"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Caged Heat Movie Review)

[3113]

I didn't think much of the first Elizabeth movie, outside of Cate Blanchett's wonderful performance, and I wasn't much interested in seeing the second...until this review. I think it's hilarious and it almost makes me want to see the movie.

When we last saw the Virgin Queen (as incarnated by Cate Blanchett), it was 1558 (in 1998) and she had just completed her transformation from girl monarch to royal icon. The transformation that took place in "Elizabeth" seemed to stem from two wise decisions: remaining unmarried and switching to kabuki makeup. "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (a title that strikes me as a missed opportunity -- something like "Elizabeth I:II: Caged Heat" would have better captured the essence) gives us the imperious and always majestic Blanchett as the middle-aged queen, last portrayed at that age by Helen Mirren and Judi Dench.

It's about 30 years later, and she's hardly aged a day. How does she do it? By sheer force of fantasy, apparently -- the same force that has led director Shekhar Kapur to give us Queen Elizabeth as a cross between Joan of Arc and Joan Crawford, Sir Walter Raleigh as a bodice-ripping pirate sprung from the cover of a supermarket romance novel, King Philip II of Spain as a mincing lulu with a bizarre politico-erotic fixation on the virgin ("Whore!") queen, and the battle against the Spanish Armada as a series of chopped-together outtakes from "Pirates of the Caribbean."

It's 1585, and Elizabeth has ruled for three decades. Mary Stuart of Scotland (Samantha Morton) has her eye on the throne, as does Elizabeth's brother-in-law King Philip II of Spain (Jordi Molla), who'd like to see England ruled by a Catholic again, and is conspiring with Mary to take over the throne. Elizabeth's advisor Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) is pressuring her to marry -- England needs the money and the military support -- and the realm is crawling with traitors. What's a girl to do?

Into the scene strides Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), sex in hose and breeches and fresh from the New World bearing tubers, tobacco and pirated Spanish gold. The queen is amused by his exploits and Raleigh is flattered that she is amused, but that's as far as the romance goes. Raleigh moves on to unlace the corset of Bess Throckmorton (Abbie Cornish), Elizabeth's favorite lady-in-waiting. When the queen finds out Bess is pregnant and the couple have secretly married, she banishes Bess and throws Raleigh in prison.

Whatever semblance of restraint Kapur showed in the first movie is flung over an Irish bluff here after Elizabeth slowly evolves into some kind of 16th-century Michael Corleone. The transformation occurs soon after she reluctantly orders her cousin Mary's execution on Walsingham's insistence, and gives way to some of the silliest, soapiest bombast to hit the screen since "The Phantom of the Opera."

"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" gives new meaning to "costume drama" in that it is a drama primarily about costumes. But the drama is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the temple. Kapur is so invested in transforming his heroine into a comic book heroine that he reduces her antagonists to caricatures. Mary Tudor is a hysterical, dim-witted turkey; Mary Stuart a twitchy snake; Philip a sweaty creep; his emissaries and soldiers talk like they're trying not to flunk 7th-grade Spanish. Raleigh, meanwhile, is presented as a Byronic love guru, spouting homilies ("Why be afraid of tomorrow when today is all we have?") at every opportunity. Not a moment is left un-underscored by a soaring chorale, not a kiss is left un-backgrounded by a smoldering fire, not a pose left unstruck aboard a flaming vessel in the heat of battle.

Elizabeth's decision not to marry allowed her to retain control of England -- had she married, this power would have transferred to her husband, along with the fate of her Protestant subjects and her father's money. But this being 2007, we're invited to reconsider the queen as Sad Career Lady.

After her wax likeness is installed at Madame Tussauds' (I didn't know what else to make of the scene in which she stands stock-still, hands outstretched, slowly turning on a Lazy Susan), she visits her former lady-in-waiting and her unrequited love, now free from prison. Gazing into the eyes of their baby, she muses, "I am called the Virgin Queen. Unmarried, I have no master. Childless, I am mother to my people. God give me the strength to bear this mighty freedom." It's an actual quote, with a slight tweak. That "freedom" used to be "burden." Best to take it with a grain of salt, though it makes you wonder if the queen herself wouldn't find the insinuation somewhat medieval.

 

[CharleyH]

I didn't think much of the first Elizabeth movie, outside of Cate Blanchett's wonderful performance, and I wasn't much interested in seeing the second...until this review. I think it's hilarious and it almost makes me want to see the movie.

Cate Blanchett can't help but be wonderful. I was so excited when the first came out that I forced myself to like the movie (after seeing it) anyway. What can I say? I'm a Tudor fetishist, just as some are Trekkies. I went visiting the Tower of London, when in London, just to feel the history (there were great moments of awe and reflection, but mostly moments with tourists pushing and shoving. I did not consider myself a tourist (though I was). Recently, the (I think mini-series), The Tudors has been on TV and I find myself repulsed by it, yet engaged (I'm a Tudorist).

