Information
| Year: | 1998 |
| Rating: | 7.6(33744) |
| Listed in: | Biography, Drama, History, Romance |
| Directed by: | Shekhar Kapur |
| Actors: | Geoffrey Rush Christopher Eccleston Joseph Fiennes Richard Attenborough Cate Blanchett Fanny Ardant |
| "Declared illegitimate aged 3. Tried for treason aged 21. Crowned Queen aged 25." | |
Cast
| Directed by | |
|---|---|
| Shekhar Kapur | |
| Actors | |
| Geoffrey Rush | as Sir Francis Walsingham |
| Christopher Eccleston | as Duke of Norfolk |
| Joseph Fiennes | as Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester |
| Richard Attenborough | as Sir William Cecil |
| Eric Cantona | as Monsieur de Foix |
| Vincent Cassel | as Duc d'Anjou |
| Edward Hardwicke | as Earl of Arundel |
| John Gielgud | as The Pope |
| Rod Culbertson | as Master Ridley |
| Paul Fox | as Male Martyr |
| Terence Rigby | as Bishop Gardiner |
| Peter Stockbridge | as Palace Chamberlain |
| George Yiasoumi | as King Philip II of Spain |
| James Frain | as Alvaro de la Quadra |
| Jamie Foreman | as Earl of Sussex |
| Wayne Sleep | as Dance Tutor |
| Joe White | as Master of the Tower |
| Matt Andrews | as Norfolk's Man |
| Liam Foley | as Norfolk's Man |
| Lewis Jones | as Priest |
| Michael Beint | as Bishop Carlisle |
| Angus Deayton | as Waad, Chancellor of the Eschequer |
| Kenny Doughty | as Sir Thomas Elyot |
| Joseph O'Conor | as Earl of Derby |
| Brendan O'Hea | as Lord William Howard |
| Edward Highmore | as Lord Harewood |
| Daniel Moynihan | as Bishop #1 |
| Jeremy Hawk | as Bishop #2 |
| Donald Pelmear | as Bishop #3 |
| James Rowe | as Bishop in Cellar |
| Tim Bevan | as Handsome Man |
| Charles Cartmell | as Dudley's Man |
| Edward Purver | as Dudley's Man |
| Daniel Craig | as John Ballard |
| Vladimir Vega | as Vatican Cardinal |
| Alfie Allen | as Arundel's Son |
| Nick Smallman | as Walsingham's Man |
| James Britton | as Member of Duc d'Anjou's Group |
| Ben Enwright | as Royal Guard of Honour |
| Martin L. Evans | as Male Martyr #2 |
| Jean-Pierre Léaud | |
| Jocelyn Quivrin | as French Guard |
| Matthew Rhys | |
| Christian Simpson | as Royal Guard |
| Actresses | |
| Cate Blanchett | as Elizabeth I |
| Fanny Ardant | as Mary of Guise |
| Kathy Burke | as Queen Mary Tudor |
| Emily Mortimer | as Kat Ashley |
| Liz Giles | as Female Martyr |
| Amanda Ryan | as Lettice Howard |
| Valerie Gale | as Mary's Dwarf |
| Kelly Macdonald | as Isabel Knollys |
| Sally Grey | as Lady in Waiting |
| Kate Loustau | as Lady in Waiting |
| Elika Gibbs | as Lady in Waiting |
| Sarah Owen | as Lady in Waiting |
| Lily Allen | as Lady in Waiting |
| Hayley Burroughs | as Elizabeth's Dwarf |
| Daisy Bevan | as Arundel's Daughter |
| Jennifer Lewicki | as Arundel's Housemaid |
| Viviane Horne | as Arundel's Wife |
Movie info
| Languages: | English, French |
| Budget: | USD 25,000,000 |
| Gross: |
USA - 9,780,813 USD (6 December 1998) UK - 649,247 GBP (18 October 1998) Worldwide - 34,000,000 USD (5 September 1999) (except USA) Argentina - 860,272 ARS (7 July 1999) Australia - 836,326 AUD (28 October 1998) Austria - 848,070 ATS (5 November 1998) Chile - 90,881,110 CLP (6 October 1999) Germany - 6,067,887 DEM (17 March 1999) Hong Kong - 624,307 HKD (30 September 1999) Italy - 710,357,087 ITL (8 October 1998) Japan - 910,015,725 JPY (11 November 1999) Mexico - 9,328,715 MXN (13 May 1999) South Africa - 899,895 ZAR (18 March 1999) Spain - 97,302,491 ESP (26 November 1998) |
| Plot: | It's 1553 and King Henry VIII has died. His sickly son Edward VI reigns for a short while before dying so his eldest daughter, Mary, a childless Catholic, has ascended to the throne. Under Mary's reign, Protestants, known as heretics, are being burned to death. Mary is ill and her half sister, Protestant Elizabeth, is next in line to the throne. Regardless of Mary being queen, she would never allow a Protestant to rule England. Although there is rumor of a Protestant uprising, Mary knows that Elizabeth is not behind this maneuver, yet Mary brings Elizabeth in under possible charges of treason. Elizabeth denies all and denies Mary's wish to uphold the Catholic faith once on the throne. Upon Mary's death in 1558 and Elizabeth's ascension to the throne, England is weak and in disarray. Many are out to unseat Elizabeth, 'a heretic'. To ensure her security on the throne, Elizabeth has to show some leadership, which includes, according to some of her many advisors, establishment of a single Protestant based Church of England, marriage to a suitable husband and the production of an heir. That husband however is not to be Lord Robert Dudley, Elizabeth's lover. Elizabeth needs to learn which of her advisors to listen to as some are not out for her best interest. |
