Elizabeth is a 1998 British biographical drama film written by Michael Hirst, directed by Shekhar Kapur, and starring Cate Blanchett in the title role of Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Plot[]
[1] In 1558, Catholic Queen Mary dies of a uterine tumour. Mary's Protestant half-sister, Elizabeth, under house arrest for conspiracy charges, is freed and crowned the Queen of England. As briefed by her adviser William Cecil, Elizabeth inherits a distressed England besieged by debts, crumbling infrastructure, hostile neighbours and treasonous nobles within her administration, chief among them the Duke of Norfolk. Cecil advises Elizabeth to marry, produce an heir, and secure her rule. Unimpressed with her suitors, Elizabeth delays her decision and continues her secret affair with Lord Robert Dudley while Cecil appoints Francis Walsingham, a Protestant exile returned from France, to act as Elizabeth's bodyguard and adviser.
Drawing inspiration from the divine, Elizabeth cuts her hair and models her appearance after the Virgin Mary. Proclaiming herself married to England, she ascends the throne as "the Virgin Queen".
Cast[]
Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I
Geoffrey Rush as Francis Walsingham
Joseph Fiennes as Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Richard Attenborough as William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
Christopher Eccleston as Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Kathy Burke as Queen Mary I
Fanny Ardant as Mary of Guise
Vincent Cassel as Henry, Duc d'Anjou
Eric Cantona as Paul de Foix
Emily Mortimer as Kat Ashley
Kelly Macdonald as Isabel Knollys
John Gielgud asPope Pius V
Daniel Craig as John Ballard
James Frain as Álvaro de la Quadra
Edward Hardwicke as Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel
Jamie Foreman as Earl of Sussex
Terence Rigby as Bishop Stephen Gardiner
Angus Deayton as Waad, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Amanda Ryan as Lettice Howard
Kenny Doughty as Sir Thomas Elyot
George Yiasoumi as King Philip II of Spain
Wayne Sleep as Dance Tutor
Alfie Allen as Arundel's Son
Lily Allen as Lady-in-waiting
Production[]
Filming[]
Release[]
Critical response[]
Accolades[]
External links[]
[[2]] on IMDb [[3]] at Rotten Tomatoes [[4]] at AllMovie
Videos[]
Trailers[]
follow-up film[]
Elizabeth: The Golden Age