This article is hilarious, and right online with many critical pieces about the film. Thank you for it. Yet, let me ask ... how would you like to see a movie about Elizabeth I? PS - I kind of liked Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. It was sarcastically contemporary and smart.

I love historical films about Royalty. I loved The Lion In Winter(1968) with Catherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole (why the remake? No offence to the remake actors) and adored a little known film called Anne of a Thousand Days (1969). Ever seen it?

 

[3113]

how would you like to see a movie about Elizabeth I? PS - I kind of liked Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. It was sarcastically contemporary and smart.

I love historical films about Royalty. I loved The Lion In Winter(1968) with Catherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole (why the remake? No offence to the remake actors) and adored a little known film called Anne of a Thousand Days (1969). Ever seen it?

Seen all of these. I liked Marie Antoinette very much, which surprised me as I didn't expect to; but I felt that Coppola captured what she was going after, a way of looking at the French court and that time period that had not been explored. By going left-field (i.e., the music, etc.) she actually got the viewer "inside" the era as I don't think any other film maker has before.

I agree as well that I couldn't believe anyone would remake The Lion in Winter--the original is a fabulous film with the most amazing cast.

As for how I'd like to see an "Elizabeth" film, I still think the PBS "Elizabeth R." series with Glenda Jackson is the best Queen Elizabeth "film" yet done.

 

[CharleyH]

Seen all of these. I liked Marie Antoinette very much, which surprised me as I didn't expect to; but I felt that Coppola captured what she was going after, a way of looking at the French court and that time period that had not been explored. By going left-field (i.e., the music, etc.) she actually got the viewer "inside" the era as I don't think any other film maker has before.

I agree as well that I couldn't believe anyone would remake The Lion in Winter--the original is a fabulous film with the most amazing cast.

As for how I'd like to see an "Elizabeth" film, I still think the PBS "Elizabeth R." series with Glenda Jackson is the best Queen Elizabeth "film" yet done.

I didn't expect to like Marie Antoinette, either. What I especially thought brilliant was Coppola's take on the more contemporary aspect of fame, hence the mod soundtrack. I am not sure Coppola was going for capturing the French Court so much as she was commenting on the modern era of gossip and how nothing has changed, much.

Never saw the PBS series with Glenda Jackson. LOVE HER. Where can I pick the series up?

 

[cloudy]

I'm another Tudor fan. They fascinate me (and I can't wait for season two of The Tudors to start in January).

I'll probably see the movie just because.

 

[rengadeirishman]

did i detect armour upon the queen in the trailers? her at the head of troops, riding a horse?


yeah, that happened.

 

[amy_li]

I was thinking of going to see this movie tomorrow.

 

[3113]

Never saw the PBS series with Glenda Jackson. LOVE HER. Where can I pick the series up?

Can buy the series here (as you can see there are new and used for a cheaper prices there): Elizabeth R.

I haven't seen it in a while, but I remember the series as being pretty amazing. Good, solid history, it covers the key points of Elizabeth reign without taking many liberties; well dramatized and with great dialogue, it presents, I think, a well-balanced view of the queen's strengths and weaknesses. Jackson is just phenomenal. As much as Blanchett looks the part (she could be a reincarnation!), Glenda Jackson *IS* Queen Elizabeth I to me. She has charisma, presence, and a tone of voice that can go soft and cajoling, or low and throaty, or light and whimsical or crack like a whip. You know exactly how this woman was able to maintain her hold on that precarious throne for so very long.

 

[3113]

did i detect armour upon the queen in the trailers? her at the head of troops, riding a horse?

It did happen, yes, Queen Liz there put on a breast plate and rode before the troops giving her famous "Though I have the body of a weak and frail woman, I have the heart of lion..." speech.

I believe she's wearing a lot more armor in the trailer. According to the review she looks more like Joan of Arc. Admit it. You saw that image, your eyes glazed over, and you went, "Ar-mor. Pretty Ar-mor...Rengade like ar-mor..."

 

[rengadeirishman]

It did happen, yes, Queen Liz there put on a breast plate and rode before the troops giving her famous "Though I have the body of a weak and frail woman, I have the heart of lion..." speech.

I believe she's wearing a lot more armor in the trailer. According to the review she looks more like Joan of Arc. Admit it. You saw that image, your eyes glazed over, and you went, "Ar-mor. Pretty Ar-mor...Rengade like ar-mor..."

like i would spell armour without a 'u'

 

[SesameStreet]

Any movie with Cate Blanchettin it is worth watching. She is a fantastic actress.