Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Cate Blanchett as: Elizabeth I

Directed by: Shekhar Kapur
Selected Cast: Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Jordi Mollà, Samantha Morton, Abbie Cornish & Rhys Ifans
Written by: William Nicholson & Michael Hirst
Release Year: 2007
Genre: Biopic / Drama / History / Romance
MPAA Rating: PG-13

 

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Two faiths, two empires, two rulers – colliding in 1588. Papist Spain wants to bring down the heretic Elizabeth. Philip is building an armada but needs a rationale to attack. With covert intrigue, Spain sets a trap for the Queen and her principal secretary, Walsingham, using as a pawn Elizabeth’s cousin Mary Stuart, who’s under house arrest in the North. The trap springs, and the armada sets sail, to rendezvous with French ground forces and to attack. During these months, the Virgin Queen falls in love with Walter Raleigh, keeping him close to court and away from the sea and America. Is treachery or heroism at his heart? Does loneliness await her passionate majesty?

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Test shoot; Behind the scenes
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Quotes from Cate Blanchett

  • “Well Shekhar and I, all during the first one, we were talking about finding something to do together. We’re good friends and we’ve stayed in contact and he’s a man of a thousand ideas. We’re developing this other film together but that hasn’t come together yet; and I just said no to Elizabeth, because I thought I’d done it, I don’t need to do it again. But then we had one great conversation, he and Geoffrey [Rush] and I, when I suddenly saw it as being a part of the aging process and taking her to a different level. He wanted to make a film about immortality. When he talks about it in those broad sweeps, and also about holy war, which I thought was very timely; and he talks about it from that perspective; and then he said that Clive Owen is going to do it and Geoffrey is going to do it again, so I’m just churlish if I say no to this, so I couldn’t refuse.” (Blackfilm, December 2006)
  • “It was quite organic. Obviously I started [with] Morag Ross, who did the hair and make-up, and Alex Byrne. We had long, long discussions about where to start. And obviously, in the end, no matter how much research you do, you’re telling the particular story that the script and the director prescribe. And I think the great thing about Shekhar and I working together is that I’m fascinated by history, and he’s utterly disinterested. [laughs] So I think we temper one another really well. We did a lot of research, but in the end, you have to say she’s starting off at a point where we kind of left her in the last film, except she was at a point of utter rigidity in the end of the last film. And so how does one exist within that rigid place? So we had to sort of open that up a little bit. But it felt strange. It was like there was an echo in the room, but yet it felt very fresh. And Shekhar and I and Abbie (because I don’t think she had seen the first one) watched it just before we started to film. And I was incredibly uncomfortable with the notion of…You know, I was thinking, “Oh God, it’s ten years later. Have I aged that much?” Being an actress in film is a bit like you’re aging in dog years. [laughs] It’s quite confronting. But I was surprised at how well it stood up. And I thought, “Well that’s that. It is its own thing.” And I was excited by the fact that this film was at once an echo in that you’ve got the same sort of creative team, a few of the same characters, but it was its own creature. It’s a much more internal film, I think, despite the kind of epic backdrop. So it was a bit like a homecoming. But I think I was uncomfortable in a healthy, useful way.” (Radio Free Entertainment, September 2007)

Quotes from Others

  • Abbie Cornish:
    — “Well, Cate’s [Blanchett] an incredible woman and an incredible actress, first of all. She’s very focused at what she does. And I felt in working with her that she had this tremendous amount of work to do in relation to her own character and her own role in the film, but she was always aware of everyone else around her. And particularly for me, I felt that there was a watchful eye over my character, over scenes, over dialogue. And it was nice to have that there, you know? So there was a very comfortable feeling from me towards Cate, both professionally and personally. And I think Shekhar just did such an amazing job at expressing his thoughts on that relationship and encouraging exploration of that relationship, because it’s so intricate and difficult. And you can’t sum it up in one sentence. You really can’t. And so to have the ability to do that with people like Cate and like Shekhar was just a pleasure.”
  • Shekhar Kapur:
    — “I am ultimately not a product of my visuals, although people keep talking about them. I’m fundamentally educated by the actors. With someone like Cate, when you ask her questions… she was such a revelation to work with because she exceeded a lot of things. She exuded an incredible vulnerability, to be in front of the camera and let all the onion layers peel away but remain in control of your skill and craft, it’s tough to do. She was always doing it. In a way there is something radiating from her, and I could catch on to that radiation and ultimately we were working absolutely in tandem in a state of huge trust and love. Cate, me and Geoffrey Rush.
    It was incredible working with Cate. I just read that she’s considering retiring or taking a break from acting. I’m going to call her and say “Actually, Cate, there’s a third Elizabeth film to come. Elizabeth is a series of divinity. It is a woman that believed she needed to become Queen to be divine – so that’s the first film. In the second film she attained a level of divinity in her own mind. So the third has to be “So how are you going to deal with divinity if you’re going to die like everybody else?” How do deal with mortality if you’re divine? There is a story about Elizabeth that she would not sleep or lie down for hours, fifteen or sixteen hours at a time, because she was afraid she would die. She couldn’t handle the fact that “I am divine, how am I going to die?” I think there’s a beautiful film waiting in that. A more intimate film. With Cate, she can go even further with her craft. She’s an amazing actor.”

Trivia & Facts

  • Filmed in England and Scotland.
  • The film premiered In Competition at the 64th Venice Film Festival on 3 September 2007.
  • Cate Blanchett received nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role from the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Golden Globes Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and more.
  • Alexandra Byrne won Best Costume at the Oscars, more accolades here.
  • Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush have worked together in film and theatre — Oscar and Lucinda (1997) and Elizabeth (1998); Oleanna (1993).
  • he words Mary, Queen of Scots, mouths before being executed are “I forgive you with all my heart”, said to be her last words, spoken to the executioner when he asked her forgiveness.
  • Cate Blanchett is the 11th actor to be nominated at both Best Actress (Elizabeth: The Golden Age, 2007) and Best Supporting Actress (I’m Not There, 2007) in the same year at the Oscars.
  • Shekhar Kapur filmed Elizabeth’s personal time (bathing, bedroom) in circular sets to reflect the infinite questioning of her mind, aspiring to a different kind of freedom and exploration. In contrast, he filmed Elizabeth’s professional moments (throne room, etc.) in rectangular rooms that enclosed her where you could see straight walls and corners.
  • In the film, when Elizabeth arrives at St. Paul’s Cathedral there is construction going on that demonstrates part of the Golden Age of her reign. In real life, St. Paul’s actually needed repair work done. Shekhar Kapur decided to improvise and gave costumes to the actual masons and construction workers and period-accurate tools to cut real stone that was being installed in the cathedral.
  • Cate Blanchett said that the armored costume she wore in the film was a favourite.

Toronto International Film Festival premiere, 9 September 2007; Madrid premiere, 22 October 2007