Elizabeth: The Golden Age

English speaking cinema, whether from Hollywood, Britain or a curious mixture of the two, has always been fascinated by royalty. There has been a fine tradition of films specifically exploring the reign of Elizabeth I. Flora Robeson and Bette Davis both gave their takes on the long reigning queen as has Judi Dench in recent years and also Cate Blanchett, who has reprised this role in Elizabeth The Golden Age. After the transition in title of the play The Madness of George III to the film The Madness of King George, I did wonder this film could have been called Elizabeth II. Anyway the film, did Sir Walter Raleigh single handedly destroy the Spanish Armada? Was he even there? There's more Errol Flynn than historical accuracy in Clive Owen's performance. It's a very stylish, easy on eye, easy on the ear, romp really. We are at least twice presented with stirring images showing the munificence of Elizabeth, as if she was some kind of demi-god. There are some who will say never let the facts get in the way of a good story, which this film certainly doesn't.