Elizabeth – 1998 | 121 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Aeons away from worthy period fare, Kapur’s take on the life of Elizabeth I practically sizzles with political back-biting, sexual duplicity and ridiculous headwear. Blanchett’s multi-faceted performance gives the movie its anchor, but it’s Kapur’s filmmaking fireworks that make it so watchable.

Set in England, 1554, the film begins with Elizabeth’s half-sister Mary (Kathy Burke), a fanatical Catholic, on the throne and Elizabeth (Cate Blancett) threatened with execution because she is a Protestant. Mary quickly packs Elizabeth off to the Tower of London, where Mary’s advisers – including the scheming Duke of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston) plot to have Elizabeth executed for treason. The story is framed by the complex struggle between Catholics and Protestants in England that followed Henry VIII’s reign. After the death of Queen Mary, Elizabeth takes over the throne from her sister and becomes Queen of a country racked by financial, military and religious instability. She turns gradually from innocent to ruthless pragmatist aided along the way by the cunning Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush).

Elizabeth toys with politically motivated offers of marriage upon the advice of Sir William Cecil (Richard Attenborough), he urges Elizabeth to marry – either the French Duc d’Anjou (Vincent Cassel) or her dead sister’s husband, King Philip of Spain – to secure the future of England. Eventually she learns that there’s no such thing as politically safe sex and enjoys a steamy romance with her first love, Lord Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes), the Earl of Leicester. The film ends with a series of assassinations wiping out all opposition to her leadership, with her position on the throne secure Elizabeth’s self-reinvention as the Virgin Queen is complete, a figure of near-worship to reign for 40 years.