A Command Performance From Blanchett

FOR THE TIMES Period movies inevitably reflect more about the period in which they’re made than the period of their subject, and rarely has that been more evident--or more distracting--than it is with Indian director Shekhar Kapur’s “Elizabeth.” This Elizabeth is the Virgin Queen, the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, a strong-willed woman who survived early conspiracies, male condescension and foreign invasion to begin a popular 44-year reign that saw 16th century England rise from the brink of collapse to a glory remembered in history as a golden age. Elizabeth and Robert continue their open affair after she’s installed on the throne, and after her councils have made it clear she must marry into the royal house of either Spain or France in order to save weakened England from being absorbed by one or the other. Philip is quickly ruled out, since he refuses to even visit England, and a blind date with the French duke proves comically disastrous when, in the film’s most overdone scene, Elizabeth catches him wearing a dress, entertaining a day’s catch of young boys. ‘Elizabeth’ Cate Blanchett: Elizabeth I Joseph Fiennes: Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester Christopher Eccleston: Duke of Norfolk Geoffrey Rush: Sir Francis Walsingham Richard Attenborough: Sir William Cecil Kathy Burke: Queen Mary Tudor PolyGram Filmed Entertainment presents, in association with Channel Four Films, A Working Title production.