elizabeth is a potent historical drama set in england in the mid-1500s .
it is a time when stately royal ceremonies are as commonplace as public burnings .
internally , the catholics wage war against the protestants .
meanwhile , spain , scotland and france strategize their next moves in the struggle for power .
little does england know that a young woman named elizabeth ( cate blanchett ) will be their greatest hope for survival .
the film charts elizabeth 's tumultuous struggle to gain true power over her kingdom .
as a protestant , she is the last person any of the catholic royalty would want to be queen .
but her half - sister queen mary ( kathy burke ) , deathly ill and unable to conceive a child , pleas with elizabeth to take over the throne .
mary gives her her blessing on only one condition : that elizabeth renounce her faith and uphold the teachings of catholicism across the land .
once declared queen , elizabeth immediately finds herself under assault , both by her own subjects ( including the duke of norfolk , played with steely - eyed grace by christopher eccleston ) and by forces abroad .
slowly but surely , the neophyte ruler takes england by its reigns and forges a new path for her kingdom .
elizabeth is surrounded by a keenly drawn cadre of subjects and advisers .
her closest ally is the mysterious sir francis walsingham ( geoffrey rush , in a perfectly subtle performance ) .
also on her side is sir william cecil ( sir richard attenborough ) , her well - meaning but misguided chief adviser .
with few people she can trust , elizabeth must prove her self - worth any way she can , even if it means being the iron - fisted ruler she secretly despises .
blanchett deserves an oscar for her performance as elizabeth .
she portrays the young queen with just the right balance of gawky self - consciousness and shrewd charisma .
though not a classical beauty , blanchett is able to entrance the viewer with just a coy smile or an impish smirk .
she is at home with her character 's playful tendencies , particularly in one scene where elizabeth dances unabashedly with childhood friend and lover lord robert dudley ( joseph fiennes ) .
whether fending off unctuous suitors or " playing " the houses in court , blanchett 's elizabeth radiates a confidence which impossible to dislike .
almost as interesting as the character of elizabeth are shekhar kapur 's visual delights .
he and cinematographer remi adefarasin have crafted a film with a rich color palette that is a feast for the eyes .
rolling green hills , extravagant ceremonial galas , dark and foreboding corridors -- all are depicted with a real sense of artistic appreciation .
the castles and cathedrals of europe have rarely been doted on so lovingly as they are here .
though writer michael hirst 's script gets a little murky at times , and his injections of humor get a little overplayed , elizabeth pulses with the right amount of dramatic and cinematic verve to make it just deserving of a theatrical viewing .
as a whole , the story survives because elizabeth 's struggle is one which deserves attention
.
by the time she makes her shocking ( but very sensible ) final declaration , we 're ready to bow to elizabeth as our own queen .
pulses with the right amount of dramatic and cinematic verve to make it just deserving of a theatrical viewing . as a whole , the story survives because elizabeth 's struggle is one which deserves attention able to entrance the viewer have crafted a film with a rich color palette that is a feast for the eyes depicted with a real sense of artistic appreciation she is at home with her character 's with just the right balance a potent historical drama deserves an oscar for her performance