A wonderful historical drama that should make a star of Cate Blanchett

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2000)

Intrigue and treachery guide this lush film of the crowning and political maturity of England's "virgin" queen, Elizabeth I. An outcast of her own family, an independent thinker, and perhaps the worst of her sins-a non-Catholic, Elizabeth is saved from a life in the dungeons by virtue of the fact that she is a woman and can thus bear children. Her sister's untimely death before producing a "proper male heir" is her saving grace.
Elizabeth's teenage life is quite simple and serene, with nothing to challenge her obviously high intellect more than innocent children's games, her studies of the arts, and the pure joys of young love as personified in the supple form of a lusty Joseph Fiennes. Suddenly Elizabeth is thrust into the role of Queen, on the very day her sister dies, and the transformation as played by Cate Blanchett is revealing of a knowledge of the strength in this legendary figure that is remarkable for an actor of any age or experience. Blanchett presents a child-woman who is aware of the multifaceted dangers awaiting her ascendance to the throne.