''Elizabeth'' is a 1998 British
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
period drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...
film directed by
Shekhar Kapur
Shekhar Kulbhushan Kapur (born 6 December 1945) is an Indian filmmaker and actor. Born into the Anand-Sahni family, Kapur is the recipient of several accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a National Film Award, a National Board of Review Award a ...
and written by
Michael Hirst. It stars
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received nu ...
in the title role of
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
, with
Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Em ...
,
Christopher Eccleston,
Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (), known as Joseph Fiennes, is an English actor of film, stage, and television. Journalist Zoe Williams observed that "he seemed to be the go-to actor for English cultural history". Fiennes is particu ...
,
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
, and
Richard Attenborough in supporting roles. The film is based on the early years of Elizabeth's reign, where she is elevated to the throne after the death of her half-sister
Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...
, who had imprisoned her. As she establishes herself on the throne, she faces plots and threats to take her down.
''Elizabeth'' premiered at the
55th Venice International Film Festival on 8 September 1998 and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 23 October. The film became a critical and commercial success. Reviewers praised Kapur's direction, costume design, production values and most notably Blanchett's titular performance, bringing her to international recognition, while the film grossed $82 million against its $30 million budget.
The film received three nominations at the
56th Golden Globe Awards, including for the
Best Motion Picture – Drama, with Blanchett winning
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
. It received twelve nominations at the
52nd British Academy Film Awards, winning five awards, including
Outstanding British Film, and
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
(for Blanchett). At the
71st Academy Awards
The 71st Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best of 1998 in film and took place on March 21, 1999, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p ...
, it received seven nominations, including for
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
and
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
(for Blanchett), winning
Best Makeup. In 2007, Blanchett and Rush reprised their roles in Kapur's follow-up film ''
Elizabeth: The Golden Age'', which covers the later part of Elizabeth's reign.
Plot
In 1558,
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Queen Mary (
Kathy Burke
Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...
) dies from a
cancerous tumour in her womb. Mary's heir and
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
half-sister,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
(
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received nu ...
), under house arrest for conspiracy charges, is freed and crowned the Queen of England.
As briefed by her adviser
William Cecil (
Richard Attenborough), Elizabeth inherits a distressed England besieged by debts, crumbling infrastructure, hostile neighbours, and treasonous nobles within her administration, chief among them the
Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...
(
Christopher Eccleston). Cecil advises Elizabeth to marry, produce an heir, and secure her rule. Unimpressed with her suitors, Elizabeth delays her decision and continues her secret affair with
Lord Robert Dudley (
Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (), known as Joseph Fiennes, is an English actor of film, stage, and television. Journalist Zoe Williams observed that "he seemed to be the go-to actor for English cultural history". Fiennes is particu ...
). Cecil appoints
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster".
Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...
(
Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Em ...
), a Protestant exile returned from France, to act as Elizabeth's bodyguard and adviser.
Mary of Guise (
Fanny Ardant
Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumières Award.
Early life
Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, ...
) lands an additional 4,000 French troops in neighbouring
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. Unfamiliar with military strategy and browbeaten by Norfolk at the war council, Elizabeth orders a military response, which proves disastrous when the professional French soldiers defeat the inexperienced, ill-trained English forces. Walsingham tells Elizabeth that Catholic lords and priests intentionally deprived Elizabeth's army of proper soldiers and used their defeat to argue for Elizabeth's removal. Realising the depth of the conspiracy against her and her dwindling options, Elizabeth accepts Mary of Guise's conditions to consider marrying her nephew
Henry of France.
To stabilize her rule and heal England's religious divisions, Elizabeth proposes the
Act of Uniformity, which unites English Christians under the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
and severs their connection to the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
. In response to the Act's passage, the Vatican sends a
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
to England to aid Norfolk and his cohorts in their growing plot to overthrow Elizabeth. Unaware of the plot, Elizabeth meets Henry of France but ignores his advances in favour of Lord Robert. William Cecil confronts Elizabeth over her indecisiveness about marrying and reveals Lord Robert is married to another woman. Elizabeth rejects Henry's marriage proposal when she discovers he is a
cross-dresser
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
and confronts Lord Robert about his secrets, fracturing their idyllic affair and banishing him from her private residence.
