Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Rating: 6/10 (11 January 2008)

I have not seen the first part of Elizabeth, but was interested to see this one. I read the reviews on IMDb and they were on such extremes  from love it to hate it; very rarely something in between.
The story is about Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) the queen of Britain in sixteenth century. There is religious war between Catholic and Protestants. Spain (a catholic country) wants to attach Britain (a Protestant country) with the help of France, overturn Elizabeth's rule and install a Catholic queen Mary Stuart (Samanthan Morton). In the meantime, Princes from various countries come with marriage proposals to the virgin queen. The queen gets attracted to Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) who robs Spanish ships, but he marries the queens' closest maid. In turn of events Mary Stuart is beheaded for planning to murder Elizabeth. Spain and France ships attach Britain. With the help of Elizabeth, minister Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffery Rush) and Sir Walter Raleigh Britain's army defend the borders.
The movie starts with highlighting the core subject and like Bollywood movies dwells in comedy and romance in the first half, and emotions and drama in the second half ultimately ending with a fight sequence. A typical masala fair by Indian Director Shekar Kapoor (whose name remains hidden from all promotional and marketing materials of this movie  a case of discrimination? I don't know!) Cate Blanchett has given a tremendous performance with the range of emotions that she exhibits. As a general rule, public and political figures normally carry an expression-less face so not to convey their thoughts to anyone. But this queen Elizabeth was overly expressionist. For me sadly it looked more melodramatic than it usually should be.
People who do not know details of history  would find this movie an entertaining, because it tries to present the historical plot in commercially viable manner. Otherwise, the movie and the behavior of characters may look stupid to say the least.
Geoffery Rush is worth mentioning for his loyal characterization and immense acting skills. Clive Owen looks fabulous and acts well too! Both the writers of the film, William Nicholson and Michael Hirst  picked up from TV careers and given opportunity to work in a major international flick, try their best to fit a historical plot in a Bollywood story format.
The photography and costume are very good. The sets authentic. Surely contender for nominations in various categories.
If you close your eyes to minute readings of history, you can just sit back and enjoy this masala fair! (Stars 6.25 out of 10)