Another Romanticized Look At Queen Elizabeth I

Rating: 5/10 (8 March 2008)

As historical epics go, I have to say frankly that I've seen better movies than this one. Even just on this general subject, one can go back to 1939's "Elizabeth and Essex" for a more interesting (if overly romanticized) portrayal of Elizabeth, and 1986's "Lady Jane" provided a far more interesting look at behind the scenes action in the Tudor court (admittedly from an earlier era than "The Golden Age.") "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (with Cate Blanchett in the title role)deals essentially with the events leading up to the eventual defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Like the 1939 movie, this one also is overly romanticized (no one seems able or willing to take a cold, hard look at Queen Elizabeth I), and plays at length on Elizabeth's personal fascination with Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) while at the same time hinting (without any substantive historical foundation that I'm aware of) of an intimate relationship between Elizabeth and her favourite Lady in Waiting Bess (played by Abbie Cornish), who eventually becomes Raleigh's wife.
Blanchett and Cornish were both very good in their roles; Owen not particularly convincing to me as Raleigh. The most interesting part of the movie dealt with Elizabeth's angst over what to do with Mary, Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton) who is Elizabeth's prisoner, the angst being both personal (the two were related) and diplomatic. The actual confrontation with the Armada is restricted to the last half hour or so, and isn't really all that significant a part of the story (except insofar as the threat of it provides the backdrop to a lot of what happens.) I thought the story often seemed to bog down, which sometimes made it hard to follow, and there was some questionable camera work which also made the movie difficult at times. Some of those technical weaknesses were made up for by magnificent costumes and elaborate sets that did give a "you are there" flavour. Still, I thought this at best an average movie. 5/10