Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth I is one historical figure well-served by cinema. A plethora of talented stars have provided memorable portrayals of Good Queen Bess: Bette Davis, Flora Robson, Jean Simmons, Glenda Jackson, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren. She's definitely a choice role for actresses, the complex monarch who brought England into the modern era, stared down its enemies, juggled myriad "favorites" and proved a woman could indeed rule with "the heart and stomach of a King."

Then there's Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth (1998). The film received an armful of Oscar nominations but lost out to another Tudor piece, Shakespeare in Love. It's a mixed bag: visually ravishing and well-acted, but soap operatic and historically suspect. At the very least, it has Cate Blanchett's marvelous performance at its center.

Elizabeth Tudor (Cate Blanchett) lives under house arrest, suspected of treason and heresy by her Catholic sister Queen Mary (Fanny Burke). Elizabeth takes the throne after Mary's death in 1558, and must navigate extremely treacherous waters: the King of Spain and the French Duke of Anjou (Vincent Cassel) want to marry her, Franco-Scottish troops led by Mary of Guise (Fanny Ardant) threaten England's border, Pope Pius (John Gielgud) sanctions her assassination and the Duke of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston), a Catholic nobleman, plots to seize the throne. She carries on a bold affair with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Joseph Fiennes), which earns the disapproval of her chief minister, William Cecil (Richard Attenborough). The initially naive Elizabeth must learn statescraft in a hurry, enlisting the help of her ruthless spymaster Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) to secure her throne and neutralize her opponents.

No one will mistake Elizabeth for A Man for All Seasons. Writer Michael Hirst went on to create Showtime's The Tudors, which depicted Henry VIII's reign as a soft-core soap opera. Elizabeth has the same MO, amping up the sex, violence, sex, intrigue, sex, speculation, and did I mention sex? Hirst's work titilates its audience with bare chests and heaving bosoms while convincing viewers they're learning something.

History buffs will quibble with more than gratuitous sex. Various anti-Elizabeth plots are conflated together, which is forgivable for dramatic economy. The movie oversells Elizabeth's naivety: surely the "consummate actress" who escaped implication in Thomas Wyatt's plots against Mary wasn't a complete babe in the woods? Additionally, Elizabeth's "Can't we all just get along?" speech during an interrogation is ridiculously anachronistic. Dudley and Cecil are ill-served, with life-long friend Dudley betraying Elizabeth and the ruthless administrator Cecil portrayed as a doddering old man. The movie borders on anti-Catholic, but I'd argue the subject makes it difficult to be otherwise.

Still, Elizabeth has enough virtues to overcome its pulpy nature. If the depiction of events is inaccurate, the complicated conspiracies and plot twists make for gripping, deliciously complex drama. The movie's sense of danger, from the burning of heretics to the endless backroom plots and lurking armies, is palpable from beginning to end. To his credit, Hirst does an excellent job drawing Elizabeth's transformation from waif to ruthless queen, and she's a mostly credible and always compelling protagonist. Elizabeth is certainly more sophisticated than your average bodice-ripper.

Shekhar Kapur's direction is ravishing. He mixes the scope and pageantry of Hollywood epics with the stylization of Indian cinema, making striking use of shadow, color (Elizabeth is constantly shot through "filters" of curtain and fabrics) and impeccable art direction creating a foreboding, gloomy atmosphere. David Hirschfielder's extraordinary score, with heavy use of portentious chorus, adds immeasuribly. A few bits don't come off well: Elizabeth practicing her speech to Parliament is unbearably cheesy, and the plot culminates in a trite Godfather-lite murder montage. Otherwise, it's a first-rate job.

Cate Blanchett is one of Groggy's favorite actresses, and this is among her best performances. Extraordinarily radiant, Blanchett captures Elizabeth's transformation perfectly, giving her the perfect mixture of vulnerability, confusion, dignity and strong will. Blanchett nails all of Elizabeth's sides, whether addressing Parliament, flirting with Dudley or scheming with Cecil and Walsingham. Blanchett reprised her role in 2007's Elizabeth: the Golden Age, but sadly that film was worthless junk.

Geoffrey Rush is superb, exuding craft, quiet menace and twisted Machiavellian genius. Joseph Fiennes has little to do besides smolder and pout. Richard Attenborough (10 Rillington Place) won't make anyone forget Trevor Howard's vicious Cecil in Mary, Queen of Scots. On the flip side, Christopher Eccleston's Norfolk is a bit too obviously evil. An interesting array of actors fill out supporting roles: Kelly Macdonald's (Gosford Park) flirty lady-in-waiting, Daniel Craig's (Munich) demonic assassin, Kathy Burke's (Nil by Mouth) ferocious Mary, Vincent Cassel's (Black Swan) effete Anjou. John Gielgud (Becket) makes his final film appearance as Pope Pius V.

Elizabeth isn't for anyone hoping for a serious history lesson. For those hoping for a sexy, well-plotted period film though, it's definitely worthwhile.