different elizabeth

Rating: Null/10 (20 March 2008)

Helen Mirren and Cate Blanchett play DIFFERENT Elizabeths! Mirren plays Elizabeth II, Blanchett Elizabeth I.
Anyway, both performance were remarkable in their own right and have been rightly recognized as such. However, when I was watching Mirren's Elizabeth in "The Queen," for much of the film I forgot it was Mirren and really believed it was Elizabeth. Blanchett's Elizabeth, remarkable as it was, did not rise to that level for me. Maybe this is an unfair assessment, since we don't know Elizabeth I as well as Elizabeth II, but it seems like Blanchett was imparting a lot of her own personality and mannerisms into the character, while Mirren attempted to *become* the character- and pulled it off.