The Virgin Queen

Rating: 8/10 (28 February 2007)

A film by a director from India staring an actress from Australia in a story about one of Britain's most well-known monarchs. But hey, it works. This is a lavish costume drama of a semi-historical account of the Ascension to the thrown and the early years of the reign of Elizabeth I. Henry VIII is the second Tudor king and after his death his son the Protestant Edward VI becomes a boy king but dies as a teenager. Edward's cousin, the Catholic Jane Grey becomes the regent queen for nine days and is executed and the Catholic Mary I who is the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon becomes Queen. Mary in the five years of her reign earns the title of Bloody Mary for executing more people than had been executed in the previous century and a half. Childless, she dies of ovarian cancer and her half sister, the Protestant Elizabeth who is the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, becomes Queen Elizabeth I also known as Gloriana, Good Queen Bess and the Virgin Queen. Elizabeth is also the sixth and last Tudor monarch. This film is filled with castle intrigue, the fight for power, and the religious clash between Protestants and Catholics in a post Henry VIII and post Reformation world. Cate Blanchette who had only appeared in a handful of films won acclaim for her staring role in the film Oscar & Lucinda is cast in the title role of Elizabeth which earned her her first Academy Award nomination. This film has a great ensemble cast. Joseph Fiennes is Robert Dudley the Earl of Leicester and Eliabeth's true love interest. Geoffry Rush is Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's spy master and adviser. Christopher Eccleston is Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, one of the most powerful men in England. Richard Attenborough is Sir William Cecil, Scretary of State and Elizabeth's chief adviser. Fanny Ardant is Mary of Guise the Queen Consort of Scotland who also seeks the throne of England. Vincent Cassel is Duc d'Anjou who is being considered as a possible husband for Elizabeth. Kathy Burke is Queen Mary Tudor who hates her half sister Elizabeth and once had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower. John Gielgud, in his final film, has a very brief on screen role as The Pope. The film can be a little confusing as it takes a dramatic license with history and tries to fit too much into a two hour run time. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction and Best Makeup winning only the Oscar for makeup. Shekhar Kapur directs a script by Michael Hirst with beautiful cinematography by Remi Adelfarasin. John Myhre and Peter Howitt create stunning sets in art and set decoration and Alexandra Byrne designs elaborate period piece costumes. Jenny Shircore wins the film's only Oscar for makeup but had this not been up against some other particularly strong films for 1998 it would have won more. Director Kapur, cinematographer Adelfarasin and writer Michael Hirst have reunited for the sequel The Golden Age with Blanchette reprising her role as Elizabeth and Rush back as Walsingham. I would give this an 8.0 out of 10 and will look forward to it's sequel in which Sir Walter Raliegh will be a principal character.