Elizabeth I
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Movie Reviews of Elizabeth I
Movie Review: Love/Hate, Passion/Coldness...
Summary: 5 Stars
Helen Mirren has enjoyed a fantastic blossoming of her (already) great career in her 60's. At a time when most "actresses of a certain age" are put out to pasture, the divine Ms. Mirren is proving that your 60's can be filled with boldness, vigor and a true triumph of artistic quality in film and television.
Queen Elizabeth I has been played by so many different people, in so many different ways, but Mirren's take on the best of the Tudors (and England's most popular monarch) is so spot on that the viewer can believe she actually IS Elizabeth. The playful attitude, the daily capitulations, the love she shared for Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Jeremy Irons), it's all included in this quality work by HBO.
The supporting cast is grand, especially my personal favorite Toby Jones as Sir Robert Cecil (Elizabeth's privy councilor and later Secretary of State). At times, Hugh Dancy (as the Earl of Essex, Robert Deveraux-the Earl of Leicester's stepson) seems a bit lost and too much the boy, not enough the man, to grab the Queen's attention, but the 2nd half of part II remedies that.
There are of course some historical inaccuracies. Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth NEVER met (for some reason, filmmakers always like to include this in Scots-English history), the fact that Leicester married Elizabeth's cousin Lettice (Essex's mother) is not mentioned, and the Duke d'Anjou is shown to be more of a contemporary to the 45 year old monarch in this version (when in reality he was more than 2 decades younger than her).
All in all, this is some of the finest pieces of acting one will see on television. Just for Helen Mirren alone the work receives 5 enthusiastic stars!
Movie Review: A queen divine
Summary: 5 Stars
Hellen Mirren portrays Queen Elizabeth I as surprisingly human. To look at this queen and compare her with Dench's Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love (granted, different movies, different goals), they bare resemblance only in hair and clothes. Mirren's Elizabeth is childishly playful in her romps with the Earl of Leicester (Jeremy Irons), flat-out childish and sympathetic in her desires for the much younger and traitorous Earl of Essex, but when need be steel-cold and harsh.
While the costume design art and set decoration are typically HBO-top-notch, and the court intrigues well played, it is Mirren who grabs hold of our attention. It seems that she portrayed every emotion a person could imagine to have, and did it with pinpoint accuracy, especially the more hysterical emotions. One wonders at her exhaustion upon the completion of the filming. She was in virtually every scene, and more and more we are hearing of actors collapsing when the demands of their assignments weigh them down. Indeed, Law & Order Criminal Intent added two new detectives to take pressure off D'Onofrio, and regarding Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell was relieved of the constancy of being in the majority of scenes. Imagine Mirren, with all of her costume changes, and flights of fancy! Amazing.
This was a delight, and its length not at all daunting. I highly recommend this.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
Movie Review: Outstanding Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
5 stars without hesitation.
As all have said, the performances were fantastic. I am not real familiar with the history of that time, so I am not sure how purists will view it, but regardless, the movie is outstanding.
Helen Mirren does steal the show, naturally, hers is the main character, but ALL of the performances are excellent, not good, excellent! Every character is interesting in their own way, and every character is skillfully portrayed. I find it hard to believe their will not be some awards won by this movie (Maybe there already has been, I do not follow that stuff).
The movie is primarily about the later part of Elizabeth's life, whereas the Cate Blanchett movie was about the earlier part of her life. If you have seen the Cate Blanchett movie, do not assume this is just another version of the same thing, it is not. They are entirely different. As much as I liked the Cate Blanchett version (I bought the movie, and I buy very few movies) and the performances in that movie as well, it was a much softer version, for lack of a better term, and the Helen Mirren version is simply a better movie with a more realistic portrayal of the characters.
I would not hesitate to recommend the Cate Blanchett and the Helen Mirren versions, because they are both excellent, both well-acted, and they cover different periods in Elizabeth's life. But again, the Helen Mirren version is just a better movie no matter how you look at it, and I do not believe the Blanchett version is very accurate historically, although it is very entertaining.
Movie Review: A MASTERPIECE!
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw part 2 on TV, couldn't wait for a rerun of part 1, so I immediately went on line and bought it. Boy, am I glad I did!
I have already watched this 2-part movie a few times, for the detail, the richness of the setting, and the amazing dialogues between the characters, especially Queen Elizabeth's lines are superb, gripping, clever... outstanding screen writing!
This movie, although it depicts events from QE's early years of reign, centers on her as a middle-aged queen up to the end. Helen Mirren, IMHO, just won her second Oscar for her role in this movie. Her part as a strong, smart woman who has in many ways sacrificed her personal life for "the greater good" is powerful and awesome. You feel for her, you root for her, you even see her pettiness (for being the scorned aging woman) and she makes you forgive her, and mostly her inner struggle which is basically her life's conflict: what is more important--duty or living a full life as every other woman? Her feelings (jealousy, wariness, guilt) toward her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, while we know all the while that history had put Mary's son as Elizabeth's heir.
I enjoyed the history details, the productions is very luxurious, in my opinion.
Jeremy Irons plays his role well, but it is his stepson, the handsome Earl of Essex that steals Irons' thunder. I was a little bit confused because I thought Elizabeth's great lovestory was with Sir Walter Raleigh, but the drama was so fantastic that in the end I didn't really care.
Movie Review: Definitive!
Summary: 5 Stars
Helen Mirren is the Elizabeth of all time, with the notable exception of Bette Davis and Flora Robson. But as a more complete portrayal of Elizabeth this surpasses all other presentations.
Mirren has the edge and the requsite arerogance to carry off scene after scene with differing takes on the people of her entourage/. Her affair with Essex is documented, and if she didn't meet Mary of Scotland, she should have. The swings in mood, the nationalism Mirren exudes are fantastic, and those sets! Flowers and black back drops!
And this version shows the spots of commoness of Elizabeth..ruthless, a political animal, sexually driven, unstable, and a bit psycholtic. But this waa the age of Shakespare and Spenser..so something is right with this world and indeed it is..Elizabeth I wantes her reign to be remembered forever..in music, literature of every sort, and in history. She dies on her feet, documented..everything must be seen and never forgotten, and it has never been forgotten..look at all the films, books etc. produced and written.
A great great creation by Ms. Mirren, and her Queen Elizabeth II was no surprise..a tour de force, a masterpice of brilliance in a form of expression Elizabeth I would have applauded. Queen Eliz. II?? Never, she is a mere adjunct to Elizabeth I, a footnote, and that's why perhaps the Queen E. II film was 100 minutes, and the HBO of Elizabeth I several hours. Mirren rules.