Elizabeth (1998)

Genre: History/Biography/Drama

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccelston, Joseph Fiennes, Richard Attenborough

When King Henry VIII consummated with his mistress after his wife failed to conceive, their offspring was Queen Elizabeth (Blanchett). However, Elizabeth was third in line for the accession of the throne, of which her brother died young leaving her elder sister Mary to ascend the throne. With the death of Hency VIII, England was divided into two parts, the Catholics and the Protestants. Mary was a staunch Catholic who intended to wipe out the Protestant faith from the country. Mary died of child-birth leaving the Protestant Elizabeth to become Queen of England. Elizabeth became Queen in harsh times. The treasury was depleted, the army was short of arms, there was holy war brewing, her life was threatened by Catholics attempting to assassinate her and she was unmarried and hence did not have an heir to the throne. She fell in love with Lord Robert, the Earl of Leicester (Fiennes) but was forced to consider marriage outside England, particularly with Spain and France, for political alliances. The movie beautifully shows the early life of the Queen and all the difficult decisions and hardships she had to face. Cate Blanchett has performed with finesse and fit perfectly into the shoes of the role. Although this movie only focuses on the first half of her life, the second half is portrayed in the sequel to this movie that comes almost 10 years after.

Thumbs up: Cate Blanchett

Thumbs down: Needed more enthusiasm; felt bland

Rating: 7.1/10