at governance, Elizabeth is forced to rely on the opinions of her advisors. The elder Sir William Cecil (Richard Attenborough) is stressing that the safest action Elizabeth can take to stabilize her reign would be to marry a foreign royal to establish a political alliance and to produce an heir. However, Elizabeth's love interest is her longtime friend Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes). Beyond that, she does not wish submit herself to another man, and also wants England to remain strong and independent. To help stabilize her authority, Elizabeth has the help of her advisor Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), who through guile and an intelligence network, seeks to find and destroy all who threaten Elizabeth's reign.
Elizabeth's fate is known through any reading of English history. Not only does she survive the unsteady early days of her rule, she remains fiercely independent, she never marries or produces and heir, and under her reign, England enters a "Golden Age" and once again flourishes. The film ends when an experienced and hardened Elizabeth establishes her power base, and it stops short of her rebuilding of England. And although the manner in which that was accomplished would have been interesting to see, the drama of her ascendence to power is compelling enough to provide enough substance to anchor the story.
One difficulty of telling a historical story is the necessity to condense several different occurrences from a large time period into a story that fits the running length of a film. The result of this is that characters and events can become oversimplified in their presentation. This film has this problem with several characters. Queen Mary is portrayed as nothing more than a repulsive and spiteful boor. In his introductory scene, Walsingham is presented as a ruthless and cold-hearted, and the character never evolves beyond this single dimension. As an advisor, he is conveniently all-knowing and all-powerful. Rush does not even play the character with anything besides a single, stoic facial expression. Elizabeth's royal French suitor, Duc d'Anjou, is presented as an exaggerated, foppish buffoon.
Although the direction of Shekar Kapur is mostly successful, there are times when his directorial flourishes become distracting. The injection of jump cuts when Elizabeth is practicing her speech before Parliament is jarring because it does not fit with the mood of the rest of the film. The washing out to white between the scenes when Elizabeth learns of her inheritance of the crown served no purpose, and only made the direction apparent.
The strength of the film is the well written and well performed role of Elizabeth. Blanchett credibly shows the character's evolution from a strong willed but naive young woman, to the capable and inspired monarch who would lift her country to prominence. Ultimately, the real story of Elizabeth is a fascinating one, and the film successfully translates it to the screen.
Recommended. The film is hampered by exaggerated characters and gaudy direction, but tells the interesting story of a fascinating individual.
(c) 1999 Murali Krishnan The Art House Squatter http://ArtHouseSquatter.com
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