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Original Soundtracks
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"Te Deum" Composed by Thomas Tallis Performed by St. John's College Choir, Cambridge Conducted by George Guest "Rondeas I and VII" from "Dansereyr" 1551 Composed by Tylman Susato Performed by New London Consort Conducted by Philip Pickett "Nimrod" from "Enigma Variations" Composed by Edward Elgar (as Sir Edward Elgar) "Requiem Aeternam" from "Requiem" Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
Goofs
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Fact errors: Details of some historical characters and events have been changed to fit the dramatic narrative. Revealing mistakes: When the Duc d'Anjou leans over the dead Mary of Guise, she closes her eyes. DATE: Robert Dudley recites Sir Philip Sidney's sonnet "My true love hath my heart" to Elizabeth in a boat. This sonnet was not written until at least 1580, about 20 years after the time the movie is set, and wasn't published until 1593. Continuity: As Elizabeth is being arrested, Robert Dudley's gold chain suddenly disappears from around his neck. Continuity: After the unsuccessful assassination attempt, when Elizabeth is being tended by her ladies, she is shown standing, yet the very next shot has her sitting. Revealing mistakes: At opening scene on the right side of the shot, a halberd used to block the crowd from the prisoners bends and wobbles, showing itself to be made of rubber. Fact errors: In one scene, we see Mary of Guise riding at the front of her men across a bloody battlefield. Back then, even reigning women did not ride at the front of their troops, and rarely rode horses with both legs over the animal; they sat on the side. It is actually said that Mary of Guise refused to ride in front of her troops. Continuity: The first shot of Walsingham in the film (from behind the head), is actually used twice. Just before the next shot (of his face), a sharp slit of silver can be seen heading toward Walsingham's head from the right side of the screen. However, Walsingham's servant then crosses the room, and gets a knife out of its case. When the next shot of the back of Walsingham's head is seen, this slit is the knife now being held to his throat by the servant. Continuity: SPOILER: In the scene where the priest returns to England bearing letters from Rome, he accuses Norfolk's man, Thomas Elliot, of betrayal, then grabs him and leads him in front of Norfolk off to the side (closer to the shore). As he beats Elliot to death with a rock, Norfolk watches from the side. When the priest is finished, and Elliot lies dead in the water, he is shown coming down from a greater height, several yards away, and behind Norfolk, rather than a few feet off to the side. Fact errors: While it's true that Henri, Duke of Anjou (later King Henri III) was generally obsessed with clothing and did on occasion dress as a woman, he never actually traveled to England to court the Queen. That honour fell instead to his younger brother François, who became Duke of Anjou in 1576, and was the only one of Elizabeth's many suitors to court her in person. Revealing mistakes: In the scene in which Elizabeth, dressed in red, is galloping to find Sir Robert, who is afield hunting, one long shot taken straight on clearly shows the face of the stunt double. DATE: Elizabeth is shown washing her face with water. In 16th-century England, water was considered dangerously unhealthy and almost never used for washing the body. Elizabeth