 November
2007
This month's reviews/features:
Elizabeth: The Golden
Age
A Pretty Good History Lesson
One of the better movies out right now is Elizabeth: the
Golden Age. It has excellent acting, an interesting story,
and an epic sweep. It’s also a pretty good history lesson, though,
as Huck Finn says at the beginning of Mark Twain’s novel, there are
some “stretchers.”
The Golden Age is a sequel to Elizabeth,
a 1998 release starring Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I and
Geoffrey Rush as Walsingham, her chief counselor. In this new
picture, Elizabeth and Walsingham have both aged and matured, as
have Blanchett and Rush. Add to those two Clive Owen (Sir Walter
Raleigh) and Samantha Morton (Mary, Queen of Scots) and you end up
with a superior acting ensemble.
The Golden Age opens in 1585, when England is still experiencing
a major religious upheaval, which has been going on for decades.
King Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s father, had split with Roman
Catholicism and established the Anglican Church in England, but the
conflict between the Protestant Anglicans and the “Papists” has not
subsided. Elizabeth has been Queen for nearly thirty years; she is
unmarried and has produced no heir to the throne. King Philip II of
Spain, who had been king consort of England in his role as husband
to Elizabeth’s deceased older sister Mary I (“Bloody Mary”), has
been plotting against Elizabeth and sends a team of assassins to the
Queen’s court. Into this situation steps the dashing Sir Walter
Raleigh: explorer, statesman, and poet. The assassination attempt is
foiled, but this does not stop Philip from plotting a major attack
on England by the Spanish Armada. Before the movie is over Elizabeth
becomes enamored of Raleigh (though she can have no union with him),
agrees to have her “Papist” cousin Mary, Queen of Scots beheaded for
treason, and presides over the defeat of the Armada by England. She
also discovers that Raleigh and the pregnant Bess, her main
lady-in-waiting, have been secretly married. Furious, she dismisses
them from Court. (In reality, they were both imprisoned in the Tower
of London for a time). Eventually she forgives them.
Strengths:
- As suggested above, the acting is almost uniformly excellent,
but Elizabeth: the Golden Age is Blanchett’s picture
above all. She portrays the Queen’s strength, vulnerability, and
complexity in admirable fashion.
- History: You can learn a great deal from this film.
- Underlying themes: There’s an exemplary attitude toward faith
and prayer here, with most of the principals seen praying and
affirming God’s sovereignty. The virtues of self-sacrifice and
devotion are also strongly presented.
Weaknesses:
- The Golden Age is not 100 % historically
accurate. Sir Walter Raleigh, for example, is shown as having a
major role in the defeat of the Armada, though in reality he was
apparently only a military advisor.
- The picture tries to depict the momentous events of several
years in a two-hour presentation. You might need a scorecard to
sort your way through the many characters and happenings.
Bottom line: Worth your time and money.
Caution: There is one suggestive (though not explicit)
romantic scene, and there is implied violence. Not for children.
Film Rating: PG-13.
Rating: 3 stars
************************************
“...therefore, I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time,
not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst
and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all, to lay down
for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my
blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and
feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king …”
[Elizabeth’s words at Tilbury to her fighting men, before the Armada
attacked.]
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Index of movie
reviews...
(2003 reviews through present)
Jay Maurer, a member of West Side Presbyterian Church, is
a long-term movie buff and former college teacher of The Film as
Literature. He has written movie reviews for The Good News
(West Side newsletter) since 2002.
If you have comments or questions
about the movie (or play) reviews, please contact Jay at
dramachap@msn.com.
Ratings are expressed in
increments of ¼ star.
A rating of 2 ½ stars or higher is meant to be a recommendation.
1 star: poor
2 stars: minimally satisfactory
3 stars: quite good
4 stars: superb
Criteria for determining the ratings:
- Reflection, either explicit or implicit, of Christian values,
including suitability of language and lack of gratuitous violence
- Quality of the acting
- Originality
- Unity of the entire picture
- Substance, or in the words of C.S. Lewis, weight
Other Christian movie review Web sites:
Plugged In Online
ChristianityTodayMovies.com
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