Elizabeth The Golden Age is truly a feast for a person who enjoys epic period pieces. It is glorious in all aspects. The fact that Cate Blanchett didn’ t win the Oscar for best actress isn’t something I can’t bring my head around. But it is not just her. Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Abby Cornish and Samantha Morton are all great. This is the second Elizabeth movie with Cate, the first movie – Elizabeth- was made in 1998, with Cate in the title role. I haven’t seen it but I am seriously tempted. But I am wondering if Joseph Fiennes was as good as Clive Owen?
Elizabeth is loved by her people. She is strong and open-minded. She cares about her people. She refuses to marry any man just to have a heir. She loves her power, country and values her freedom. Of course she has enemies. Spain wants her gone and their king is making plans with Elizabeth’s cousin Mary Stuart, who is under house arrest in Scotland.
The Queen’s right hand Sir Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) is very worried and doing the best he can to protect Elizabeth from any possible threats.
Things get even more complicated for Elizabeth when she meets and falls for Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). He is a free-spirited sailor who respects his queen and is a fine captain who has pissed off many Spanish during his fruitful cruises. Elizabeth can’t exactly have a normal relationship with a man who has and wants nothing to do with royalty, can she? And although Walter seems to be romantically interested in his queen, his attention is also fixed on one of the Queen’s maids- Bess (Abby Cornish)…
It has it all: Betrayal, love, romance, passion, friendship, war, strategy, loyalty and conflicts. It has action and drama. The costumes, art direction and the lighting add to the fairy tale feel of the film. The complex relationship between Walter, Bess and Elizabeth only make the plot much more interesting. There is nothing typical about the Queen’s character and Cate Blanchett does a great job in making the movie spectacular.
Shortly, I loved everything about the movie. If you like your epic, see Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
And since I have covered many Clive Owen movies on my blog (although there are more to come), I think a poll on your favorite Clive movie is in order. Vote away.
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If you want more of Clive Owen’s movies, click the name of the movie to go the reviews/trailers.