brilliant Cate Blanchett

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2016)

It's 1554 England. Henry VIII is dead. The Catholic Queen Mary is burning Protestants. Her half-sister Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) is a threat to her crown and is imprisoned. Duke of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston) is the heavy-handed henchman desperate to get the dying Queen to sign Elizabeth's death warrant. Elizabeth is in love with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Joseph Fiennes). After gaining the throne, she faces challenges from Norfolk, Mary Queen of the Scots and others from outside the country. Her main counsel William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (Richard Attenborough) urges her to marry well to protect the throne. Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) returns from exile to be her adviser. After a defeat to Mary of Guise, she must consider Mary's wild nephew Duc d'Anjou (Vincent Cassel).
This is more than a costume drama. Director Shekhar Kapur brings an urgency to the proceedings. The deadly politics is more thrilling than a massive battle. Cate Blanchett is beyond brilliant. It's her first breakout role. She fits the role perfectly as a princess working her way to becoming a great queen.