Today’s movie is a period drama with a scene that happens on
June 11. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.
ELIZABETH
:Queen ‘Bloody’ Mary Tudor of
England is burning suspected heretics. She has a false pregnancy. Mary and her husband
Phillip II of Spain fear the Protestants are plotting to put Mary’s
half-sister, Princess Elizabeth on the throne. Elizabeth is arrested, taken to
the Tower of London and interrogated,
but she will not confess to anything. Elizabeth is released and Mary soon after
dies, making Elizabeth the Queen. The Scots, under their regent Mary of Guise
are threatening to put their own Queen Mary on the English throne. An English
attack on Scotland fails. The religious
Act of Uniformity passes, since Elizabeth’s advisor Walsingham locks up the
pro-Catholic bishops during the vote. The Duc d’Anjou, brother of
the French king and nephew of Mary of Giuse comes to visit, touted as a potential husband to Elizabeth. He acts very
rude at meeting her. There is an assassination attempt and Anjou is revealed as
a transvestite. He leaves for Scotland.
The Pope absolves English Catholics of any duty to obey Elizabeth. Walsingham
goes to Scotland to meet Anjou and Mary
of Guise. Mary of Guise dies on June
11, 1560 possibly due to Walsingham’s actions. [1:34:50 to 1:35:19] The Duke of
Norfolk is goaded into betraying Elizabeth, and is arrested and executed.
Elizabeth rejects her lover Robert Dudley, Earl of Leiscester, who had plotted
against her and vows to live as a ‘Virgin Queen’. .
A beautiful period piece. It does
take liberty with the order of the facts, not their occurrence. It is extremely
unlikely Elizabeth and Dudley ever consummated their relationship as this would
have finished her politically .
Guy, John. Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart.
New York; Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. This book at page 109 gives the date
of Mary of Guise’s death.
Director: Shekhar
Kapur
Producers: Tim
Bevan, Eric Fellner & Alison Owen
Screenplay: Michael Hirst
Awards: The film won the Best Makeup Oscar. It was also
nominated for Best Actress (Blanchett), Best Art Direction, Best
Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Picture.
Running Time: 2 hours 4 minutes
Released: November 6, 1998
Starring:
Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I of England
Geoffrey Rush as Francis Walsingham
Christopher Eccleston as Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Joseph Fiennes as Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Kathy Burke as Mary I of England
Jordi Mollà as Philip II of Spain
Emily Mortimer as Kat Ashley
Edward Hardwicke as Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel
Daniel Craig as John Ballard
James Frain as Alvaro de la Quadra
Kelly Macdonald as Lettice Knollys
Angus Deayton as Waad, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Wayne Sleep as the dance tutor
Richard Attenborough as William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
John Gielgud as The Pope
Fanny Ardant as Mary of Guise
Vincent Cassel as the Henry III of France|Henri, Duc d'Anjou
Eric Cantona as Monsieur de Foix
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