Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

gigan-92 Elizabeth is a 1998 'historical' drama portraying the rise of one of history's most notable women, Queen Elizabeth of England. The film first portrays her as a princess who lives out on the countryside before delving into the first few years as the new queen after the death of Mary. It focuses primarily on the perils she faced, both at home and abroad. Directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring the likes of Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, and Joseph Fiennes, the movie was a huge success at the box office as well as with the critics. It was not only nominated, but also won, several Oscars. After watching it myself, I can see why it was as lauded as it was since it was a very well done film. However, how does it fair in historical accuracy? Well…yes and no. Elizabeth's portrayal as a foil to her half-sister's religious authoritarian-style rule is spot on, especially when recounting the film's gruesome opening. The large-scale opposition of opposition from the Pope is also fairly accurate. The film even mentions England's poor fiscal and military status at the beginning of her reign, nicely done. In spite of all this, the film takes several liberties, both large and small. The death of Mary of Guise at the hand of Walsingham is one such instance, but by far the biggest is the portrayal of Robert Dudley. The move opens with a seemingly accurate depiction of just how close he was to the Queen. The cracks begin to show when Elizabeth discovers Dudley is married, which is a shock to her. In reality she knew of the marriage before she was even Queen. The film takes it even further by having Dudley become involved in a plot to betray Elizabeth. This is quite literally the exact opposite of how their relationship actually was. It is a well-known historical fact that the two remained close friends until his death which devastated her. To go over all of them would be an essay in itself, but simply put the film clearly had no intention of sticking to what actually happened. It is almost insulting to call it a 'historical biography' since it is more of a historical fantasy. All that being said, the movie is still spectacular in all other regards. The acting and cinematography are breath taking, and the score by David Hirschfelder is just timeless. It captures many emotions, from terror to pure magnificence.

MissSimonetta On one hand, the technical aspects of Elizabeth (1998) are marvelous. Gorgeous cinematography and costumes. Cate Blanchett is a great Elizabeth, so great that at times it felt like she could salvage the picture.Too bad the script is junk. I'm not even going into the realm of historical accuracy because next to none of the details here are true to reality. The sexual stuff in particular is obnoxious (like Elizabeth's maids peeping on her copulating with Robert Dudley-- what was that?). What they did to the Duke of Anjou, Mary Tudor, and Mary de Guise is just so far into the realm of dumb, turning actual people into caricatures.And that's the problem: the whole thing feels juvenile. And unlike a juvenile historical drama offering like Reign, Elizabeth has no camp value to make it entertaining. I would not call the film an entire failure-- my sister and I had a pleasant enough time watching it-- but I would not watch it again and would not recommend it.

Filipe Neto This is an good historical film, which depicts the initial period of Elizabeth I of England's reign, and how she tried to hold on to power before her enemies. Historically, appears to be quite close to reality, despite the existence of some discrepancies. Its the first of three films (the third is in development) that depict the reign of this monarch, embodied by Cate Blanchett, a remarkable actress who achieve, in these three works, her magnum opus.And no less. Blanchett has managed to capture the physical aspect and most likely personality characteristics of this queen. A true chameleon work, which earned the actress a Golden Globe for "Best Actress Drama" (would have won the Oscar for Best Actress that year but, sometimes, the heads of the Hollywood Academy does not seem to know to see something good when they have it in front of their noses). Another actor who deserves congratulations is Geoffrey Rush, who gave life to Sir Francis Walsingham. Sir Richard Attenborough also participated in this movie (I think it must have been one of his last films) in the role of Lord Burleigh, with great talent. However, the male role that stands out in this film is Robert Dudley, played by Joseph Fiennes. This character was the true (probably the only) love of the young queen and is very important in the plot. Fiennes managed to capture his essence, opportunistic and somewhat hypocritical.The sets and costumes are absolutely rigorous, depict pleasant rigor clothing and environments of the Elizabethan era. The colors are very good, nice to look at the movement of the camera is excellent, the dialogues are memorable and worthy of quotation. An excellent film that apparently ended up in the shadow and did not catch much attention from the public and specialists. Under-appreciated, perhaps a look at the overall of the three films allow this film a different look, and more just.

Tweekums This film tells the story of Queen Elizabeth I's ascension to the throne and the beginning of her reign as she learns what it means to be queen as rivals manoeuvre around her. As the film starts Elizabeth's older sister, the Catholic Mary I, is on the throne and her ministers are counselling her to execute the Protestant Elizabeth to prevent her from becoming queen and England becoming protestant again. Mary dies before producing an heir and Elizabeth becomes Queen. Once on the throne she learns the England is in a very weak; the army is run down, the treasury is empty and French troops are garrisoned in Scotland. It is suggested that she forms an alliance with either France or Spain by marrying either the Spanish king or a French duke; neither option appeals to her as she is clearly keen on Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. It isn't long before her various enemies, backed by the Vatican, are moving against her; if she is to survive she will have to strike back.Cate Blanchett carries the film as the young Elizabeth making us believe in this woman leading in a very male world. She is ably supported by the likes of Christopher Eccleston, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes, Richard Attenborough and even French footballer Eric Cantona! Even minor roles are filled by fairly familiar faces. All the court intrigue and plotting is like something out of 'Game of Thrones' but with somewhat less sex and violence… at least on screen. Even though we know Elizabeth will survive there are plenty of tense moments… and other characters are far from safe. It isn't all plotting though; there are plenty of funny moments such as when Elizabeth discovers one of her suitors wearing a dress! Director Shekhar Kapur has given the film a great look with lots of impressive colours, especially in the many court scenes. Overall I'd highly recommend this film; you don't have to be interested in the history of the time to enjoy this.