A woman's descent into power

Rating: 8/10 (26 June 2000)

What struck me most about the film was the way Cate Blanchett goes from a girl dancing in the fields to Queen and the enormous toll that such a journey takes upon the soul of the person. I suppose that we are to be proud of her accomplishment in a very dangerous and fragile world and yet we wonder, was it worth it?
We can easily contrast Mary Of Guise (Fanny Ardant- we need more of her in movies in America she is one of France's most enduring and talented actors) for whom the role of Queen is fitted like a glove, but Elizabeth wasn't supposed to be queen although she was a fast learner.
Was this one of the greater films of all time? Perhaps, but it was definitely an acting tour de force for Blanchett who seemed to grow more regal and more distant in every scene. I especially liked the two dance scenes with Lord Robert. In the first she is still the girl being courted, in the second she is the queen on the edge of really beginning to lead her country. She is mature, she has been hurt and threatened and knows that the only person that she can truly trust is herself.
In the end when she takes the throne it is a bittersweet victory, the woman is dead, long live the Queen.