KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * *
Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, Samatha Morton, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Running time: 114 mins
Rating: M, violence
Screening: SkyCity, Hoyts, Bridgeway, Matakana, Berkeley
Verdict: A visually stunning film that leaves you cold
Cate Blanchett
and Geoffrey Rush reprise their roles as Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Walsingham in this visually beautiful follow-up to director Shekhar Kapur's 1998 acclaimed film Elizabeth.
Much like its predecessor, Elizabeth: The Golden Age is part light historic drama, part biopic and part romance. It looks beautiful, (costume designer Alexandra Byrne can confidently whip up an outfit for the Oscars), and has a grand and regal air, but falls short of its epic intentions.
Blanchett is a remarkable actress, but in this performance she struts in an overly dramatic way as if she's on the theatre stage, projecting herself to ensure she can be heard clearly in all corners of the theatre. There is plenty of angst but not a lot of complexity to Blanchett's character, we never really find out what makes this monarch tick, mostly because Elizabeth: The Golden Age attempts to include too much - politics, Elizabeth's private and public lives - and fails to go into the necessary depth to make it meaningful.
This ambitious project focuses on the tumultuous period of Queen Elizabeth's reign during the late 16th century. There's the threat of Catholic Europe against Protestant England which sees her go to war against King Philip II of Spain's mighty Armada, an assassination attempt by Anthony Babington, and the question of whether to execute her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. She must also deal with the constant public discussion about her reputation as the Virgin Queen and her lack of husband and heir.
On the more personal, romantic side, adventurer Walter Raleigh (the dashing Clive Owen) returns to court from the New World and catches the eye of the Queen. Their flirtation doesn't really go anywhere in the film, but their relationship highlights the personal sacrifice royalty needed to make to serve their country and their people.
Raleigh becomes a confidante of the Queen's, until she discovers he has secretly seduced her lady-in-waiting Elizabeth Throckmorton (Cornish). If it all sounds a little like a soap opera, it is, especially with the soaring soundtrack that at times threatens at times to overwhelm the film.
At one point Elizabeth tries to give a nervous young German suitor some confidence. "I pretend there is a pane of glass between me and them," she explains. "They can see me but not touch me." And that's pretty much how you feel as a member of the audience. This is a cold film that is filled with passion and anguish but it fails to stir any real emotion - just as Elizabeth keeps a certain distance from her subjects, Elizabeth: The Golden Age keeps a certain distance from its audience.