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My own objections to this otherwise dazzling drama of epic proportions lay in Kapur’s consistent quest for modern parallels. In fact, I felt somehow cheated as I sleepily walked out of Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Where was the conventional costume drama routine, the subtle tension, unspoken connections and intense stares across rooms?
Let us not be misled: it isn’t a bad film—far from it. In fact, how could one not admire Blanchett’s performance in her brilliant portrayal of England's legendary Queen? How could one not revel in the Blanchett-Owen-Cornish love triangle, and the superimposed plots which serve to simultaneously humanise and deify Elizabeth? And more importantly, how could one not enjoy a film featuring Clive “Sexy” Owen as Sir “Political Pirate” Walter Raleigh? And, though we assume Kapur has taken some liberties with history (who hasn’t?), it is not so much factual accuracy or inaccuracy (who cares?) that bothers me, as much as the fact it all seems to tie in too well with modern concerns with religion. Indeed, the opening of the film provides a fairly unequivocal, un-nuanced depiction of the Holy War: Elizabeth stands as sole defender of Protestantism (associated here with liberty of thought and conscience) against Phillip II of Spain’s dangerous Catholic fundamentalism. All in all, the film might have benefitted from a more nuanced approach to history and its contemporary echoes—one where Mary Queen of Scots might have been usefully portrayed as something other than a scary-looking fanatic, in league with fellow yet-scarier-looking-Catholics. But that is evidently not what Kapur is going for. Yet, we are wisely reminded that "fear creates fear" in a manner strangely reminiscent of 24’s very own President Palmer, as Elizabeth decides to fondly indulge “half of the country [which] clings to the old superstition.”
Aesthetically successful, the film simply suffers from a chronic lack of delicacy
Aesthetically successful, the film simply suffers from a chronic lack of delicacy—Blanchett in her billowing dress, pacing the world quite literally at her feet is a powerful image but lacks any pretence of subtlety. And frankly, that’s ok. Indeed, there is action, humour, romance, spectacular Marie-Antoinette-like hairdos, ethical dilemmas that would make even Jack Bauer jealous, villainous villains, a heroic heroine—if that’s not what we ask of a blockbuster costume drama, then what exactly are we looking for?
Elizabeth: The Golden Age, directed by Shekhar Kapur is showing now at City Screen.
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