Elizabeth survives an assassination attempt, whose evidence implicates Mary of Guise. Elizabeth sends Walsingham to meet with Mary secretly in Scotland, under the guise of once again planning to marry Henry. Instead, Walsingham assassinates Guise, inciting French enmity against Elizabeth. When William Cecil asks her to solidify relations with the Spanish, Elizabeth dismisses him from her service, choosing instead to follow her own counsel.
Walsingham warns of another plot to kill Elizabeth spearheaded by the priest from
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
carrying letters of conspiracy. Under Elizabeth's orders, Walsingham apprehends the priest, who divulges the names of the conspirators and a Vatican agreement to elevate Norfolk to the English crown if he weds
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
. Walsingham arrests Norfolk and executes him and every conspirator except Lord Robert. Elizabeth grants Lord Robert his life as a reminder to herself how close she came to danger.
Drawing inspiration from the divine, Elizabeth cuts her hair and models her appearance after the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
. Proclaiming herself married to England, she ascends the throne as "the Virgin Queen".
Cast
Production
The costuming and shot composition of the coronation scene are based on Elizabeth's coronation portrait.
![Elizabeth I in coronation robes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Elizabeth_I_in_coronation_robes.jpg)
Kapur's original choice for the role was
Emily Watson
Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar Wa ...
, but she turned it down.
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received nu ...
was chosen to play Elizabeth after Kapur saw a trailer of ''
Oscar and Lucinda
''Oscar and Lucinda'' is a novel by Australian author Peter Carey which won the 1988 Booker Prize and the 1989 Miles Franklin Award. It was shortlisted for The Best of the Booker.
Plot introduction
It tells the story of Oscar Hopkins, th ...
''.
According to the director's commentary, Kapur mentioned that the role of the Pope (played by Sir John Gielgud) was originally offered to, and accepted by,
Marlon Brando. However, plans changed when Kapur noted that many on set would probably be concerned that Brando would be sharing the set with them for two days. Later, when Gielgud had taken the role, Kapur at one point suggested (in vain) that the Pope's accent should be Italian; he added that every British actor within earshot was horrified that any director was asking Sir John Gielgud to speak in an accent that "wasn't John Gielgud".
A large proportion of the indoor filming, representing the royal palace, was conducted in various corners of
Durham Cathedral—its unique nave pillars are clearly identifiable.
Historical accuracy
''Elizabeth'' received some criticism for factual liberties it takes and for its distortion of the historical timeline to present events which occurred in the middle to later part of Elizabeth's reign as occurring at the beginning.
In his entry for Elizabeth I in the ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'',
Patrick Collinson
Patrick "Pat" Collinson, (10 August 1929 – 28 September 2011) was an English historian, known as a writer on the Elizabethan era, particularly Elizabethan Puritanism. He was emeritus Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge ...
described the film "as if the known facts of the reign, plus many hitherto unknown, were shaken up like pieces of a jigsaw and scattered on the table at random."
Carole Levin, reviewing the film in 1999 for ''
Perspectives on History'', criticized the movie for portraying Elizabeth as "a very weak and flighty character who often showed terrible judgment", in contrast to historical descriptions of her as a strong, decisive, and intelligent ruler. In particular, Levin scrutinized the movie's portrayal of Elizabeth as dependent on Walsingham, in addition to the completely inaccurate portrayal of her relationship with Robert Dudley, as being instances in the film where the character appears weak and overpowered by the men around her.
There are inaccuracies in the timeline of events prior to her accession. The film depicts
Mary I of England
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
as being pregnant prior to Elizabeth's imprisonment. In actuality, Elizabeth was imprisoned on 18 March 1554 and released in May; it was not announced that the Queen was believed to be pregnant until September of that same year.
Elizabeth was put under house arrest at Woodstock Palace, not Hatfield House, but did not remain there until her sister's death. On 17 April 1555, she was summoned to Hampton Court to be with Mary during the Queen's delivery. When the Queen did not deliver, Elizabeth remained at court through 18 October 1555 until after it had become apparent that Mary was not pregnant and after the Queen's husband
Philip II of Spain
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
had gone abroad. It was only after this time that Elizabeth was finally able to return to Hatfield.