would have "bathed" by rubbing her face with a dry cloth. Continuity: As Walsingham is speaking with Mary of Guise, she is holding a table knife up to her lips, and is playing with it by rotating the handle. The camera then switches to a shot from behind her head and the knife is oriented the other direction. Then, as they continue speaking, the camera shot returns to the original angle and the knife handle is reoriented back to the original hand. Revealing mistakes: When Walsingham enters Arundels home looking for the priest he picks up the little girl and if you look closely you can tell that he's holding a doll. Continuity: The movie shows Kat Ashley as being about the same age as Elizabeth when in actuality she was much older than Elizabeth was. Fact errors: The beginning of the film shows Robert Dudley with Elizabeth while she was arrested. Historically, Robert Dudley, his four surviving brothers (including Guildford), and his sister-in-law (Lady Jane Grey) were all in the Tower of London indefinitely. In fact, Wyatt's rebellion threatened all of their lives and brought about the executions of Jane and Guilford, while Robert and his remaining three brothers to stay in the tower until eventually released later that year. DATE: Pope Julius II is featured in a scene in this movie, even though he had already died by the time Elizabeth was a little girl. |
Quotes
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Lord Robert: Remember who you are. Do not be afraid of them. Sussex: Princess Elizabeth. You are accused of conspiring with Sir Thomas Wyatt and others against Her Sovereign Majesty, and are arrested for treason. I have been commanded to take you hence from this place... to the Tower. [Offering Elizabeth his coat before putting her in the tower] Arundel: Madam, you are cold. Elizabeth: I do not need your pity. Arundel: Accept it, then, for my sake. Elizabeth: Thank you. I shall not forget this kindness. Queen Mary: Why will you not confess your crimes against me? Elizabeth: Because, Your Majesty, I have committed none. Queen Mary: You speak with such sincerity. I see you are still a consummate actress. My husband is gone. They have poisoned my child. They say it is a tumor. [Moans in pain] Elizabeth: Madam, you are not well. Queen Mary: They say this cancer will make you queen, but they are wrong. Look there, that is your death warrant. All I need do is sign it. Elizabeth: Mary, if you sign that paper you will be murdering your own sister. Queen Mary: When I look at you I see nothing of the king, only that whore, your mother. My father never did anything so well as to cut off her head. Elizabeth: Your Majesty forgets he was also my father. Sir Francis Walsingham: All Norfolk need do is sign this paper and treason will have been committed. Elizabeth: Then let him sign it, and let it all be done. Elizabeth: I have rid England of her enemies. What do I do now? Am I to be made of stone? Must I be touched by nothing? Elizabeth: Aye, but marry who, Your Grace? Would you give me some suggestion? For some say France and others Spain, and some cannot abide foreigners at all. So I am not sure how best to please you unless I married one of each. [laughter] Noble: Now Your Majesty does make fun of the sanctity of marriage. Elizabeth: I do not think *you* should lecture me on that, my lord, since you yourself have been *twice divorced*... and are now upon your third wife! [laughter] Elizabeth: This is the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Elizabeth: When I am queen, I promise... to act as my conscience dictates. Queen Mary: Well do not think to be queen at all! Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley: Forgive me, Madam, but you are only a woman... Elizabeth: [cuts him off] I may be a woman, Sir William, but if I choose I have the heart of a man! Elizabeth: [firmly] I am my father's daughter, and I am not afraid of anything. Elizabeth: Kat... I have become a virgin. De la Quadra: [to Dudley] My lord, what will a man not do for love? Elizabeth: Tonight I think I die. [last lines] Elizabeth: Observe, Lord Burghley, I am married... to England. Lord Robert: Marry me. Elizabeth: On a night such as this, could any woman say no? Lord Robert: On a night such as this, could a queen say no? Elizabeth: Does not a queen sit under the same stars as any other woman? Norfolk: So cut off my head, and make me a martyr. The people will always remember it. Walsingham: No... they will forget. Walsingham: You were the most powerful man in England. And you could have been greater still, but you had not the courage to be loyal, only the conviction of your own vanity. Sir Francis Walsingham: There is so little beauty in this world, and so much suffering. Do you suppose that is what God had in mind? That is to say if there is a god at all. Perhaps there is nothing in this universe but ourselves. And our thoughts. [speaking to a priest he is having tortured] Sir Francis Walsingham: Tell me, what is God to you? Has he abandoned you? Is he such a worldly god that he must play at politics in the filth of conspiracy? Is he not divine? Tell me the truth, as if you were face to face with him now. I'm a patient man, Father. Elizabeth: [referring to Dudley] He shall be kept alive to always remind me of how close I came to danger. Walsingham: All men need something greater than themselves to look up to and worship. They must be able to touch the divine here on earth. Elizabeth: There will be no more talk of marriage. Elizabeth: Just tell me why. Lord Robert: Why? Madam, is it not plain enough to you? It is no easy thing to be loved by the queen. It would corrupt the soul of any man. [on the Virgin Mary] Elizabeth: She has such power over men's hearts. They died for her. Sir Francis Walsingham: They have found nothing to replace her. Sir Francis Walsingham: Madam, if I may. A prince should never flinch from being blamed for acts of ruthlessness which are necessary for safe guarding the state and their own person. You must take these things so much to heart that you do not fear to strike. Even the very nearest that you have if they be implicated. Elizabeth: I do not like wars. They have uncertain outcomes. Elizabeth: Invite the Duke of Anjou. We shall see him in flesh. [She runs after Lord Robert, who is not happy with the news] Monsieur de Foix: The Duke will not take kindly to a rival for his suit. Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley: He is a traitor and his father before him. Lord Robert's head will end up on a spike, not on the pillow of a Queen. [about Elizabeth] Norfolk: She is just a child and yet still you piss yourselves! [regarding Elizabeth's impending reign] Unseen Gentleman: Your Grace, Protestants are already returning from abroad. Norfolk: Yes. And have made plans to massacre every Catholic in England. There would be butchery indeed if such a plan were even conceivable. Norfolk's Man: They say Walsingham will return from France. Norfolk: Walsingham is nothing! [aside to Norfolk's Man as he is leaving the room] Norfolk: Be sure he does not. [Mary, on her deathbed, is refusing to sign a warrant for Elizabeth's execution] Norfolk: Will you leave your kingdom to a heretic? Arundel: War is a sin, but sometimes, a necessary one. Lord Robert: When you are Queen... Elizabeth: I am not... [whispering] I am not Queen yet! Lord Robert: You will be. Elizabeth, Queen of England. A court to worship you, a country to obey you, poems written celebrating your beauty, music composed in your honor, and they will mean nothing to you. I will mean nothing to you. Elizabeth: [laughs gaily] How could you ever be nothing to me? Robert, you know you are everything to me. Lord Robert: You blush, Lady Knollys. Are you in love? Isabel Knollys: No, my lord. Lord Robert: Then you should be, or waste all that beauty. [the ladies-in-waiting giggle] Duc d'Anjou: [in French] Elizabeth is a witch... a witch... and her servant is the devil! Queen Mary: [shouting] My sister was born of that whore, Anne Boleyn! She was born a bastard! She will never rule England! [to a wounded boy, handing him a handkerchief stained with his blood] Mary of Guise: Go back to England, and take this to your Queen. Hm? Mary of Guise: [in French, to