Elizabeth - The Hollywood Years

In the last week I have watched both of the Cate Blanchett Elizabeth films. I certainly found them interesting and the first film is markedly better than the second film, but both were beset with errors of fact.

I liked the way the first film portrays some of Elizabeth's wiliness at that same time it shows the moral and emotional dilemma's she must have faced, both with regard to religion and to marriage. She is shown as deeply in love with Dudley (a love which he returns) but ultimately unable to marry him. The portrayal of Elizabeth swaying the House of Lords in favour of the Act of Supremacy is good in that it shows how she used her charm and intelligence to win them over.

Other things the film does well; it shows that now she is queen, Elizabeth's life is no longer her own; the dangers of France and opposition from the Papacy are clear; her dislike of war and some of the inability to pay for it; the pressure for her to marry; some of the nature of life for the nobility in terms of fashions etc.

However, as a learning vehicle both films fall short in my opinion. Too many of the facts are distorted and the timelines twisted in order to make a long and complex tale appear credibnle for a 2 hour film. Both films oversimplify the religious issue, the first film goes to great lengths to show the catholics as sinister even down to Mary's court/chamber being in perpetual darkness and Elizabeth's tower experience as being particularly unpleasant (the reality is that although being there was no picnic, the tower remained a luxurious prison, it was after all a royal palace).

I could list the factual issues with each of the films but I fear that would take too long. I will, however, comment on the fact that both films focus on the role Walsingham played and significantly downplay the role of William Cecil, indeed the second film does not even include him and yet Cecil continued to serve the queen long after Walsingham died. This is an interesting point about the films but it is one which perplexes me for I don't know what has driven it.

All of this makes me very wary to use the films as a method of teaching the subject of Elizabeth in schools. However, that does not mean I wouldn't use the films. Small snippets of the films can be used such as Elizabeth winning over the Lords and scenes reflecting the pressures on Elizabeth to marry would be very useful. If showing the whole film (either of them) then I think a reflective exercise would be a necessary part of it - lets look at what we know about the reign of Elizabeth and how the film differs from the established facts.