Worth watching despite historical errors.

Rating: 10/10 (26 January 1999)

Elizabeth captured my attention--and my thoughts for weeks afterward--as no other movie has since Shine. Although the movie takes liberties with history, those liberties were guided by the hand of an able dramatist, one who tried to capture the spirit of a 45-year reign in two hours.
The timing is compressed and rearranged, but only to reinforce the film's major themes: a woman's maturity as monarch, the political chaos of Renaissance Europe, and the religious fervor that fueled such chaos.
Only one oversight bothered me a bit: While Elizabeth is portrayed as an able diplomat, she had many more intellectual talents and accomplishments than the film suggests, and it was this stunning combination of gifts--not just her courage ("heart") and marital independence--that allowed her to rule successfully.
Aside from the script, the movie was visually rich; I appreciated the use of lighting and music to establish the tone and texture of each scene.
The acting was also superb, although I believe Lord Burleigh was a bit more fierce than was indicated by Attenborough's gentle portrayal. Cate Blanchett was riveting, as was Kathy Burke (in a pathetic way, of course). And Christopher Eccleston showed me, for the first time, how viscerally magnetic and sensual a powerful, ambitious man can be. (Is this how Clinton affected Monica? Yikes!)
I do think Elizabeth fared better with viewers who already knew something of the characters involved. More effort could have been made to clarify the story line and its participants' roles for those who didn't.
But back to accuracy. As with the movie Amadeus, I simply don't expect a good movie to be historically perfect. That's the job of a documentary. What I do expect is that the movie be faithful to events in general and be written and produced well enough to interest viewers in the subject. Ideally, they would do exactly what two of my friends did after they saw Elizabeth: they hit the nearest bookstore and learned more about this incredible woman and her times.
As for me, I'm taking my husband to the next Saturday matinee. It will be his first viewing and my fourth. I expect to be completely enthralled all over again.