She was meant to be queen!

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2008)

Elizabeth (1998), directed by Shekhar Kapur, was the film that made Cate Blanchett a star. Elizabeth I has been portrayed by many fine actors, and, of course, Blanchett has portrayed her again in a newly released film. Whether Blanchett is or isn't the best movie Elizabeth is not the point. The point is that she fully inhabits the character, so that it requires no suspension of disbelief to accept Blanchett as the young queen, fighting for her crown and fighting for her life.
I can't pretend to know whether the costumes and sets are accurate reflections of Elizabethan England. However, they certainly appear realistic, as do the (very unpleasant) scenes of martyrdom and torture. Unlike "Shakespeare in Love," this movie doesn't give us endless glimpses of dogs, pigs, street entertainers, etc. (In our family, we say "Cue the jugglers.") The film deals with nobility, and their lives were lived in their castles or at the royal court, not on the streets.
The supporting actors are outstanding--especially Fanny Ardant as Mary of Guise, the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, Christopher Eccleston as the powerful and ambitious Duke of Norfolk, and Geoffrey Rush as Sir Francis Walsingham, who will stop at nothing to serve his queen. I was less impressed by Joseph Fiennes as Elizabeth's love interest, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. I don't know how the historical Dudley looked and acted, but Fiennes looked both hostile and tentative throughout the film.
The core of the drama is, of course, Elizabeth, and Cate Blanchett performs the role to perfection. We can believe her as a frivolous adolescent, as a ruler finding her way, and as the more mature historical Elizabeth, who created a role and then played that role for the rest of her reign. Even if you don't like historical dramas, it's worth seeing this film just to watch Cate Blanchett act. You can ignore Leicester, Norfolk, and the Duke of Anjou. Just look at Elizabeth!