Elizabeth: The Golden Age review
By Fikri Jermadi
Rating: 6/10
Yes, the real Queen Elizabeth did indeed lead England through a period of great prosperity and security during the 16th century. Yet despite the title of Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the events of the film actually occur before this so-called ‘Golden Age’ began. Director Shekhar Kapur’s has followed up to his decade-old critically acclaimed original about the legendary Queen Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) by reintroducing us to a still-single queen. Reluctantly giving in to her advisors, especially Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), she agrees to play along and meet with courtiers. It is during one of these courting sessions that the English adventurer, Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), catches her attention, and seeks to keep it. At the same time, England is at risk of being torn apart by the two sects of Christianity, i.e., Protestant and Catholic. The Catholic half of the country wants the Protestant Elizabeth dead, and her half sister Mary, Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton), to take her place. It is a view shared by the Spanish, whose King Phillip’s (Jordi Molla) religious fervour is such that he is prepared to sail the Spanish Armada and take over the British throne.
There are a number of different themes to be read into the film. Depending on viewer preference, there’s the feminist text of a woman seeking to keep her independence; the thread of religioius extremism, freedom and oppression; or the pulpier road of forbidden love between a nation’s queen and its dashing adventurer. That there is such freedom to read so many different themes is a result of the virtuoso performance of the cast. At times, Blanchett looks like she has an emotion switch embedded somewhere inside those gowns, one that she can flick in an instant to transform from relative calm to extreme anger. “I, too, can command the wind, sir!” she spits venemously at the Spanish delegation who warns her of Spain’s reaction should she not fall in line. “I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare when you dare to try me!” Owen retains his signature elements of being the charming rogue element while Rhys Ifans surprises with a charismatic performance as a Jesuit assassination plotter.
Kapur complements the acting by playing around with colours with a Zhang Yimou-like abandon. From scene to scene, the tones of Queen Elizabeth’s clothes virtually reflect her changing moods. Kapur also fiddles with light and shadow. Dark scenes, carrying with it malicious undertones, are often lit only by candles and incoming window light. In one powerful sequence, King Phillip prays in a dark, candle-lit room for the success of the armada, only for the candle to be blown out.
And yet The Golden Age isn’t without its flaws. With such a vast number of plot lines, occasional boredom is inevitable. The whole movie essentially builds to one big 15-minute battle, with hardly anything remotely physical occurring in the previous 100 minutes. And even during that climactic moment, the prerequisite speech that Elizabeth delivers to fire up the troops is rendered ineffective by the plainly ridiculous sight of seeing Elizabeth dressed up in armour.
Having said that, The Golden Age is still an epic in many sense of the word. The end might be too quick and easy, but everything else is utterly eventful. Blanchett is definitely a possible Best Actress winner at the upcoming Oscars (and a Best Supporting Actress one too, for her role as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There), while Kapur’s wild imagination and love of colour and composition promises a royal treat for all.
ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
Release Date
24 January 2008
Genre
Drama
Director
Shekhtar Kapur
Cast
Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Samantha Morton, Jordi Molla
Running Time
1 hour 54 minutes
Language
English
Classification
U