Colorful and entertaining but short on accuracy

Rating: Null/10 (9 December 2002)

The 1998 film Elizabeth by Shekhar Kapur depicts the early years in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I known as "The Virgin Queen". This is not some stuffy "Masterpiece Theater" presentation but a rousing piece of entertainment that is colorful and involving. The film is greatly assisted by excellent performances from Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth and Joseph Fiennes as her lover Robert Dudley. Cate Blanchett makes Elizabeth come alive as a real woman facing an uphill battle to establish her rule. Her faithful protector William Cecil (Richard Attenborough) and the cunning Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) support Elizabeth in her struggles with potential usurpers. The other characters, however, are little more than stereotypes: the noble protector, the wily servant, the arch villain, the usurper, and so forth. If you do not care about fully developed characters or historical accuracy and are interested in period melodrama with plots, romance, some nice Elizabethan music, and lots of intrigue, Elizabeth is for you.