Historical Perspective about the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age

To make room for an opinion based on a historical perspective we needed to do some research on  the events of the contemporary age of the film. This research was completed successfully and we conclude that most of events are loyal to what really happened and only some of these we do not confirm but we do not deny them. We will then move on to presenting examples of both cases: There was indeed a secret relationship between Sir Walter Raleigh and Bess, as well as his hidden marriage and child that come with it; In fact, there were numerous conspiracies against Elizabeth and the Protestant England, by several agencies, for example, Mary, Queen of Scots and King Philip of Spain; The end of one of the many conspiracies resulted in the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots; After this happened the attempt invasion by the Spanish Armada with papal approval; The film also shows the principal adviser to the Queen - Sir Francis Walsingham - which also existed; Alongside this, we also have the presence of a royal alchemist - Dr. Dee. We just do not find evidence to prove the involvement of Sir Walter Raleigh and Elizabeth, which leads us to conclude that some parts were of an exaggerated in an emotional level.

Overall, we consider that the film was very well done in terms of history. The director was able to focus on the essentials for an easy historical perception of a layman on the subject, making the story very interesting and exciting. We assume that the objective of each director, when producing a film, is above all to capture the audience's attention, and in this case we think that this objective was successfully achieved.

Researches made at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England

Text written by the authors of the Blog

Cristiana & Margarida

Film Review - Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Title and Year - Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Genre - Drama, Suspense, Biography and History

Director - Shekhar Kapur

Producer - Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Jonathan Cavendish
Screenwriter - William Nicholson and Michael Hirst
Music - The soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman and Craig Armstrong.
Main Actors - Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I of England;

                          Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh;

                          Geoffrey Rush as Sir Francis Walsingham;
                          Abbie Cornish as Bess;
                          Samantha Morton as Mary, Queen of Scots.

In 1585 (16^th century), Roman Catholic Spain ruled by King Philip II is the most powerful country

in Europe. Philip intends to make war. He plans to take over England, and make his daughter Isabella the Queen of England.

In England, the imposing Elizabeth I is being pressured to marry by her spymaster and advisor, the sick and old Sir Francis Walsingham. As she has no descendants the throne will pass to her evil cousin – Mary, Queen of Scots (the next in line of succession). But Elizabeth refuses to marry.

Walter Raleigh, an ambitious pirate, is presented at Elizabeth's court, having returned from the New World (he brings potatoes, tobacco, two Native Americans, and gold from Spanish ships) but the Queen refuses to accept the gold (due to its origin).

Elizabeth is attracted to Raleigh and asks Bess, her most favoured lady-in-waiting, to observe him. The fragile Bess also finds Raleigh attractive and secretly begins an affair with him. Dr. John Dee, the alchemist of the Queen, who predicts that two empires will go to war, but he cannot predict which will triumph over the other.

The Jesuits in London conspire with Philip to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with Mary. Walsingham discovers the plot. From her imprisonment Mary sends secret correspondence to the Jesuits in order to assassinate Elizabeth.

Meanwhile, the power of Spain continues to increase as well as the Catholic plots against Elizabeth and Protestantism. However she refuses to force her people (half of whom remain loyal to Catholicism) to share her beliefs. Even then, those conspiring against Elizabeth are being hunted and murdered.

Walsingham's brother, a Papist, knows of the plot against Elizabeth and end up jailed. Elizabeth angrily confronts the Spanish diplomats who feign ignorance and accuse Elizabeth of receiving Spanish gold from pirates. At the same time, Philip is cutting the forests of Spain to build the Spanish Armada to invade England.

A Jesuit suddenly enters a cathedral where Elizabeth is praying and points a gun at her but there was no bullet in the gun. When he is in the room of torture he confesses who is behind the assassination attempt - Mary, Queen of Scots. With this, Walsingham insists that she needs to be executed, accused of high treason. The execution of Mary is a scene that carries so much meaning: She ascended to the block in a red dress, red being the Catholic liturgical colour for martyrs, beyond that it is a symbol of war, death and blood that the future holds; In addition to that, Mary has one last look in front before being beheaded, looks at the throne that represents her dream life. Walsingham sees that this was part of the Jesuit's plan all-along. Philip had never intended Mary to become queen. Since the Pope and other Catholic leaders regarded Mary as the true Queen of England, Philip uses Mary's death to obtain papal approval for war.

Raleigh asks to leave for the New World but Elizabeth forbids instead she makes him Captain of the Royal Guard. Bess discovers she is pregnant with Raleigh's child and the couple marry in secret. Bess, a few weeks later, confesses to the Queen that she is indeed pregnant with Raleigh's child, and that he is her husband. Elizabeth reminds her that she cannot marry without royal consent. Feeling betrayed, the Queen banishes Bess from court and has Raleigh imprisoned for the crime of seducing a ward of the Queen.

The Armada begins its approach up the English Channel, and Elizabeth forgives Bess and sets Raleigh free to join the army in the battle. All the numbers pointed to the victory of the Spanish Armada, but at the very last moment, a major storm blows the Armada towards the beaches, endangering their formation and ships. That’s when the English ships were sent in flames to set fire to the Spanish Armada. That was the end of the Spanish Armada and England won that war.

The director also marks the end of the war in a very special way: While in Spain, the darkness of night is illuminated by candlelight, in England, the night is still dark. Until a breeze turns off the light that the candle radiates (in Spain) and the fire that burns the Spanish ships illuminates the British beaches.

The film ends with the illness of Sir Francis Walsingham and his death. After this, Elizabeth visits Bess and Raleigh to give her blessing to the marriage and their son.

Elizabeth won a war full of battles and triumphed due to her personality and strength, proof of this is the fact that she remains with no husband and no children, claiming to be the Virgin Queen but the mother of her people.

The director has a particular attention on techniques used in the film, starting with the soundtrack that meets the objective of being obscure, intimidating (sometimes), and this involves suspense, aggressiveness and a strong impact on the audience. These features are repeated in  the editing of the scenes, images and lighting. The special attention to these parts of the making of the film creates the necessary environment for the unfolding of the history. The classical music (obscure) with a poor lighting turns the action darker. Therefore we found, only through the lighting and music, a climate of war. In the movie two distinct languages are spoken – English and Spanish. This could be, indirectly, connected to the fact that England and Spain were at that time the two biggest superpowers in the world of colonialism. Otherwise, if it was not, the director could have chosen to show only one language - English, because it is currently the most used language.

The main message that emerges in the film is that it is worth pursuing what we believe and it is our duty to do it. In addition to pursuing what she believes Elizabeth also defends the individual choices of her people in relation to the critics of some of her advisers: "I will not punish my people for their beliefs - only for their deeds ," says Elizabeth. Beyond that, this movie shows how the good will to the plural prevails over the good will to the individual. This leads us to conclude that we should use our presence in the world to make a difference in some special way.

As we looked in the last lessons, Elizabeth marked the life of her contemporaries and their successors around the world. What this governess did was in a large scale, but each one of us has the opportunity to make a difference every day, however small it may be it will eventually be noted!