A captivating story of the growth of Elizabeth from woman to queen.

Rating: Null/10 (12 February 1999)

Every once in a while a movie captivates me, even though I have some fundamental issues with it. Elizabeth is one such movie. It tells the story of Elizabeth I's coming to power, and her ensuing attempts to secure and consolidate her position.
One of the first things you notice about this film is that medieval England was a very dark place. As the characters wander from room to room, the few candles (candles were very expensive and Elizabeth was broke) seem to create more shadows than light. If you ever visit a medieval castle or palace, you'll appreciate electricity and central heating like never before. Some of the scenes are reminiscent of old vampire movies, full of arches of blackness, and deep wells of shadow. The interior dark makes the few outside scenes, full of sunlight and green meadows, stand out in extreme contrast.
Fortunately the cast bring their light with them. The performances are all very solid, and Blanchett is especially good. Dressed in dazzling costumes, the actors come across as real people rather than mannequins. The film's conflicts between Catholic and Protestant, and between various political factions, feel very real, very intense. The film has rightly been noted for borrowing liberally from The Godfather. The intrigues of the Pope are cast as the cutthroat maneuverings of a Mafia Don, complete with spies, assassinations, and paid informers. In this case, imitation is the highest form of flattery.
The film also achieves a gritty realism in depicting medieval England. Heretics (non-Catholics) are burned at the stake; the castles seem dark and cold; and one gets the sense, as my friend put it, that it was a smelly place. This is not the sugar coated England of The Seahawk, that Errol Flynn classic, but the grubby, dirty world of Braveheart or Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The film's organizing theme is the relationship between Elizabeth and Robert Dudley. Dudley is Elizabeth's lover, and their romance, prior to her coming to power, is full of charm, affection, and love. Their relationship serves as the primary bellweather of Elizabeth's changing nature, as she assumes the role of Queen.
The growth of Elizabeth's sense of power and independence comes gradually, and believably. By using many subtle clues, such as her hairstyle, and manner of treating her advisors, we see this young woman become a powerful and dominating person in her own right. Her hair, for example, starts out as long, loose red hair. Later it is piled on top of her head in the manner of the court. As Elizabeth harden, it is cropped short and tightly curled. The Elizabeth of the closing scenes, white-faced, girdled, and grim is a shocking vision compared to the charming young princess of the film's opening.
My primary dissatisfaction with the film is that we never get much sense of Elizabeth the politician. By all accounts she was a strong and shrewd monarch, but Blanchett's Elizabeth seems more lucky than good. The Machiavellan maneuvers that secure her throne seem entirely the work of her advisor Walsingham. The one decision Elizabeth seems to make is to approve the purge of many of her opponents. While it is true that her supporters were loyal to her family and religion, rather than her person, she seems more of a tool, a passive head of a powerful political machine.