Elizabeth: The Flawed Virgin Queen

Rating: Null/10 (8 May 1999)

This biopic on Elizabeth of Tudor daughter of Henry VIII has the visual elegance of a fine film. However, it is flawed with (at least the Home Video cut I saw) badly identified continuity sequences and characters in the earliest sections of the film. Thus, the narrative, the telling of the story, may leave some viewers a bit discontented. The narrative takes us from the pre-recognition and coronation of Elizabeth, who does not know whether she is going to be put to death or made Queen, to the consolidation of her power through the assassination of her enemies. At this writing, I have not checked the historical validity of the story (in particular since this is a freebie review written just to share my reaction on this Godsend Website). The narrative screams for the handling of a more suitable filmmaker with far better grasp of story telling and cinematic reveal. However, there are gifts a-plenty. What the film offers is what appears to be authentic restoration pageantry, which is superb. Along with that is exceptional camera followed by fine editing.
The music score is beguiling and beautiful. The purist would have loved to hear authentic period music where I recognized segments of Mozart's Requiem written some two centuries after the Elizabethan period. In summary, the film is somewhat flawed, especially in its entry scenes, but certainly worth seeing.