Elizabeth (1998)

A film of the early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.

Director:

Shekhar Kapur

Writer:

Michael Hirst

Stars:

Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston

Won 1 Oscar. Another 32 wins & 32 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cate Blanchett	...	Elizabeth I
Geoffrey Rush	...	Sir Francis Walsingham
Christopher Eccleston	...	Duke of Norfolk
Joseph Fiennes	...	Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Richard Attenborough	...	Sir William Cecil
Fanny Ardant	...	Mary of Guise
Eric Cantona	...	Monsieur de Foix
Vincent Cassel	...	Duc d'Anjou
Kathy Burke	...	Queen Mary Tudor
Edward Hardwicke	...	Earl of Arundel
Emily Mortimer	...	Kat Ashley
John Gielgud	...	The Pope
Liz Giles	...	Female Martyr
Rod Culbertson	...	Master Ridley
Paul Fox	...	Male Martyr

Storyline

This film details the ascension to the throne and the early reign of Queen Elizabeth the First, as played by Cate Blanchett. The main focus is the endless attempts by her council to marry her off, the Catholic hatred of her and her romance with Lord Robert Dudley.

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Plot Keywords:

protestant | throne | catholic | england | queen | 

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Taglines:

Absolute power demands absolute loyalty.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and sexuality

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

22 November 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen

Filming Locations:

Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$275,131 (USA) (6 November 1998)

Gross:

$30,012,990 (USA) (7 May 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Working Title Films, Channel Four Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The costuming and shot composition of the coronation scene is based on Elizabeth's coronation portrait. For example, Elizabeth is shown wearing her hair long. This is historically accurate, as the real Elizabeth was giving the public a sign of her virginity.

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Goofs

In the film, Bishop Stephen Gardiner stands as a key figure in the pro-Catholic faction during Elizabeth's reign. In fact, he died in 1555 before Elizabeth ever ascended to the throne. The role Gardiner plays in religious politics here is likely a stand-in for the historical Bishop Edmund Bonner, the Catholic clergyman most at odds with Elizabeth's Protestant reforms, who died as her prisoner in the Tower of London in 1569.

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Quotes

Walsingham: You were the most powerful man in England. And you could have been greater still, but you had not the courage to be loyal, only the conviction of your own vanity.

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Connections

Featured in Inside the Actors Studio: Episode #10.3 (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Te Deum"
Composed by Thomas Tallis
Performed by St. John's College Choir, Cambridge
Conducted by George Guest

User Reviews

A small nudge in the direction of romanticism…

And Elizabeth did whisper Robert Dudley's name on her deathbed… The movie is an imaginative interpretation of the way that things could have been…

Shekhar Kapur's film explores the instabilities of her reign, and the absolute horror and terror that surrounded the early part of her royal office without neglecting her relationship with her terminally ill sister… So it's a glimpse of her girlhood into statehood, and the shedding that occurs, with the people who expended in her life along the way…

The film shows Elizabeth growing up in an incredibly unstable, tumultuous environment… But she's an absolute survivor... Someone who has got no solid ground on which she walks… So one minute she's a bastard, the next minute she's a princess, then one moment she's an illegitimate daughter, then she's a queen… And it's a very relevant period of her life, because she was 25 when she became a female monarch…

There are four men in Elizabeth's life and all have quite different influences on what it means for a young woman to run the country so young, given that she comes to the throne under very difficult political circumstances…

There's Sir Cecil (Attenborough) who's from an older regime giving her the traditions and the conventions that are the most orthodox; Sir Francis (Geoffrey Rush) Elizabeth's great spy master, very astute, almost puritanical and rather dry bureaucrat; Robert Dudley (Fiennes) with whom the film suggests that she has quite a passionate, private relationship; and Norfolk (Eccleston), a major rival who doesn't regard that she is suitable to rule his England…

The motion picture succeeds in developing Elizabeth's change and, basically, locks off parts of herself, and dehumanizes herself in order to wield her power among men…