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years.
Dudley's youth was ov ...
is wrongly depicted as having been a co-conspirator in the plot against Elizabeth. In fact, he remained one of Elizabeth's closest friends until his death in 1588, long after their romantic relationship had ended. The movie portrays Elizabeth as being ignorant of the fact that Dudley is married; it is her discovery of this fact that contributes to the breakdown of their relationship. In reality, Elizabeth was fully aware of Dudley's marriage to his first wife,
Amy Robsart, who lived in isolation in the country suffering from breast cancer. Robsart died from a fall down the stairs in 1560, two years into Elizabeth's reign, a fact never mentioned in the film.
He never converted to Catholicism either, remaining a staunch Protestant and Puritan all his life.
In the film, England is forced to send young and untrained soldiers, including children, to fight in Scotland against the French Queen Regent,
Mary of Guise, who is said to be plotting to invade England, because the Catholic bishops spoke in the pulpits against raising a professional army. In truth, Mary of Guise was not planning on invading England, but was crushing a Protestant revolt amongst the Scots. Elizabeth had also had all the English Catholic bishops thrown in prison before the conflict even began, and the English actually did send professional soldiers to fight in Scotland. They were defeated in battle not because they were untrained children sabotaged by traitorous Catholic clergy, but because they were simply outfought by the French. The
Act of Supremacy 1558
The Act of Supremacy 1558 (1 Eliz 1 c 1), sometimes referred to as the Act of Supremacy 1559, is an Act of the Parliament of England, which replaced the original Act of Supremacy 1534, and passed under the auspices of Elizabeth I. The 1534 Ac ...
and the
Act of Uniformity of 1559 are shown taken place after the
Siege of Leith
The siege of Leith ended a twelve-year encampment of French troops at Leith, the port near Edinburgh, Scotland. The French troops arrived by invitation in 1548 and left in 1560 after an English force arrived to attempt to assist in removing the ...
, however, the Acts took place before the Siege ended in 1560.
Mary of Guise was not assassinated by Walsingham, but died naturally from
edema on 11 June 1560. She was not the aunt of
Francis, Duke of Anjou nor was she ever related to him as the
House of Valois
The Capetian house of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the List of French monarchs, French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589 ...
family and the
House of Guise
The House of Guise (pronunciation: ɥiz Dutch: ''Wieze, German: Wiese'') was a prominent French noble family, that was involved heavily in the French Wars of Religion. The House of Guise was the founding house of the Principality of Joinvil ...
family were two different rivalling families.
Sir Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster".
Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...
did not have a significant role in Elizabeth's reign until 1573 and wasn't knighted before her reign. He did not meet Mary of Guise nor was he a sceptic towards religion.
William Cecil, Baron Burghley was portrayed by the 75-year-old
Richard Attenborough in the film, but the real Lord Burghley was only 38 years old when Elizabeth was crowned, thirteen years older than she.
Likewise she never compelled him to retire, as is depicted in the film. He remained her chief advisor and was
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...
from 1572 until his death in 1598.
Similarly, the film depicts Cecil being given the title Lord Burghley before the Northern Rising of 1569. In fact, he was given this title two years after this in 1571.
The film portrays
Kat Ashley
Katherine Astley (née Champernowne; circa 1502 – 18 July 1565), also known as Kat Astley, was the first close friend, governess, and Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Sh ...
, head lady-in-waiting to the Queen, as being the same age as Elizabeth, but in reality, at the time of the then-25-year-old Elizabeth's coronation, Ashley was around 57, and she died six years later in 1565.
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, ( Kenninghall, Norfolk, 10 March 1536Tower Hill, London, 2 June 1572) was an English nobleman and politician. Although from a family with strong Roman Catholic leanings, he was raised a Protestant. He was ...
was not a cold and calculating power-hungry mastermind, but a gullible co-conspirator in a couple of assassination plots.The first was the Northern Uprising, which alone was enough to get him jailed for nine months in the Tower of London, before Elizabeth released him to house arrest. The second, the
Ridolfi plot
The Ridolfi plot was a Roman Catholic plot in 1571 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot was hatched and planned by Roberto Ridolfi, an international banker who was able to travel betwee ...
