Elizabeth is dead, Long live History

Rating: 7/10 (14 December 1999)

Well, I've finally seen the much talked about Elizabeth. Cate Blanchett is quite a revelation indeed. Both Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush are nothing short of chameleons. Dazzled though I was by the performances by all concerned, there was a nagging feeling that the film as a whole could have been better. It was overall an interesting study of a queen and the political turmoil which surrounded the early part of her reign. But not a great film.
Oh, it's not that I'm offended by the ahistorical enterprise. No one seriously believes that film makers are really that concerned with what actually happened.
Oh no, it's not that at all. The problem seems to be that the makers are so caught up the "sexiness" of what might have been that what was probable about the woman herself became subverted. I don't for one moment naively believe nothing naughty occurred beneathe the veneer of religiousity However, no matter how beautifully it was all portrayed, one comes away dissatisfied that Elizabeth has had to fight for her place in life and in art.