A truly great film

Rating: 10/10 (16 October 2005)

I am biased but the fact that Elizabeth lost out Oscar-wise to Shakespeare in Love is one of the greatest Academy Award travesties of recent years. I'm pretty sure that Shakespeare himself would have voted for this film! It's greatness first is in the performances of Blanchett, Eccleston, Rush, Fiennes, Ardant... the list goes on. But just as importantly it shows that atmosphere and dramatic tension are far more effective than special effects in transporting an audience. And then, like a Shakespeare tragedy, historical verisimilitude rightly takes a back seat to the investigation of eternal themes - love, jealousy, hunger for power, weakness, mercy - and perhaps most relevantly how - in politics - appearance counts more than reality. This universality is brilliantly revealed in the choice of music - Elgar and Mozart seamlessly heighten the drama. And the script is wonderful - effortlessly turning what in less sure hands would be trite asides into profundity. OK, I'm gushing, but (but for my money at least) with Elizabeth, director Kapoor shows that cinema can be truly dramatic. It's definitely in my top ten and I don't see its position being threatened any time soon.