Reviews > Elizabeth: The Golden Age

In 1998, director Shekhar Kapur took on a film written by Michael Hirst that chronicled the early reign of the virgin queen: Elizabeth I. “Elizabeth” starred Cate Blanchett in the title role, Geoffrey Rush, and Joseph Fiennes. The resulting film was nominated for seven academy awards, including for Remi Adefarasin’s cinematography. Now almost 10 years later, the same team of Kapur and Adefarasin have created “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” with Blanchett, Rush and Fiennes all returning in their same roles. “Golden Age” is the epic sequel that begins where the other left off.
“Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” opens with an ominous prologue that lays the groundwork for a foreboding holy war between Philip of Spain (Jordi Mollà), a catholic, and Elizabeth of England (Cate Blanchett), a protestant. The film follows the life of Elizabeth, hence the title, and her court during England’s rise in power. Early on it is noticeable that Elizabeth is a strong and smart woman evident in her quick wit and sarcastic humor. She is advised in her decision making by her number two man, Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), who tries quiet frequently to find a suitor for the queen so she can give birth to an heir. Francis is also inflamed that the Queen doesn’t want to persecute Catholics in England, even if their loyalties lie with the pope, unless the commit a crime.
While the film has an overarching plot of the impending war with King Philip, most of the time is spent exploring the relationship between Elizabeth and an English explorer, Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), who founded the colony of Virginia in the New World named for the virgin queen herself. Originally, Raleigh befriends Elizabeth’s most trusted lady friend, Bess (Abbie Cornish), in an attempt to get closer to the queen and to learn how to win her favor. However, Raleigh’s intentions aren’t to court the queen, but to gain permission from her to return to Virginia and rule over the colony. Elizabeth, intrigued by Raleigh’s passion and sense of adventure, asks instead that he stay in England and asks Bess to befriend the man. Elizabeth finds herself vulnerable around Raleigh as she begins to love him, but must distance herself to retain her power and duty over her country. The ensuing result is a love triangle between the three, each with different intentions for their love.
Meanwhile, there is a plot to assassinate Elizabeth being formed between Spain and Mary Stuart of Scotland, Elizabeth’s cousin and a catholic who sympathized with King Philip’s holy inquisition. Sir Francis discovers the plot and sets into motion a series of events, which ultimately could cause the rise of Spain at the hands of England.
“Golden Age” is easily definable as epic. Its large sets are spectacularly large, including castles and palace rooms and even down to Elizabeth’s thrones. Equally grandiose are the costumes, in an age where the more you wore was equitable to wealth, Cate Blanchett is often hidden within large, blooming dresses with hair pieces that are reminiscent of Queen Amidala in the first Star Wars prequel. And like “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” did, “Golden Age” spends a lot of time boasting at the design of the production through the camerawork and composition of its scenes.
Often times, the film makes it seem as if the focus should be on how it looks rather than the story it is telling and this is where the film falls flat. There are many scenes where the camera is very far away from the characters, presumably to have a wide-angle shot of whichever magnificent setting, distancing the audience from the basic human element. It’s hard to get to know a character when you can barely see their face; which is a shame because there is a great deal of brilliant acting in the film.
Cate Blanchett is superb in the title role as the queen. Blanchett understands Elizabeth’s internal struggles, the urge to marry and seek adventure with Raleigh knowing whole-heartedly she just can’t do it. Blanchett’s acting is most powerful in her subtleties; just watch her hands in any scene. She also has a presence on the frame that commands attention from those sharing it with her.
Other great actors managed to make the best of their screen time, Clive Owen and Geoffrey Rush, who are both charismatic enough on their own to lead a movie, don’t try to overbear the story with their characters. They blend in naturally and freely. Most surprising, however, was Jordi Mollà as King Philip. Mollà takes control of Philip and makes him the most intriguing character of the film, who unfortunately spends all but a few minutes on screen. There are few lines to be spoken for Philip, but it’s Mollà’s ability to create mystique that had me rooting for Spain at times rather than England so I could see more of Philip.
While the acting is great, it was sometimes made to be contrite by the soundtrack which is powerful at times, but mostly unoriginal. Like much of “Golden Age,” it’s trying so hard to impress the audience that it comes off as cheesy. Clive Owen might as well have come in to sweep Cate Blanchett off her feet and carry her away during some of the score, to give you an idea of how it was. It mostly just seemed cliché. It wasn’t a film score I hadn’t heard before, and while that usually isn’t a problem in most movies, it doesn’t work here because it’s trying to make itself so noticeable rather than blending in.
The biggest problem with “Golden Age,” is that it always seemed confused with itself. I never knew which plot to be following, the war or the love story. The beginning of the movie seems more concerned with the war and then it dives into a love triangle between Raleigh, Bess and Elizabeth. However, the film then abandons the love triangle with very little resolution and comes back to focus on the war. There wasn’t a great concept of plot to sub-plot relation.
“Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” is just as epic as it is a disappointment. To give credit where it’s due, Kapur does manage to compose some beautiful shots along with cinematographer Remi Adefarasin. But the whole time I was watching the movie, I kept wishing they would let the story take precedent over the set pieces, costumes and the music. The characters were interesting, the story is full of drama with love and war, and the acting was wonderful. Much like the queen herself though, the movie’s true personality is hidden beneath baroque dresses, ornate decorations, and a façade of makeup.

Grade: C+

Director: Shekhar Kapur

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Abbie Cornish, Jordi Mollà

Rating: PG-13 for violence, some sexuality and nudity

Synopsis: Set in the 1500s, the virgin queen Elizabeth of England becomes vulnerable from love towards a charismatic explorer while dealing with the threat of holy war against King Philip of Spain.