Passion on Canvas

Rating: 7/10 (5 October 2008)

Any picture trying to portray the life and times of a past historical figure are always susceptible to historical flaws and inaccuracies. Elizabeth: The Golden Age is a film which I cannot judge on its historical accuracies but it is a film made with passion.
Cate Blanchett is great as Elizabeth in a time of ill-will for England, and Clive Owen a very charming Sir Walter Raleigh who has returned from the New World. The cast to be fair all perform splendidly and it cannot be criticized in this regard. Indeed, the sets, cinematography, special effects, costume designs are so lavishly displayed you forget that the film is set in the late 1500s, but this is to be adored rather than criticised.
Unfortunately, King Philip II of Spain and Mary Stuart are one-dimensional characters and this is a real setback for me. King Philip only seemed to communicate with profanities and religious rhetoric - an archetypal villain with not a fluttering or due effort to humanise.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age has much passion and this can be seen clearly in its delivery and execution. I enjoyed its colorful resonance and excellent acting and is satisfactory vieiwing.