where is Ms. Blanchett's academy award?

Rating: Null/10 (13 July 2003)

Cate Blanchett truly deserved to be on that stage accepting the Academy Award as opposed to Gwyneth Paltrow. The way Blanchett and crew were able to chronicle Queen Elizabeth's journey from naive heir to the throne to a wise and cunning ruler was remarkable. (My favourite scene is where the new queen is painstakingly rehearsing a speech she is going to give to a group of ministers) The viewer never forgets the fact that Queen Elizabeth was a real woman with real human emotions. All too often, powerful characters are portrayed in a robotic, unidimensional fashion. Here, one sees that even the most powerful people have great moments of self-doubt and re-awakening.

Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of Walsingham, the queens most trusted advisor, was equally good. Even the minor characters were well crafted and brought in at pivotal points in the film. Much kudos to Shekhar Kapur for creating this work.