, was a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, place
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
on the English throne, and have her marry Norfolk. Norfolk was beheaded for his role in this plot as he had been bankrolling the conspirators. He is also seen to have one mistress, the fictitious Lettice Howard. During Mary's reign he was married to
Mary FitzAlan
Mary FitzAlan, Duchess of Norfolk (1540 – 23/25 August 1557) was an English translator.
She was the youngest daughter and child of Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel and his first wife Lady Katherine Grey, therefore Mary was a first cou ...
and when the movie ends(1563) he was married to
Margaret Audley but because the actual Ridolfi Plot was 10 years after the film's timeline, he had three wives with his third wife being
Elizabeth Leyburne
Elizabeth Leyburne, Duchess of Norfolk (1536 – 4 September 1567), was a member of the English nobility. She first married Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre; following his death in 1566, she secretly married Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk. She wa ...
.
The character of Isabel Knollys was inspired by
Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys ( , sometimes latinized as Laetitia, alias Lettice Devereux or Lettice Dudley), Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester (8 November 1543Adams 2008a – 25 December 1634), was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtier ...
portrayed by
Kelly MacDonald
Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. She is known for her roles in '' Trainspotting'' (1996), '' Gosford Park'' (2001), '' Intermission'' (2003), '' Nanny McPhee'' (2005), '' No Country for Old Men'' (2007), ''Boardwa ...
, Elizabeth's lady-in-waiting who married
Lord Robert Dudley in 1578. She did not die by a poisoned dress and died in 1634. Their romantic connection is shown on screen. It was her marriage to Lord Robert which caused Elizabeth's anger towards Robert and her banishment from court. However, the anger in the film was towards Lord Robert is due to his marriage between him and Amy Robsart.
Bishop
Stephen Gardiner
Stephen Gardiner (27 July 1483 – 12 November 1555) was an English Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I and King Philip.
Early life
Gardiner was ...
died in 1555, before Elizabeth came to the throne and thus cannot possibly have been involved in the Ridolfi plot. The Earl of Arundel was not executed for his role, but was instead imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he died as a political prisoner, and the Earl of Sussex was actually a loyal supporter of Elizabeth who would not have tried to overthrow her. Arundel is shown to have a wife, a son and a daughter, however, his son died in 1556, his first daughter,
Jane Lumley
Jane Lumley, Baroness Lumley ( Lady Jane Fitzalan; 1537 – 27 July 1578), sometimes called Joanna, was an English noblewoman. She was the first person to translate Euripides into English.
Life and family
Jane is the eldest child of three sibli ...
was born in 1537 and his second daughter was
Mary FitzAlan
Mary FitzAlan, Duchess of Norfolk (1540 – 23/25 August 1557) was an English translator.
She was the youngest daughter and child of Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel and his first wife Lady Katherine Grey, therefore Mary was a first cou ...
who was born in 1540 and died in 1557. He had two wives, Lady Katherine Grey and
Mary Arundell both of which never saw Elizabeth's ascension to the throne.
Alvaro de la Quadra died in 1564 and therefore, did not participate in the conspiracy of the Ridolfi Plot.
John Ballard is introduced beating the young Sir Thomas Elyot to death with a rock, an event that cannot have occurred because Elyot died in 1546, before Elizabeth even came to the throne, at the age of 55 or 56. Elyot was a diplomat and not a young spy working under Walsingham. Ballard was not in England to assassinate Elizabeth, although he did initiate the
Babington plot
The Babington Plot was a plan in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, her Catholic cousin, on the English throne. It led to Mary's execution, a result of a letter sent by Mary (who had been imp ...
to overthrow her (the movie treats both this and the separate
Ridolfi plot
The Ridolfi plot was a Roman Catholic plot in 1571 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot was hatched and planned by Roberto Ridolfi, an international banker who was able to travel betwee ...
as one scheme). He also had the cover story of being a soldier and well-dressed swashbuckler, while the movie portrays him as merely a drab, humourless fanatic. His death—he was
hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under Edward III of England, King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the rei ...
alive, along with some of the other conspirators in the Babington plot—was also so shocking and brutal to witnesses that Elizabeth forbade that method being used again.
