Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
September 9th 2010 06:37
Cate Blanchett returns to her Oscar Nominated role as The Virgin Queen, Elizabeth the First in this luxurious sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
With the Inquisition raging in Europe under the protection of Philip of Spain, the Protestant Queen is targetted by the catholic church. Two faiths collide in this dramatic film, that details the complicated plot of Philip of Spain to find a "just cause" to invade England.
The just cause is Elizabeths cousin, the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots. Locked away in a castle in the Scottish highlands Mary Stuart issues the order for Elizabeth's assasination. The plot, never destined to succeed, ends with Mary being beheaded for treason. With the death of the catholic queen, the Church - and Spain - have the reason they were looking for to launch an attack on England, sending the Spanish Armarda against Elizabeth, it's belly laden with inquisitors.
While Elizabeth battles the invaders, into her court comes pirate Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), igniting passions in the Virgin Queen she long thought she had conquered. While Raleigh waits for permission to withdraw from England and return to the newly named Virginia in the America's, there to realise his dream of a gleaming new city under the control of the British, he falls in love with the Queens favourite lady-in-waiting Bess (Abbie Cornish).
Unknown to the Queen, the two consumate their love and as the Armada heads to England they marry secretly. Elizabeth, betrayed and scared has the newly knighted Sir Walter Raleigh thrown into a jail cell, and his new bride banished from the castle.
As the two nations and the two faiths prepare for battle, Elizabeth releases Sir Walter from jail and he is instrumental in the destruction of the Spanish Fleet, the greatest loss the Spanish had received at the time.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age, is a wonderful period film. The sets and scenery, costumes and attention to detail lend the film a sense of realism. Cate Blanchett returns to the role that launched her international career, playing the terrified and isolated Queen, who must remain strong no matter what comes her way with such precision and love it is almost as though you are watching the events unfold at the time they occured.
The cast of the film is wonderful, right down to the supporting players and I have to say that Aimee King who plays the young Infanta -Philips Daughter - was brilliant without uttering a single word. Within a look she conveyed more emotion then a lot of her more experienced co-stars.
For those who loved Elizabeth, or those who are lovers of historical drama's Elizabeth: THe Golden Age is a great film well worth the watching.
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