herself] English blood on French colors. [turns to her officer] Send him back to his Queen, and make sure he remains alive. Tell that bastard Queen not to send children to fight Mary of Guise! Elizabeth: I have no desire to make windows into men's souls. Sir Francis Walsingham: [referring to Elizabeth] Her Majesty rules with the heart... not with the head. Mary of Guise: [smiles] Hm, I understand. It is hard for a woman to forget her heart. [in French, about women] Monsieur de Foix: No one can unlock their secrets. Duc d'Anjou: Unless they have... a big key! [laughs loudly] Yes! A *very* big key! Sir Francis Walsingham: [how a wise man would change allegiance] There are but two choices: he would get into bed with either Spain or France. Mary of Guise: [laughs, then smiles wickedly] And... whose bed would you prefer? Duc d'Anjou: [as he stands before Elizabeth and entourage in a dress, speaking in a heavy French accent] What? Huh? What? Wha-do, what? You stare, Madame. [snorts] Duc d'Anjou: What is it, do you see... somesthings... strange perhaps? Heh-heh... Hmm? Elizabeth: You are wearing a dress, Your Grace. Duc d'Anjou: Oh, yes, I am wearing a dress! Yes, yes, I'm wearing a dress! Wha- I wear a dress like this, my mother, and you... Hm-hm. But I only dress like this-a, when I'm alone, in private, with my friends... Hmm? Elizabeth: Your Grace. [approaches and offers her hand for him to kiss, which he reluctantly does] Elizabeth: Although my affection for you is undiminished, I have, after an agonizing struggle, determined to sacrifice my own happiness for the welfare of my people. Duc d'Anjou: Oh! My God, ha-ha... Lord Robert: Monsignor Alvaro! Monsignor Alvaro! Tell me. As well as ambassador, are you not also a bishop? De la Quadra: I am. Lord Robert: [referring to himself and Elizabeth] Then you can marry us! De la Quadra: Marry you? Elizabeth: [laughing] Perhaps he does not know enough English to perform the ceremony! [Elizabeth presents her ideas of religious reform to Parliament; the bishops are outraged and begin to argue] First Bishop: Madam, by this act... by this act, you force us to relinquish our allegiance to the Holy Father. Elizabeth: How can I force you, Your Grace? I am a woman. [Bishops laugh] Elizabeth: I have no desire to make windows into men's souls. I simply ask, can any man, in truth, serve two masters, and be faithful to both? [Bishops start to argue again] Bishop #2: Madam, this-this is heresy! Elizabeth: No, Your Grace, this is... common sense. [Bishops murmur in semi-agreement] Elizabeth: Which is a most English virtue. [Bishops laugh] Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley: Now, I really must... Elizabeth: The word "must" is not used to princes! Lord Robert: Madame, is it not plain enough to you? It is no easy thing to be loved by the Queen. Sir Francis Walsingham: Your Grace is arrested. You must go with these men to the Tower. Norfolk: I must do nothing by your orders. I am Norfolk! Sir Francis Walsingham: You were Norfolk. Sir Francis Walsingham: [shows him his own signature on the treasonous letter from Rome] Sir Francis Walsingham: The dead have no titles. Bishop Gardiner: [Walsingham comes down the stairs into the holding area where the Catholic bishops are being held] Walsingham! I would know by what authority you have kept us locked up here! Sir Francis Walsingham: Your Graces must forgive me, but you are now free to go. Bishop Gardiner: I am sure this infernal work has not saved your bastard queen. Sir Francis Walsingham: Her Majesty has won the argument. Bishop Gardiner: By what count? Sir Francis Walsingham: By five, Your Grace. [Looks up at the six bishops standing behind Gardiner] Sir Francis Walsingham: Five. [turns to leave] Bishop Gardiner: You will be damned for this! And I pray God your wretched soul will burn in hell! Lord Robert: For God's sake, you are still my Elizabeth. Elizabeth: I am not your Elizabeth. I am no man's Elizabeth. And if you think to rule, you are mistaken. Elizabeth: [to all] Elizabeth: I will have one mistress here... and no master. |
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