Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Review

Director: Shekhar Kapur
Writers: Hirst/Nicholson
Starring: Cate Blanchett/Clive Owen
Runtime: 1 hour 54 minutes

Elizabeth: The Golden Age is described as historical fiction, which is a good thing. I promised myself that I wouldn't harp too much on the film if it took liberties with the documented facts of Elizabeth's reign. History is covered in dust and cobwebs, and the further back you go, the thicker the dust gets. If you were to use only the primary evidence of written documents to make a movie about Elizabeth, you'd probably end up with a 30 minute film. Liberties must be taken, and forgiven, in order to fill out facts and turn it into some kind of emotional story.

This film, however, leaves you with one eyebrow raised throughout the showing. Not in surprise, but in incredulity. Would a Queen really break down and lose control like that in front of her courtiers? Not once, but four or five times? Would she really let commoners talk to her like that? And, if she would, how long would it be before a wily courtier used her instability to his advantage?

These are some of the questions that drift through your mind during a rather confusing story that is covered with a bombastic musical score and lavish costumes.

The film takes place towards the end of Elizabeth I's reign as ruler of England. Her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, is locked up in England and scheming to steal the throne with Spanish aid. King Philip II of Spain, a Catholic like Mary, despises the Protestant Elizabeth. He hopes to conquer England and knock Elizabeth from the throne. In the film version, he hopes to install his daughter Isabella as eventual Queen of England, which might have been news to Mary.

Henry VIII
Want backstory? Okay, follow this: Mary (Bloody Mary, not Mary, Queen of Scots), was Philip's wife. After she dropped dead, the throne went to Elizabeth, to the chagrin of English Catholics. Since Henry VIII, Elizabeth's father, had divorced Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Elizabeth's mother (Anne Boleyn), Elizabeth was regarded as a bastard, and not eligible to take the throne. Long breath. Therefore, Mary, Queen of Scots, who was a Catholic great-granddaughter of Henry VII, was considered by Catholics (and Phillip II in Spain) to be the rightful owner of the throne. That is why Philip was in cahoots (fine: secret communication) with Mary, Queen of Scots, in her prison cell. If he could get her on the throne, that would put paid to Elizabeth's Protestant reign, and Mary (not to mention the Pope) would owe Philip bigtime.

Got it? I don't blame the screenwriters for leaving this out of the movie.

Sir Walter Raleigh, however, does make it on the screen. Though he doesn't get much press in the history books vis a vis Elizabeth, the film gives him the full blown movie star treatment. Elizabeth is attracted to him, and enjoys hearing his stories of adventure on the high seas. He informs her that he has named a colony in New World after her: Virginia, for the Virgin Queen.

The rest of the story is convoluted, as the filmmakers seem unsure of where it should go. It could have been a story of political intrigue between Phillip II of Spain and Elizabeth I of England. Or it could have been a love story between Raleigh and Elizabeth (a love story with no foundation in fact). Or it could have been a story of the Protestant Elizabeth's troubles with the Catholic Church (the Pope in abstentia, Philip II as bad guy on the horizon).

In the end, the film tries to do all three, and you end up caring about none of them.

As far as the Catholic/Protestant angle, it was fairly obvious that the good old Christian/Western-bash has made it into historical films. The movie's modern day language and politics is a joke. Elizabeth I comes off as an agnostic, leaning towards atheist. The filmmakers were either unaware that the Protestant faith still considers Jesus Christ a top dog, or they ignored it.

The Spanish, on the other hand, are the film's Christian Neo-Cons. Philip II is a gibbering manic-depressive, constantly quoting scripture and declaring that a Catholic God will help him win the day. The main sails on the Spanish fleet are decorating with portraits of Jesus Christ and crosses. When he kneels to pray, his face is a sweating mask of religious zealotry. Back in England, when Elizabeth I prays, she says no words aloud and appears to be contemplating her next dinner party.

I was amused at the ignorance of the writers and the director. No matter which side you come down on with today's religious beliefs, they do not match the flavor and fervour of five centuries past. I was curious to see how they would handle the religious disputes of Elizabeth I's reign, and they completely fumbled, yet fumbled on purpose.

In Elizabeth's day, there was no such thing as a separation between church and state. Elizabeth's faith was not called the Church of England for fun. Her father established the Church of England so he could get a divorce and not kneel at the feet of the Pope. Mary I, Elizabeth's predecessor, brought the Catholic Church back to England. Then Elizabeth took over, and made it Protestant again. Religious conflict was common for the times, and Elizabeth was hardly as "above the fray" as a liberal Senator from California might be.

There is no question that the costumes and production value are top notch. Unfortunately, you might feel like you're watching a music video. There are a few short scenes where Elizabeth is filmed wearing beautiful clothes under beautiful lighting, while the camera twists and turns for the best angle. It's pretty, but it's bogus. The director of photography was obviously told to shut up when he said, "Um, boss...this doesn't look like it's lit with torches."

They did try for some subtlety. There is one scene where a dwarf is standing by Elizabeth's throne. No mention is made of her, and she can't be a jester, because she's too cozy with the Queen and she's dressed too finely. This is probably Lady Mary Grey, sister to Catherine Grey. Catherine Grey was one woman who had a legitimate claim to the throne, but died leaving only two bastard (and therefore, out of luck) sons. In another scene, a ship's Captain calls out the name, "Drake!" to let you know that Francis Drake was there during the Spanish Armada invasion. Beyond that, however, the film is lavish, in your face soap opera.

As for the Spanish Armada sequence, when Philip II rolls the dice to invade England, I will not go into it too much and blow it for you. It takes place towards the end of the film, and is meant to leave you with the cozy feeling that after this, England's future is bright and cheery. As any armchair historian knows, England's future was never bright and cheery: political intrigue abounded at home, and England had to fight and swindle for everything that it got abroad.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age left me wondering what the filmmakers were trying to accomplish. I don't believe they accomplished very much, either as entertaining narrative or history lesson.

Photos: Yahoo Movies