Sony G90 - Manual (Page 95)

Elizabeth. Shekhur Kapur, director. With Cate Blanchett
(Elizabeth), Joseph Fiennes (Leicester), Geoffrey Rush
(Walsingham), Christopher Eccleston (Norfolk), Richard
Attenborough (Cecil). 1.85:1 Widescreen. Dolby 5.1.
Polygram Video. Enhanced for 16.9.
Mrs. Brown. John Madden, director. With Judi Dench
(Queen Victoria), Billy Connolly (Brown), Antony Sher
(Disraeli). 1.85:1 Widescreen. Dolby Four-Channel
Surround. Miramax Classic Widescreen.
Gods and Monsters. Bill Condon, director. With Ian
McKellan (James Whale), Brendan Fraser (Clayton
Boone), Lynn Redgrave (Hanna), Lolita Davidovich
(Betty), David Duke (David Lewis). 2.35:1 Anamorphic
Widescreen. Dolby Digital 5.1. Universal.
Enhanced for 16.9.
ineteen-ninety-eight was another banner year for the Virgin
Queen. As acted by the great Judi Dench, Elizabeth
played a small but memorable part in Shakespeare in
L o v e
. 1 As portrayed by giggly, gimlet-eyed Cate
Blanchett, in Shekhur Kapur’s
gaudy Gothic meller Elizabeth, she got
an entire “coming of age” movie of her
own. All things considered, she was considerably better off in
the supporting role.
Not only does this so-called “historical drama” play
fast and loose with the facts, 2 it does so in particularly
unhappy ways.
Lord knows, England was in a “parlous state” when Eliza-
beth came to the throne, to quote Richard Attenborough’s
weak-kneed Cecil. The wounds of the War of the Roses, only
75 years past, were not yet healed; the cultural, economic, and
religious divisions that would throw all of Great Britain into
Civil War a mere 40 years after Elizabeth’s death were setting
Englishman against Englishman. Yes, there were court
intrigues. Yes, there were plots against Elizabeth’s life and
crown. But to present virtually every major character, from
lovers to conspirators, as curly-eyed, saaaasssy young things
– all of whom look like pirates who were kidnapped by royal-
ty when they were babies, all of whom speak a hilarious quasi-
Elizabethan version of the superheated, crisis-mode dialog
SECOND RUN
. . . . . . . . .
Biopics: Three British Royals
1 Despite the fact that Dench had a total of eight minutes screen time in
the witty but lightweight Shakespeare, she was awarded the Oscar for Best
Supporting Actress of 1998 – a classic example of the Academy’s biennial
“consolation” award, making up for the Best Actress Oscar that Dench
should have won – but didn’t – for her performance as Queen Victoria in
Mrs. Brown.
2 For instance (and, zounds, how many “f’r-instances” there are in this
film!), Sir William Cecil (Richard Attenborough) is portrayed as a doddering
old buffoon, when, in fact, he was a mere 13 years older than Elizabeth and
served her faithfully (and well) for better than 40
years, dying just five years before she did.
J O N A T H A N V A L I N