|
By
THEMIS ATHENA
Two queens stand out in
particular among Great Britain's monarchs:
Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. Both came to power
at extremely young ages, and at times of political
instability, which would have set the odds of
survival against any new ruler, but particularly
so against a woman. Both beat those odds in ways
few people would have foreseen: They not only
persevered, but ruled for a nearly unparalleled
long time, and during their reign achieved to both
strengthen England's economy and international
stance and give new direction to its society.
We have long come to identify their reign as the
"Victorian Age" and the "Elizabethan Age,"
respectively. Yet, while "Victorian England" is an
expression often used synonymously with moral
conservatism, Elizabeth I fostered not only the
development of science but also the theater and
the arts, providing fertile ground for the works
of Shakespeare, Marlowe and many others.
(Influenced by her husband, Queen Victoria
supported the exploration of new scientific
developments, but the dominant force of her
formative years as a ruler was conservative Prime
Minister Lord Melbourne, who once advised her not
to read Dickens because his books were "full of
unpleasant subjects.") And while Queen Victoria
derived strength from her long, stable marriage to
German-born Prince Albert, Elizabeth I resisted
the pressure to marry at all and became known as
the "Virgin Queen."
Looking back at Elizabeth's reign, we see less a
woman than an icon; the symbol of what her rule
has come to stand for. Shekhar Kapur's 1998 movie
explores, as the director explains in the DVD's
making-of featurette, the making of that icon; the
formative processes, influences and personalities
surrounding the young princess' ascent to the
throne and her first years in power -- and of
course, at the center of it all, Elizabeth
herself, magnificently portrayed by Cate Blanchett
(who should have won the Academy Award for her
performance). The princess, as this movie sees
her, certainly knew her insecurities about her
role in life and in English politics, her people's
expectations, and the intrigues of her own court.
But she was also, as Kapur has her affirm to her
protector and spymaster Walsingham, "[her]
father's daughter" -- the proud, headstrong
daughter of Henry VIII, who quickly learned from
her mistakes and assumed true leadership early on.
Having inherited a country deeply torn in
religious conflict, and having barely survived the
machinations of the court of her Catholic half
sister and predecessor, "Bloody" Mary I, to find
her, the "heretic," guilty of treason and execute
her, one of Elizabeth's first acts in power was to
have parliament pass the Act of Uniformity,
reestablishing the Church of England formed by her
father. And while she respected her Secretary of
State Sir William Cecil, she eventually came to
realize that his advice was overly guided by the
hope that she marry and produce an heir to secure
her kingdom, and she reluctantly retired him to
his status as Lord Burghley.
Indeed, there was not one single man who dominated
Elizabeth's life but several, and Kapur was able
to secure an extraordinary cast to surround
then-newcomer Blanchett. Richard Attenborough
plays Sir William Cecil with a humility and quiet
dignity that few besides him could have brought to
the screen. Christopher Eccleston bristles as the
powerful, ambitious Catholic Duke of Norfolk, that
key player from the inner circle of Mary's court
who retained his position after her death and
became the one member of Elizabeth's council most
dangerous to her reign. Joseph Fiennes reprises
his role as a burning-eyed, handsome lover from
the almost simultaneously released "Shakespeare in
Love" (which, while a splendid movie in its own
rights, eclipsed much of the limelight that
"Elizabeth" would so richly have deserved),
playing the man most closely romantically linked
to Elizabeth, "Sweet" Lord Robert Dudley, Earl of
Leicester, whose love for her -- at least, as this
movie would have it -- is ultimately his own
undoing. "You're still my Elizabeth," the
erstwhile princess' lover insists at a ball some
time after her coronation. "I am no man's
Elizabeth," the queen retorts, and affirms for all
the court to hear: "I will have one mistress here,
and no master!"
Most impressive of all the queen's men is Geoffrey
Rush's portrayal as her protector, secret advisor
and supreme spymaster Francis Walsingham, the
creator of what much, much later became Britain's
MI-5, whose role Rush approached, inspired by the
description Kapur had given him, much like the
Hindu god Krishna, as "a very wise man who can
kill people...while smiling," as he explains in
the DVD's making-of featurette -- an ability which
his young, unfaithful companion in exile learns to
know as much as powerful Marie de Guise (Fanny
Ardant), aunt to Elizabeth's would-be suitor Henri
d'Anjou and mother of her later rival Mary of
Scots (who had refused Henry VIII's suit,
remarking "I may be big in person, but my neck is
small," only to find herself terminally
surrendering to Walsingham's unmatched cunning).
Key to any great historical movie is the
authenticity of its production design, and
"Elizabeth" overflows with the rich and luxurious
colors of the queen's renaissance court and its
balls, gowns and pageants. But there are also the
vast, high stone halls of the palace and the royal
cathedral, symbolizing the perpetuity of the
monarchy reestablished by Elizabeth I. At last,
when contemplating a statute of the Virgin Mary,
Elizabeth wonders whether, to perpetuate her
reign, she must be "made of stone;" and it is
again Walsingham who answers: "Aye, Madam, to
reign supreme, [because] all men...must be able to
touch the divine here on earth" and as yet, "they
have found nothing to replace [Mary]." And so,
this movie tells us, the icon we all know was
created -- and like a nun married to God, a
dehumanized Elizabeth reenters her council and
holds out her hand to her old Secretary of State:
"Observe, Lord Burghley: I am married to England!"
This DVD contains many solid extras: There's a
teaser trailer, a theatrical trailer, a couple of
featurettes (the 25-minute "The Making of
Elizabeth" includes interviews with cast members
and the director, and a 6-minute feature includes
behind-the-scenes shots), a stills gallery with 38
slides, filmographies, an 8-page booklet
discussing locations for shooting and a director's
commentary. |
