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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

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#1 of 1 Posted 9/25/07 9:42 PM

From harveykarten Posts 798 Last Feb-7
To All [Msg # 22653.1 ]

ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE

Reviewed for CompuServe by Harvey S. Karten
Universal Pictures
Grade: C
Directed by:    Shekhar Kapur
Written By: William Nicholoson, Michael Hirst
Cast:   Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Jordi Molla, Abbie Cornish, Samantha
Morton
Screened at: Universal, NYC, 9/25/07
Opens: October 12, 2007

In July 1588, the Spanish Armada, a grand fleet of 130 ships bearing over 30,000 men, set sail in the
expectation of conveying a Spanish invasion force under the command of the Duke of Parma across the
English Channel from the Netherlands. Elizabeth set out to join her troops wearing little armor over her
dress and no guards to accompany her, only pages. Despite the complaints on her safety, Elizabeth
addressed her troops with a notable speech, known as the Speech to the Troops at Tilbury, in which she
famously declared, "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and
stomach of a King, and of a King of England too! And I think it foul scorn that Spain or Parma or any
prince of Europe should dare invade the borders of my realm". Gaze at Cate Blanchett in the role of
England's most famous queen and you can believe only the second part of her speech to her people. Cate Blanchett in the title role lets out so much fury at the Spanish for their invasion, so much envy at her favorite lady-in-waiting, Bess, for capturing the heart of a pirate, so much regret at her order to execute Mary, Queen of Scots (which served as an excuse for Spain to invade)–that you wonder why “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” comes across as a dull history lesson. Correction: lesson in historical fiction. Just think of what the movie would be like without Craig Armstrong and Ar Rhman’s ear-splitting music and Alexandra Byrne’s to-die-for costumes, and you’d be hard pressed to stifle a series of oxygen-restoring yawns.

Aside from Cate Blanchett’s performance–not as heroic as in the 1998 predecessor directed as well by Shekhar Kapur since the queen is depicted as all-too-human and fragile–the one hook that allows a contemporary audience to relate to the pic is the idea that people are people whatever their century. They feel the same fears, jealousies, loves, hates and betrayals whether they’re in England in 1585 or America in 2007. What’s more the conflict between England and Spain responsible for the humiliating defeat of the famed Spanish Armada was brought upon by Spain’s Philip II’s call to holy battle. Hmmm. Sounds familiar.   Determined to put a Catholic on the throne of England and assassinate the Protestant Elizabeth, Philip leads the two countries into a blood sea battle preceded by at least one attempt to kill the queen.

This golden age film focuses not only on war but upon romance, specifically the Virgin Queen’s feeling for the dashing pirate, Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). Raleigh fascinates the monarch with tales of his visit to the New World, bringing back with his a couple of American Indians, a few never-seen-before-in-Europe potatoes (which at least one member of the court attempts to eat raw), and a treasure chest of gold which the Spanish ambassador insists is the result of highway robbery. She is, of course, flattered that Raleigh named the state of Virginia for her and demonstrates her wit by wondering aloud whether the name would be changed to Conjugia were she to get married.

We get a look at the prison housing Elizabeth’s half-sister, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton), who is languishing in a room considerably more pleasing to the eye than any cell at Riker’s, and note that King Philip II (Jordi Molla), hardly the environmentalist, is destroying half the forestry of his country to build ships for the invasion of England. Dazzlingly handsome and manly, the charismatic pirate, Raleigh, enjoys a fling with Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting, Bess (played by Abbie Cornish, who resembles her fellow Australian Nicole Kidman).

Some scenes stand out in the mostly ho-hum, academic-like movie, principally the queen’s patronizing dismissal of suitors such as the much young Austrian Archduke–whom she saves from his halting English by speaking to him in fluent German. With Geoffrey Rush practically wasted in the role of the queen’s chief adviser, the production, filmed in England, Scotland, and London’s Shepperton studios, is several steps behind director Kapur’s original “Elizabeth.”

Rated PG-13.    114 minutes   © 2007 by Harvey Karten Member: NY Film Critics Online

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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

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