"By God, England will not fall while I am Queen!"

[ladynorbert]

Soooo I spent my Halloween evening at the movies. One other person and I had the entire theater to ourselves, and as we sat several rows apart I've no idea who he was. (I only know it was a man, because he passed me on the way out.) Apparently, Elizabeth: The Golden Age is not exactly packing them in.

Which is a shame, because it was freaking amazing.

Like several of you, I'm one of those geeky people who studies things for fun, and Elizabeth I has always been one of my pet subjects. The English monarchy in general fascinates me, and the Tudors in particular, but Elizabeth more than any of them. (Elizabeth Quatermain is named after her.) This makes viewing movies like this one kind of strange, because while it means I'm in a good position to appreciate what's going on, it also means I'm going to be quick to spot inaccuracies. The original Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett, to which this was the sequel, had a couple of those which I recognized immediately, and it hindered my enjoyment. That's not to say it wasn't a brilliant movie, because it really was -- I particularly loved her coronation scenes -- but such is life in my head.

For this reason, I'm inclined to think that E:TGA was better than its predecessor. If there were historical inaccuracies, I didn't catch them, although I was somewhat put off by the attempts to create romantic tension between Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh (played by Clive Owen, who was absolutely dripping with sex appeal). I never read anything about her being infatuated with him, so how realistic it was I don't know, but it was definitely portrayed as being rather one-sided. Any love Raleigh felt for the Queen, as indicated by the movie, was strictly that of a devoted subject who was desperate for her to approve his plans. The tension between Raleigh and Elizabeth's lady-in-waiting, Bess Throckmorton, was a lot more palpable.

I'm not going to spend much time talking about the costumes (glorious), the scenery (magnificent), or the lesser performances (all superlative). Cate Blanchett is almost certainly my most favorite actress ever. Geoffrey Rush as master spy Francis Walsingham rocks my socks. I didn't catch the name of the woman playing Mary Queen of Scots, but she was well-suited to the part, even though in my mind Mary will always be strawberry blonde.

Favorite scenes: The opening montage of historical facts against a backdrop of stained glass windows is extremely effective. The scene where Elizabeth, in the fantastic suit of armor she's wearing in my icon, rides out to give one of her stirring speeches to the troops was chill-inducing, and her hair was fabulous. And the view of Elizabeth of England, walking barefoot in a white shift across a hill to view the carnage of the battle against the Spanish armada...I have no words.

Scenes I could have done without: Watching someone actually be pulled out of an iron maiden nearly made me lose my popcorn. The sex scene between Raleigh and Bess Throckmorton had brevity to commend it.

Really, I have only one complaint; all of the scenes in Spain, with King Philip and his daughter (who, amusingly, is never seen without her doll that looks like Elizabeth) started getting on my nerves. I'm sure they were very vital to the plot, but I couldn't tell you how, because they were all in Spanish and/or Latin. I had no idea what was going on in any of those scenes. Of course, it would have ruined the effect if they'd spoken English, but subtitles would have been really nice.

Overall, I give it a full five stars, and have little doubt that it will be an Oscar contender (though Kevin thinks it's missed the cutoff for this year). If nothing else, I will be very disappointed if Cate doesn't get a Best Actress nom.

Comments

[bluenosegirl.livejournal.com]

I loved it too -- and, like you, I am an Elizabeth-ophile (?). (The main character in the novel I'm working on is based on her, both physically and in terms of her personality -- ha!) I actually thought this was a more accurate movie in many respects than the first one. (I spent the first movie hissing to my companion, "De Quadra, the Spanish Ambassador, was NOT poisoned!", etc) The movie also was a more complex look at Elizabeth's inner traumas -- both the power and the powerlessness of being a ruler. I LOVED the scenes which showed her frustration and envy of Raleigh's ability to explore. It really gave you a sense of what a tremendous intellect and imagination Elizabeth Tudor had. She was a truly extraordinary woman. And she was a powerful figure -- both at Tilbury (I loved that scene of her on the cliff too!) and showing her understanding of the sadness of being a figurehead, as in her lovely discussion with her young German suitor. (Could that scene have been any sweeter?) I did kind of snort at the Philip scenes. First, he was a blond, but I'm not well-enough versed in his life to know if he had rickets. The mincing walk and shadows under his eyes did, however, make it clear for historically-underread audiences that he was the Bad Guy. LOVED LOVED LOVED Clive -- especially that "I am Tyrone Power" shot of him leaning on the rigging on his ship! Saw him in Children of Men and Closer and this guy just gets better and better. Bess was a little bland to attract the attention of someone like Raleigh, but then we've all seen that scenario before.

[ladyrazorsharp.livejournal.com]

LOL I loved the conversation with the German prince. So cute.

re: Bad Guy--Ahahah I thought that too. "Well there's no mistaking who HE is!"

If she could have gone with Raleigh--not as a lover but as an explorer--she would have. No doubt.

[ladyrazorsharp.livejournal.com]

I agree, it was gorgeous. A little forced between Raleigh and Elizabeth but...it could have been, if she were anyone but ER. That's why I think she attempted to live vicariously through Bess and then was surprised by how much it hurt when Raleigh and Bess ended up together. I really liked the conversation between Raleigh and Elizabeth, sitting on the hearth on the night that the Armada attacked.

In her armor she reminded me of Joan of Arc. That was awesome. And Mary Queen of Scots? Oh she was so incredibly cool. Her execution was...well, I feel funny saying that it was well done but her determination to the end...how she acted like a queen until the last moment of her life...THAT was excellent.

What! No subtitles?

[invisigoth510.livejournal.com]

Someone was asleep at the wheel at your theater. We had 'em at ours. And yes, they were vital to the movie. Phillip rails against Elizabeth, he calls her a bastard and a whore and a pretender to the throne. It is apparent from the meetings that he is behind Mary's double-cross. At one point Phillip asks his daughter (Isabella, the Spanish version of Elizabeth--man was that a common and popular name!) if she'd like to be queen of England.

And yes it was a good movie!

Re: What! No subtitles?

[ladynorbert.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've heard from a couple other people that there were definitely supposed to be subtitles, which I'm glad to know. I did notice that the words on the screen at the end of the film were half cut off by the bottom of the screen, so I think maybe the film was just aligned wrong and the subtitles were where I couldn't see them. In any case, I'll be able to see them properly when I rent the DVD.

And I don't think there was ever a period in history where Elizabeth was an unpopular name. Biblical names are always in vogue, especially for the royals. :)