Although the idea of marriage to
Henry, Duke of Anjou (who was actually not Mary's nephew but the son of
Henry II) was briefly entertained, Elizabeth never actually met him, and moreover there is no evidence that he was a cross-dresser, as depicted in the film. This is possibly a misinterpreted reference to the fact that Henry did not like hunting or wars which was contemporarily considered as effeminate and cowardice for a man in those days. Further, the movie portrays the courtship as occurring at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, when in fact it occurred in 1570, twelve years into her rule. The film also glosses over the considerable real-life age difference between the Queen and Henry (in 1570 she was 37 years-old and he 19).
It was Henry's younger brother
Francis, Duke of Anjou, 22 years younger than Elizabeth, who seriously pursued the English queen beginning in 1578, when she was 45 years old and he was 23.
At the end of the film, Elizabeth is shown as having decided against marriage. In fact, she entertained the idea of marriage with several European monarchs well into middle age. Candidates included her former brother-in-law,
Philip II of Spain
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
;
Archduke Charles of Austria
Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...
;
Eric XIV of Sweden
Eric XIV ( sv, Erik XIV; 13 December 153326 February 1577) was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1569. Eric XIV was the eldest son of Gustav I (1496–1560) and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535). He was also ruler of Est ...
;
Adolphus, Duke of Holstein; and the
Valois princes
Francis
Francis may refer to:
People
*Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome
*Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
*Francis (surname)
Places
* Rural M ...
and
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
(later King Henry III of France and Poland).
Soundtrack
Release
''Elizabeth'' premiered in September 1998 at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
; it was also shown at the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
.
It premiered in London on 2 October 1998 and it premiered in the United States on 13 October 1998.
It opened in the United Kingdom on 23 October 1998
and opened in
limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in the United States in nine cinemas on 6 November 1998, grossing $275,131.
Its widest release in the United States and Canada was in 624 cinemas,
and its largest weekend gross throughout its run in cinemas in the US and Canada was $3.8 million in 516 cinemas,
ranking No.9 at the box office. ''Elizabeth'' went on to gross $30 million in the United States and Canada, and a total of $82 million worldwide.
Reception
Critical response
The film was well received by critics. It holds an approval rating of 83% on the
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 63 reviews, with an
average score of 7.30/10. The site's consensus reads: "No mere historical drama, ''Elizabeth'' is a rich, suspenseful journey into the heart of British Royal politics, and features a typically outstanding performance from Cate Blanchett."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
reports a score of 75 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Accusations of anti-Catholicism
The
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights accused the film of
anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...
, stating that the film gives the "impression that the religious strife was all the doing of the Catholic Church", noting that the review in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' considered it "resolutely anti-Catholic" complete with a "scheming pope" and repeating the charge made in the ''
Buffalo News
''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...
'' that "every single Catholic in the film is dark, cruel and devious."
"''Elizabeth'' is 'resolutely anti-Catholic
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, January–February 1999
Awards and nominations
See also
* BFI Top 100 British films
In 1999, the British Film Institute surveyed 1,000 people from the world of British film and television to produce a list of the greatest British films of the 20th century. Voters were asked to choose up to 100 films that were "culturally British". ...
References
External links
*
*
*
Shekhar Kapur in Interview with 99FACES.tv
*https://www.moviemistakes.com/film407
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elizabeth
1998 films
ARIA Award-winning albums
Anti-Catholicism
British biographical drama films
British epic films
British historical films
1990s biographical drama films
1990s historical films
BAFTA winners (films)
Films about Elizabeth I
1990s feminist films
Films critical of the Catholic Church
Films directed by Shekhar Kapur
Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe-winning performance
Films set in the 1550s
Films set in Tudor England
Films that won the Academy Award for Best Makeup
Working Title Films films
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films
StudioCanal films
Film4 Productions films
Films scored by David Hirschfelder
Best British Film BAFTA Award winners
Films produced by Eric Fellner
Films produced by Tim Bevan
Films produced by Alison Owen
Cultural depictions of Mary I of England
1998 drama films
1990s English-language films
1990s British films