The Great Cate is again Good Queen Bess

Rating: 8/10 (15 October 2007)

I just saw this during it's opening theatrical weekend and so far the critics have been harsh and the box office figures disappointing but there is a lot to like about this film. Director Shekhar Kapur is back in Elzibean times with his second installment in his semi-historical lavish costume drama series on the life of England's Queen Elizabeth I. Also returning from the 1998 film Elizabeth are Cate Blanchett in the title role, Geoffrey Rush as Francis Walsingham, cinematographer Remi Adefarasin, film editor Jil Bilcock, costume designer Alexandra Byrne and screenwriter Michael Hirst with a script co-written with William Nicholson. Like the first film this is filled with historical inaccuracies and thus can only be called semi-historical. It has a dark sinister feel to it to match it's content of castle intrigue and war. the film takes place between the years 1585 and 1588 covering the plots against the throne of Elizabeth by her cousin Mary Queen of Scotts (Samantha Morton) and her agents, the invasion of England by Spain's Phillip II (Jordi Mollà) and introduces us to Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). All this can be confusing at times and the film seems to go off into different directions and tries to compact too much history into too little a time frame. The quest to try to try to make a political marriage and have the childless Elizabeth produce an heir to the throne had long passed by these years. A political marriage was still hoped for but Elizabeth was far past her potential childbearing years. She was between the ages of 52 and 55 during these years and although the most wealthy and privileged woman of her time, a woman of that age was elderly looking by 16th century standards yet Blanchett appears to be a woman of 40-45 years old by 21st century standards. It's kind of hard to get past. They needlessly try to fit the quest for an heir into the film's time frame. The ill-fated Spanish Armada's invasion of England is reduced to the time frame of a soccer match with Elizabeth in full battle armor straddling a horse with a leg on either side like a man and rallying the troops on land as the Armada approaches. Sir Walter Raleigh rides a ship ablaze into the Armada setting hundreds of Spanish ships ablaze in one great conflagration that seemingly sinks the entire Spanish fleet as Elizabeth watches from a cliff in her nightgown. It looks great but it's silly and historically farciful. The most famous fire ship battle took place in the English Channel off Calais and there were several more battles and skirmishes in the channel before the Armada set sail around Scotland and met with disastrous weather which cause most of it's ships to sink off Ireland. The route of the Armada from leaving Spain to it's return took all summer long. The battle as depicted in the film is fictional and Elizabeth was in London not on the banks of the channel watching a fire ship battle. She did inspire her troops with a speech at Tilbury on a white horse but she wore a single metal breastplate as a symbol of resolve but she wasn't clad in full shining body armor dressed for hand to hand combat. This film has a relatively weak script with a soap opera-like dialog but despite it's faults the film looks great. Every scene is like a painting. Great set decoration, lighting and costuming. It's simply beautiful to look at and Cate Blanchette is nothing short of fantastic. I think she'll get a Best Actress nomination from the Academy Awards and this film could get several more for Best Cinematography, Costume Design, Art Direction and Sound. There are a lot great sinister characters here in small supporting roles and even though Jordi Mollà as Phillip of Spain is a small non-English speaking role he's so perfect that I would give him Best Supporting Actor consideration at least. This film is certainly a visual treat and despite it's many flaws and my many criticisms I would still give it an 8.0 out of 10.