Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Director:

Shekhar Kapur

Writers:

William Nicholson (written by) and
Michael Hirst (written by)

Release Date:

12 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

Woman. Warrior. Queen.

Plot:

A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.

Plot Keywords:

Queen | Spain | Court | Intrigue | Virgin

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jordi Mollà	...	King Philip ll of Spain
Aimee King	...	Infanta
Cate Blanchett	...	Queen Elizabeth I
Laurence Fox	...	Sir Christopher Hatton
John Shrapnel	...	Lord Howard
Geoffrey Rush	...	Sir Francis Walsingham
Susan Lynch	...	Annette
Elise McCave	...	Laundry Woman
Samantha Morton	...	Mary Stuart
Abbie Cornish	...	Bess Throckmorton
Penelope McGhie	...	Margaret
Rhys Ifans	...	Robert Reston
Eddie Redmayne	...	Thomas Babington
Stuart McLoughlin	...	Savage
Clive Owen	...	Sir Walter Raleigh

Also Known As:

Elizabeth - Das goldene Königreich (Germany)
Elizabeth - L'âge d'or (France)
The Golden Age (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

UK | France | Germany

Language:

English | Spanish | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:12A | Canada:14A | Germany:12 (f) | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-13 | Ireland:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43467) | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Taiwan:R-12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | France:Unrated | Hong Kong:IIA | South Africa:13V | Brazil:14 | Malaysia:U | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The scene of Raleigh leaving English shores to go into battle was originally filmed as his arrival to England from the New World and was much earlier in the film with completely different dialog.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Queen Elizabeth stands watching the Armada burning from a clifftop near her camp, which has been stated to be at Tilbury. But Tilbury is in the Thames Estuary, far from where the action seems to be taking place, and is a long way from anywhere with the kind of dramatic jagged rocks Elizabeth is seen standing on.

Quotes:

Don Guerau De Spes: Excuse me, Your Majesty. The air has become stale. I am sensitive to the smell of an open sewer.
[He stares at Raleigh and leaves]
Queen Elizabeth I: [to Raleigh] I cannot accept the fruits of piracy, Mr. Raleigh.
Sir Walter Raleigh: Philip of Spain is no friend of England, Majesty. The more gold I take from him, the safer you will be.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Elizabeth (1998)

Soundtrack:

Love Theme - Arrest

Cate Blanchett shines in biographical drama; some fiction added to the events

Cate Blanchett reprises her role as the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I, and is the film's greatest highlight. She exudes power, strength and influence in portraying the 16th century monarch. Her commanding presence on the screen really gives the majestic qualities that the real queen certainly had. At the same time, she gives us a personal glance inside the woman's heart, where she has suppressed from public view an inner vulnerability and melancholy. Elizabeth certainly endured many sorrows, and this portrayal gives us a glance inside the woman's who carried all this upon her shoulders, and is credited with raising England to prominent status on the world stage.

In addition to Blanchett, the supporting cast all turn in superior work. The sets, costuming, and period speech are all mastered well, creating a true feel for the era being depicted. Although many of the people and events are real, a few liberties have been taken apparently to spice up the drama. Such fictionalizing probably wasn't necessary; enough happened during this queen's rule to make the story interesting without it. One example: the flashy Sir Walter Raleigh was indeed a favorite of the queen, but this movie puts them in a romantic triangle that just gets in the way of other things going on. Also, Raleigh, better known as an explorer, was not the hero in the battle with the Spanish Armada.

Blanchett shines when she delivers the famous speech to the troops on the eve of the Spanish invasion. But even she is burdened by the director's preoccupation with Elizabeth as a suffering angst-filled woman facing middle-age with less bravery than facing the world's most powerful fleet at that time. We get endless views of her taking her wig off in secret, and staring at a mirror. The first time this device is used is fine to get the point across of her hopeless situation of never taking a husband (and the slow advance of time having its way), but we see her looking like a shriveled ghost in too many such scenes, and it's way overdone in this context. Her "real" hair sans the wig looks like an inebriated Edward Scissorhands was her hairdresser, and her pale complexion looks like somebody pasted white-out all over her face.

Those few mistakes notwithstanding, this is a fine biopic with superior acting by Blanchett, and is recommended.