Elizabethan drama, literally
This is a very interesting programme, produced in Britain and originally shown on the PBS series, Masterpiece Theatre.
This miniseries was directed by Coky Giedroyc, a veteran of television productions in Britain, including another royal-themed miniseries, 'William and Mary', in 2003. Giedroyc brings an interesting modern twist to the series - rather than filming things in majestic, sweeping camera pans with classical music as a background, and rather than having the dialogue (and acting) be in a stilted, falsely formal style, Giedroyc incorporates modern music with medieval and Celtic flavouring to it (both of which have experienced a renaissance of sorts in the past decade), and the situations are decidedly modern without being out of place in their own times.
This presents the life of Elizabeth from her young adulthood under Queen Mary, as a supposed participant in intrigues against the Catholic Queen, through to her death after serving decades on the throne...
Good, but flawed
This production has a lot going for it. Anne-Marie Duff makes a great Elizabeth, and she is supported by an equally talented cast. The sets, lighting, costuming and direction are good, and the makeup artists did a terrific job of aging Duff as the movie progressed. I occasionally found the music too much; it sometimes seemed loud and overwhelmed the action, but overall I enjoyed it.
The catch is that the concept of the movie works better in theory than it does in practice. The Virgin Queen, as the title indicates, focuses on Elizabeth's personal relationships, most specifically her love interests. To an extent, limiting the program makes sense; Elizabeth was about 69 at her death, and ascended to the throne at 25. However, over all, Elizabeth's relationships were unusually embarrassing and sad, and to focus on them to the near-exclusion of the other events in her life leaves us with little more than a gossipy, costumed soap opera. While the events depicted are...
Beautiful film with wide appeal
Overall, I thought this is one of the better Elizabeth films. True, its no "Elizabeth R" but that mini-series was able to do so much more because of its length. Duff really looks like Elizabeth and I liked that they did play off of the queen's vanity and insecurities about her body. I teach British Literature to undergraduates and I'm hoping this film will help give them a little more understanding of the era. Yes, its been modernized. Yes, its portrayal of Amy Robsart's death irked me. Yes, "Elizabeth R" is better. But in a classroom with students who maybe saw the Cate Blancett film, I think it will be useful.
Just as a film, it is beautiful, well acted and engaging. The sound track is particularly effective.
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment